Menopause Hormone Therapy Doesn't Increase Women's Heart Risk, Study Finds

MONDAY, Nov. 2, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Today’s hormone therapy for menopause does not increase middle-aged women’s risk of heart attack, stroke, blood clots or death, a new study says.

Hormone therapy in pill, patch or gel form did not move the needle on women’s odds of suffering a heart-related health emergency, researchers are slated to report Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association (AHA).

These results should offer reassurance for women who are dealing with menopause symptoms but concerned about the possible side effects of hormone therapy, researchers said.

“Concerns that hormone replacement therapy may affect the heart is one of the most common reasons women decline hormone therapy to manage menopause symptoms, and why some healthcare professionals may hesitate to offer it,” lead investigator Ronen Arbel, a researcher in the community medical services division of Clalit Health Services in Tel Aviv, Israel, said in a news release.

The American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists currently recommends starting hormone therapy within 10 years of menopause onset and prior to age 60, researchers said in background notes.

In addition, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration removed “black box” warnings from hormone therapy products after a comprehensive evidence review found no link between their use and increase risk of heart disease, breast cancer or dementia, researchers said.

For the new study, researchers tracked the health of more than 52,000 women in Israel for an average of 12 years and up to 23 years for some. Half of the women used hormone therapy — usually patches or pills — and the other half didn’t.

Results showed that about 4.4% of women taking hormone therapy had a heart attack, stroke or other heart disease, compared with 4.6% of women not on hormone therapy.

Death rates prior to age 80 also were similar in both groups — 1.3% for those on hormone therapy and 1.2% of those not taking it — as were the rates of blood clots.

“Our results indicate that, for women in their mid-forties to late fifties with no history of heart disease or blood clots, the currently available hormone therapies prescribed to manage menopause symptoms do not appear to raise the risk of heart attack, stroke, clots or early death, even after long-term use,” Arbel said.

The new study “adds to growing evidence that today's hormone therapy options may not increase the risk of heart disease, stroke or blood clots for healthy women who begin treatment around the time of menopause,” Dr. Stacey Rosen, past volunteer president of the heart association, said in a news release. She was not involved in the study.

“For many women, menopause symptoms can significantly affect their quality of life, yet questions about the cardiovascular safety of hormone therapy have remained,” added Rosen, who is executive director of the Katz Institute for Women’s Health and senior vice president of women’s health at Northwell Health in New York City.

“These findings can help women and their healthcare teams have more informed conversations about the benefits and risks of treatment based on their individual health needs,” she concluded.

The AHA meeting takes place Nov. 6-9 in Chicago.

Findings presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The Menopause Society has more about hormone therapy.

SOURCE: American Heart Association, news release, Nov. 2, 2026