Estrogen and progestogen use in peri- and postmenopausal women: September 2003 position statement of The North American Menopause Society.

T he termination of the estrogen-progestogen trial of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study in July 2002 was a milestone in the history of postmenopausal hormone therapy. In response, The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) convened an expert Hormone Therapy (HT) Advisory Panel to prepare a report on hormone therapy. After approval from the 2001-2002 NAMS Board of Trustees, the report was released in October 2002 (Menopause 2003;10:6-12). Due to the subsequent influx of new clinical trial data regarding postmenopausal hormone therapy, the NAMS Board of Trustees convened a second HT Advisory Panel to develop another report. The overall objective was to present clinical recommendations for use of hormone therapy in periand postmenopausal women. As with the previous analysis, all relevant evidence was considered. After approval from the 20022003 NAMS Board of Trustees, this position statement was released on September 17, 2003.