Health Update: A new way for HRT to get under your skin

HORMONE replacement therapy (HRT) may soon be available in Britain in a form already popular with French women - as a gel that can be rubbed into the skin. Oestrogel, a synthetic form of the hormone oestradiol, made by a French drug company, is spread on the abdomen or thigh from a pump dispenser. Like the HRT skin patch, the drug passes through the skin and into the bloodstream, thereby preventing the side- effects caused by taking oestrogen orally. The gel is also thought to match natural levels of oestrogen more accurately than oral preparations. It can be combined with progestogen taken orally.

Studies indicate that the gel is as effective in treating menopausal symptoms as oral HRT.