For women weighing whether to use estrogen to manage hot flashes, sleep issues and other bothersome symptoms as menopause approaches, it may make sense not to wait. New research shows that perimenopausal women who had used estrogen for at least 10 years before their periods stopped for good had 60% lower odds for breast cancer , heart attack and stroke , compared to women who never took hormones. The findings were scheduled for presentation at a meeting of The Menopause Society in Orlando,