TUESDAY, May 20 (HealthDay News) -- Many women, and even some physicians, quickly abandoned the use of hormone replacement therapy in 2002, after the large Women's Health Study suggested that the treatment might harm women who were long past menopause.

But now a team of international experts has concluded that for women in early menopause, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can safely provide real symptom relief, as well as additional benefits such as increased bone strength.

The Ortho-Evra birth control patch exposes women to dangerous levels of estrogen -- posing a possible two-fold increased risk of blood clots -- and should be removed from the market within six months, says a Public Citizen petition filed Thursday with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

By Reuters

WASHINGTON - Estrogen fuels feelings of power and competition in women in much the same way testosterone does in men, researchers said on Wednesday in a study that shows the need to win is every bit as feminine as it is masculine.

Estrogen levels shot up in power-motivated women when they won and plummeted when they lost, while the opposite was true in women who appeared not to be interested in power, the researchers found.

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By Steven Reinberg
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, April 28 (HealthDay News) -- No matter when postmenopausal women start hormone replacement therapy (HRT), high doses of the treatment increase their risk of stroke, a new study finds.

Acupuncture helped relieve hot flushes in women taking the drug tamoxifen after breast cancer surgery, says a Norwegian study.

By Amanda Gardner
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, April 7 (HealthDay News) -- In the continuing search to uncover the benefits and risks of hormone therapy for women, a new study suggests that the amount of hormone a woman takes may determine whether it helps or harms her.

By Christiana McCausland Health The truth: By age 35 your bone strength has usually peaked, and by age 50 your risk of breaking a bone because of osteoporosis may be as high as one in two. But here's an important secret: Experts say smart lifestyle choices-from workouts to the right supplements-can greatly improve your odds of avoiding bone problems. What should you do right now? Just follow this age-specific game plan. Read full story

About ten years ago, estrogen was good for you. Every doctor prescribed it for any woman even close to menopause. Studies said it reduced the risk of heart disease and osteoporosis, in addition to making menopausal symptoms bearable.

And then came a NEW STUDY! Sales of Premarin dropped in half after the new study found that not only did estrogen not protect the heart–it actually raised the risk of heart attack. And didn’t do much for osteoporosis.

By Amanda Gardner
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, March 6 (HealthDay News) -- New research shows that women who experienced a recurrence of their breast cancer had almost twice as much estrogen in their blood as women who remained cancer-free after treatment.

This indicates that circulating estrogen levels contribute to a recurrence as much as the initial malignancy does.