A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that women taking HRT had an increased risk of ovarian cancer irrespective of the duration of use of hormone replacement therapy or the type of therapy. The study involved 900,000 women in Denmark who were followed for an average of eight years. Compared with those who had never used HRT, present users of hormone therapy had a 38 per cent increased risk of ovarian cancer. This equated to approximately one extra ovarian cancer for every 8300 women taking HRT each year (JAMA 2009; 302:298-305).

Fortunately there are many effective herbal and nutritional remedies which successfully address any of the health concerns which may lead to a woman to consider HRT.

With this report in mind we should also remind ourselves of the World Health Organization’s declaration in The Lancet Oncology in 2005, that taking oral contraceptive pills containing progestin and oestrogen could increase a woman’s risk of cancer. We need to very seriously question the wisdom of using any type of hormone therapy. There are always viable, safe alternatives.