Yet again, my unease regarding the safety of HRT has received some sound scientific back-up. A study of 900,000 women in Denmark, who were followed for an average of eight years, found that there was a 38 percent increased risk of ovarian cancer, compared to women who had never used hormone replacement therapy.

The increased risk off ovarian cancer, which equated to one extra ovarian cancer for every 8300 women taking HRT every year, existed irrespective of the women’s duration of use of HRT or the type of therapy. The study is reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 2009, 302:298-305.

There are many effective ways to treat menopause naturally, using herbal medicine, vitamin and mineral supplementation and dietary measures. These therapies can provide excellent relief from a range of menopausal symptoms, such as hot flushes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, low libido, weight gain and mood changes.