The rate of women developing breast cancer in the U.S. dropped 6.7% in 2003. Similar reports have come from Australia and Germany. Some researchers believe the unusual drop is related to the decreased use of hormone replacement therapy.

FRIDAY, Aug. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Abnormal heart rate turbulence (HRT) appears to indicate a significant risk for sudden death in patients with congestive heart failure, new research shows.

The study, published in the August HeartRhythm Journal, is the first to note that HRT predicts both all-cause mortality and heart failure progression, as well as sudden death in heart failure patients.

(HealthDay News) -- A postmenopausal woman who uses hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may boost her risk for gallbladder disease, researchers say, although the risk appears to vary depending on how she receives the hormones.

"For women who are using HRT, their risk of gallbladder disease is less if they use a patch or gel form of HRT rather than the tablet form of HRT," noted Dr. Bette Liu, a clinical epidemiologist at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

By Shannon Koehle
EmpowHer's Health Reporter

Menopause can be a stressful, irritable time in one’s life. Suffering from hot flashes, mood swings, decreased libido, low energy and more, some women’s symptoms are simply unbearable.

While there are medical treatments available to relieve symptoms, the International Hormone Society, made up of a collection of doctors worldwide, holds that bio-identical hormones may be safer than synthetic ones.

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.

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.

Dr. Berger explains the connection between women's hormone replacement therapy and acne.

By Amanda Gardner
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, April 16 (HealthDay News) -- The timing of hormone therapy might determine its effect on a woman's heart.

By Serena Gordon
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, April 15 (HealthDay News) -- Although the overall incidence of breast cancer dropped dramatically after millions of American women stopped using hormone-replacement therapy in 2002, that decline doesn't seem to have benefited black women.

AP

WASHINGTON - Add another risk to hormone therapy after menopause: Benign breast lumps. One type of hormone therapy — estrogen plus progestin — already is well-known to increase the risk of breast cancer. But a major study of women able to use estrogen alone didn't find that link.