Alternatives to estrogen for menopausal women.

Limited acceptable alternatives to hormone replacement therapy exist for use by postmenopausal women. This oversight within the biomedical community is of particular concern considering the increasing number of postmenopausal women and the current low use of hormone replacement therapy. In addition, contraindications to hormone replacement therapy and controversies regarding recommendations for use of hormone replacement therapy also exist. With the notable exception of the advances in prevention of osteoporosis, alternatives to estrogen for other aspects of the sequelae of hypoestrogenism or aging are limited. Furthermore, there is widespread use of complementary therapies among postmenopausal women despite a lack of data on efficacy or safety of such therapies. Increased research into alternatives to estrogen for menopausal women is of clinical, scientific, and health policy importance.