it is OLD medicine and OLD doctors that haven't kept up on the new research! I went back on after a 10-year hiatus and after 10 years of being on it, after menopause. My feeling is that my bones got soft when I stopped. Hormones help with bone, end of story. I feel MUCH better now that I went back on, struggling to find legitimate doctors I trusted. Bioidentical HRT for me! (and now I take bone meds too...) I am 68. My mother died of ovarian cancer and my aunt had breast cancer - so that all factored into my decisions. I get tested regularly.