A decade ago, upwards of 15 million American women were using combination hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to help deal with their menopausal symptoms. Doctors also believed HRT protected women from a host of other issues, including heart attacks and osteoporosis.

That all changed in 2002, when researchers learned that HRT drugs actually increased a woman’s risk of cardiac problems, stroke, and breast cancer – and millions of women dumped their bottles of HRT. Now, further research indicates HRT is indeed a legitimate treatment for severe hot flashes, mood swings, and other menopause-induced health challenges – for some women. Are you a candidate for HRT?

Hot flashes. Drenching night sweats. Mood swings so severe you want to run and hide from family and friends.

These are just some of the challenges many of us undergo as a result of menopause. And the hard part is, they usually come on top of the ravages chemo has already produced in us: the embarrassing baldness; the severe nausea; mouth sores, fatigue, neuropathy, chemo-brain…

One of the less-noted chemo side effects is chemically induced menopause, which many women undergo during or directly following chemo. Chemo stops a woman’s reproductive system in its tracks; and for many, the days of a regular menstrual cycle become a thing of the past, replaced by a sudden trip through menopause.  

Unfortunately, menopausal side effects can go on, and on… and on. For years. They may lessen in severity or frequency, particularly hot flashes; but they linger, impacting your life in ways you never would have predicted.

Maybe your metabolism is permanently altered, your personal thermostat ratcheted up a few degrees. What used to be a comfortably warm summer day now feels distressingly hot, and you guiltily turn up the AC while your family complains about being cold.

And then there’s “vaginal dryness” (read: painful sex). This side effect is supposed to respond to black cohosh, or olive oil, or [name your favorite home remedy], but usually it doesn’t. And years after menopause, you’re still suffering.

Back in the day, you’d take a hormone replacement pill, and all of these menopausal side effects would magically disappear.

But that was before 2002, when the ongoing Women’s Health Initiative study showed that the typical woman taking a combination of estrogen and progestin (e.g., Premarin) to deal with menopause was putting herself at significantly increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and breast cancer.

Suddenly, millions of women stopped taking their daily “fountain of youth” pill. And began suffering.

The good news? Fewer American women experiencing cardiac issues, stroke, and breast cancer. The WHI notes that since publishing the results of its study in 2002, and the resulting decrease in women using HRT, the number of breast cancer cases has dropped by 15,000 to 20,000 per year.

The bad news? Researchers have found no treatment for hot flashes and those other menopausal woes that’s nearly as effective as HRT.