One of the most controversial health decisions facing women is deciding upon the use of hormonal treatments for symptoms of menopause. This brief review focuses on the historical context of use of menopausal hormone treatments (MHT), summarizes results of major observational, primary and secondary prevention studies of MHT and cardiovascular (CV) outcomes, provides evidence for how sex steroids modulate CV function and identifies challenges for future research. As medicine enters an era of personalization of treatment options, additional research into sex differences in the aetiology of CV diseases will lead to better risk identification for CV disease in women and identify whether a woman might receive CV benefit from specific formulations and doses of MHT.
Keywords: 17 β-oestradiol; atherosclerosis; carotid intima-medial thickness; conjugated equine oestrogens; coronary artery calcification.
© 2016 The Author(s). published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.