Is hormone replacement therapy safe? A new study finds that there are more risks than benefits when taking hormones in menopause.

A new report—published in The Journal of the American Medical Association finds that there are also unexpected benefits. Women who took estrogen had a reduced risk of breast cancer and heart problems, but can only be given to those who have had their uterus removed, otherwise there' an increased risk of uterine cancer.
For combined hormones, for every 10,000 women taking the drugs, the new analysis found that there were six additional instances of heart problems, nine more strokes, nine more blood clots in the lungs and nine more cases of breast cancer. On the benefit side, there were six fewer cases of colorectal cancer, one fewer case of uterine cancer, six fewer hip fractures and one fewer death. Most of the effects wore off once the drugs were stopped, but the risk of breast cancer remained slightly elevated.