Hormonal support reduces risk of cardiovascular disease...AND decreases all cause mortality. ! (It means you live longer)
Cardiovascular disease is 2 to 6 x greater in postmenopausal women compared to premenopausal women of the same age. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the number one cause of death among women, accounting for approximately one death every 80 seconds in the U.S. Unfortunately, the majority of women who die suddenly of heart disease had not prior symptoms.
.
.
Your natural hormones, especially estrogen, appears to have a protective effect on your heart and arteries before menopause, but this benefit disappears with fall in hormones at menopause. For this reason, women are less likely than men to have heart disease before menopause, but after menopause women are more likely than men to have heart disease. Evidence indicates that hormonal replacement and supplementation, when started early and continued, helps protect women from cardiovascular disease. More than 40 observational studies show a consistent 30%–50% reduction in CHD in HRT (hormone replacement therapy) users versus nonusers. In two meta-analyses of 23 randomized controlled studies, Salpeter, et al. showed that relative to placebo, HRT significantly reduced all-cause mortality by 39% and reduced cardiac disease by 32%
In a long term randomized clinical event trial, one study selected women an average 50 years of age and 7 months past menopause. Cardiac disease was reduced by 52% after 10 years of treatment and was reduced 39% after 16 years of follow-up. All-cause mortality was reduced by 43% after 10 years of randomized HRT and by 34% after 16 years of total follow-up (see study here). All-cause mortality means any cause of death. So women on hormonal supplement, when started early, have a lower rate of death from any cause and live longer! Every woman age 50 or more should understand this and then ask, why am I not on hormonal supplement?
.
.
"Totality of evidence indicates menopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) ...initiated in women <60 years of age and/or at or near menopause, HRT significantly reduces all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD) whereas other primary prevention therapies such as lipid-lowering fail to do so. Magnitude and type of HRT-associated risks, including breast cancer, stroke and venous thromboembolism are rare (<10 events/10,000 women), not unique to HRT and comparable with other medications. HRT is a sex-specific and time dependent primary CVD prevention therapy that concomitantly reduces all-cause mortality as well as other aging-related diseases with an excellent risk profile. "
.
.
The researchers further conclude that menopausal HRT must be considered differently than other medications since no other therapy offers the same systemic-wide benefits. Additional benefits beyond reduction of all-cause mortality include reduction in menopausal symptoms (hot flashes, night sweats, hair loss, loss of energy, libido, skin aging, vaginal dryness etc), prevention of new onset diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis and bone fracture prevention and improved quality of life.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9178928/