HRT prescription during menopause could save lives

A first-of-its-kind study has found hormone replacement therapy (HRT) could reduce suicidal thoughts among menopausal women by more than 90%.

Researchers at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) spoke to more than 1,000 women going through the menopause about their experience with symptoms of depression, distress, and suicidal thoughts.

The study, which is part of a documentary on ITV tonight, looked into the effect of hormone replacement therapy on women as they experience the menopause, which occurs when the ovaries stop producing oestrogen.

Nationally, the number of suicides among women at ages where the menopause typically happens – 45 to 54 – is on the rise.

Struggling women

Lead researcher Dr Liv Hendriks, at the university's Suicide and Self-Harm Research Group, spoke to numerous women who struggled with menopausal symptoms, physically and mentally, even causing some to lose the sense of who they were and experience devastating breakdowns in their relationships.

Researchers say the evidence, published in the journal BJPsych International, suggests the prescribing of HRT could save lives and reduce unnecessary suffering.

Dr Hendriks said: "I spoke to a few women who had attempted suicide multiple times, and been sectioned onto psychiatric wards.

"A lot of them said after they had taken HRT, they felt a lot better and it only took months for them to stop feeling like that again."

Outdated fears and bias

The study found suicidal thoughts among menopausal women reduced by 92% after they were proscribed HRT and also found one in six women were either being misdiagnosed or offered antidepressants.

Professor Pooja Saini, lead researcher on suicide and self-harm at LJMU, suggests there are still outdated fears over the safety of HRT.

She said: "There was a study done in 2002. The results of that alluded that HRT caused cancer, but since then that has been debunked several times. And I think doctors still are kind of hung up on that study and maybe that was the only one that they were taught whenever they did the medical degree."

And she called for more research funding to help women: "I've worked in the field for 20 years and these were some of the toughest papers to get published.

"I think it's really highlighted to me the misogyny within this area of research. So I just think research in female health is really lacking."