CURRENT CONCEPTS - ESTROGEN-REPLACEMENT THERAPY - HELP OR HAZARD

FEW controversies in the practice of medicine have generated as much discussion as has the role of estrogen-replacement therapy in the climacteric woman. The literature is replete with articles about the potentially beneficial effects of estrogen treatment and the potentially detrimental effects, such as adenocarcinoma of the endometrium. We shall attempt to place in perspective our current understanding of estrogen-replacement therapy and to make recommendations about its use. Although the term “menopause” refers to the specific biologic event of the last menstrual period, the term “climacteric” encompasses the years between the onset of premenopausal ovarian dysfunction and the end of. © 1979, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.