Menopause Myth-Busting: What the Evidence Actually Says About HRT

Menopause affects every woman who reaches midlife, yet it remains one of the most under-recognised and undertreated conditions in general practice. This practical, evidence-based session will give you the confidence to identify it sooner, talk about it openly and treat it well.

This session covers –

• Menopause in Australia: prevalence, chronic disease burden, and the economic cost of undertreatment.
• Physiology: hormonal changes through perimenopause and menopause, with a case study on diagnostic delay.
• Recognising symptoms: physical, neurological and psychological presentations, and why there’s no blood test for perimenopause.
• Long-term risks: cardiovascular disease, dementia and osteoporosis after menopause.
• Fact vs fiction: the WHI study, its limitations and follow-up findings, and common patient myths.
• Hormone therapy basics: body-identical options, delivery routes, safety, testosterone and vaginal estrogen.
• In practice: the HOTFLUSH consultation framework, the PATCH GEL PRO prescribing approach, and lifestyle factors.
• Q&A with Dr Ceri Cashell

Learning Outcomes – on completion of this activity, the GP is able to:

• Explain the physiological basis of perimenopause and menopause, including the whole-body effects of declining estrogen, progesterone and testosterone across neurological, psychological, cardiovascular, bone and urogenital systems.
• Identify appropriate candidates for hormone therapy – including women with early, premature, or surgical menopause – and correct common misconceptions around age limits, duration of use, and contraindications.
  
  RACGP members who need a certificate and recorded CPD hour, please email [email protected]