HRT with estrogen and progesterone has been long considered to have anti-aging effects; results of larger studies though, particularly of the Women’s Health Initiative, have shown that an anti-aging effect is not necessarily to be expected. On the contrary, HRT has been accused to have a higher cardiovascular risk and increase of the risk of breast cancer. However, it has clear, positive preventive effects on osteoporosis, and an early, low-dose estrogen monotherapy can be considered to have advantages.208