The Best Time To Start Hormone Therapy To Lower Disease Risk By 60%
Key takeaways
- Author: Ava Durgin May 10, 2026Assistant Health Editor By Ava Durgin Assistant Health Editor Ava Durgin is the former Assistant Health Editor at mindbodygreen.
- And according to a massive new study presented at the 2025 Annual Meeting of The Menopause Society, this stage might be the most powerful window for protecting your long-term health with hormone therapy.
- For years, hormone therapy (HRT) has been viewed primarily as a tool for symptom relief–think hot flashes, night sweats, or mood swings.
Why this matters: practical guidance grounded in recent research or expert insight.
Author: Ava Durgin May 10, 2026Assistant Health Editor By Ava Durgin Assistant Health Editor Ava Durgin is the former Assistant Health Editor at mindbodygreen. She holds a B.A. in Global Health and Psychology from Duke University.Image by RDNE Stock project / Pexels May 10, 2026If you’re in your 30s or 40s and starting to notice subtle changes—sleep that’s not quite as restorative, mood shifts, or cycles that suddenly feel unpredictable—you might be entering perimenopause, the hormonal transition leading up to menopause.
And according to a massive new study presented at the 2025 Annual Meeting of The Menopause Society, this stage might be the most powerful window for protecting your long-term health with hormone therapy.
Researchers analyzed data from more than 120 million patient records and found that women who began estrogen therapy during perimenopause, and continued it for at least a decade, had about a 60% lower risk of developing breast cancer, heart attack, or stroke compared to those who started later or never used hormones at all.