Individual hormone replacement therapy

Although hormone replacement therapy is widely used in western countries, compliance is not very good; only a minor proportion of women starting the treatment continue it for over 5 years. However, long-term treatment is essential for primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis. One reason for low compliance is that treatment is not planned individually. After using a fixed estradiol dose, serum levels of estradiol show 10-fold differences between subjects, independently of the routes of administration. This article briefly summarizes the possibility of using tailored treatment and thus improving long-term compliance with HRT.