[How can compliance be improved in hormone replacement therapy during menopause?]

The main vital risks of the menopause and ageing are related to osteoporosis, cardiovascular accidents and cancer. Hormone therapy is effective against the first of these, but its efficacy against the second is difficult to measure in view of the number of factors involved and is even less clear against the third. Without any doubt it does improve all aspects of quality of life, so that it is rather surprising that only a minority of women receive treatment and that compliance with treatment is irregular, which is attributable to a variety of causes. Treatment protocols for the general situation and for specific cases are proposed.