The Marion Gluck Clinic

What’s new in hormone replacement therapy: focus on transdermal estradiol and micronized progesterone.

The use of transdermal estradiol and micronised progesterone for the management of menopausal women with a personal or family history of venous thromboembolism (VTE) has been supported in guidelines from the North American Menopause Society, the Endocrine Society, the International Menopause Society and the European Menopause and Andropause Society. Transdermal estradiol has been shown to not increase the risk of VTE or stroke when administered at doses ≤ 50µg. Furthermore, there is also a significantly lower risk for gallbladder disease with transdermal delivery compared with oral estrogens. Micronised progesterone is not associated with an increased risk of VTE nor with breast cancer which is contrary to the data relating to the use of some progestogens.

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