Harry: Yes, in other words she is taking what we call hormone replacement treatment. So she is well into menopause and as a result of that she hasn’t got her own hormones because her ovaries have gone to sleep, and she has to replace those hormones.

Saria: She’s been taking Trisequens which gave her back her monthly periods. We have seen a general practitioner who told her that it’s up to her which one she wants take.

Harry: Yes, there are a whole variety that she can use. You can use an HRT in the form of tablets, you can use it in the form of an injection or in the form of a patch. It really doesn’t matter which one you use as long as it’s suitable and works for you.

Saria: Is it necessary to take HRT?

Harry: In general I would say that it has many benefits. Not only does it have benefits as far as her general femininity is concerned, but more important are some other things that I’ll mention. For example, it can help control menopausal symptoms like flushing, sweating and so on. But most important of the lot is that it helps to keep her bones strong and prevents fractures and even more importantly, it helps to prevent heart disease, in particular heart attacks. There are also other benefits. For example, it may help to delay or prevent the development of Alzheimer’s disease, which is a terrible condition affecting the brain and causing dementia. There is also some evidence that it may help to protect against cancer of the colon. So all in all there are a lot of benefits. But on the other side there are some disadvantages. Perhaps the thing that most people worry about is that there is a modest increase in the incidence of breast cancer. So if your mother has a strong family history of breast cancer and her mother or her sister had it, then she might want to be a little bit cautious about using HRT. But even under those circumstances, provided that her breasts are being regularly checked by the doctor it would be relatively safe. So on balance I would say that the benefits of HRT strongly outweigh the disadvantages.

Saria: She has been taking Trisequens and the pharmacist said it won’t cause her to get her periods back, but it has.

Harry: Well you mustn’t speak to the chemist about that, you must speak to the gynaecologist.

Saria: So which HRT doesn’t give you your periods back?

Harry: There is a way that you can do it and that’s called a continuous form of HRT. The ordinary HRT, which results in bleeding, is intermittent and therefore you can get bleeding. But there is a way of using HRT so that she will not have her periods, and you should speak to her gynaecologist about that.