Postmenopausal women are at an increased risk of developing coronary artery disease, yet recent research studies have sometimes resulted in conflicting data regarding how best to treat or minimize the effects of the disease.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) given in skin patches may cause fewer blood clots than HRT given orally, according to a report published on BMJ.com today. Furthermore, women who take the oral form of HRT more than double their risk of developing a blood clot, say the authors.

Hormone replacement therapy, which is known to increase the risk of breast cancer, also appears to make it more likely a tumor will return in women who have had the disease, researchers said on Tuesday.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for peri- and postmenopausal symptoms increases disease recurrence in breast cancer survivors, according to an article published online March 25 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Although rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is more predominant in women, the reasons for this are unclear. Many studies have examined the effects of estrogen on the risk and severity of RA, but the results are conflicting and controversial.

Women who take hormone replacement therapy to ease menopause symptoms have abnormal mammogram results. This makes breast biopsies hard to be detected by doctors.

Hormone replacement therapy poses a risk for women to develop breast cancer. This risk is only a little higher, but many women undergoing the therapy will worry a lot more about abnormal mammograms or decide to have breast biopsy which they could avoid under different circumstances.

Menopausal women are at relatively high risk for memory loss, high blood pressure (hypertension) and diabetes. A decade ago, the standard treatment for these problems was long-term hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

For decades, older women have taken hormone replacements to replenish estrogen and progesterone levels lost to aging. More recently, testosterone (the most important male hormone) supplements have been used by aging men to improve their muscle mass, bone strength, libido and quality of life.

The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association have jointly released revised Guidelines for the Management of Patients with Unstable Angina (UA)/Non-ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (NSTEMI).

Researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia have found new evidence suggesting that colon cancer is actually a disease of missing hormones that could potentially be treated by hormone replacement therapy.

Are soy products healthy additions to a person's diet, safe alternatives to hormone-replacement therapy or cancer-causing agents? The answer, according to University of Illinois food science and human nutrition professor William Helferich, is, "It depends."