Recommendations for estrogen and progestogen use in peri-and postmenopausal women: October 2004 position statement of The North American Menopause Society.

C linical use of estrogens and progestogens in women through and beyond the menopause transition continues to be a source of ongoing debate and confusion. The plethora of new clinical trial data regarding postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) published over the last few years prompted The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) to develop reports on HT use in October 2002 (Menopause 2003;10:6-12) and September 2003 (Menopause 2003;10:497-506). The overall objective of these reports has been to make recommendations to both clinicians and the lay public about the appropriate role of HT for periand postmenopausal women. During 2004, the NAMS Board of Trustees convened a third HT Advisory Panel to develop a new report. As with the previous analyses, all relevant published evidence was considered. After approval from the 20032004 NAMS Board of Trustees, this position statement was released on October 6, 2004.