Abstract
Estrogen substitution around the menopause has rapidly become a major indication for hormonal treatment and its benefits are obvious to the clinician. A prompt relief of vasomotor symptoms generally occurs during treatment and nervous and sexual disorders often improve considerably. Regardless of which one of the numerous estrogen treatment regimens available is used, it enables many women to cope better with their daily life. On the other hand all estrogens, when given in sufficient therapeutic amounts, will also produce a systemic metabolic response. Effective estrogen treatment thus gives rise to a multitude of biological effects in many different organs and systems. At present, one main problem is the difficulty of quantifying both beneficial effects and hazards. Furthermore it is often difficult to distinguish the valid symptoms of estrogen deficiency from those of ageing and the effects of social, environmental and emotional problems of the middle-aged woman.
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