This is a huge manuscript, which summarises vast amounts of information, actually being a small text-booklet on hormonal and non-hormonal menopause therapies. Being an official document of the NIH, it is interesting to read the following conclusions.
Comment from Dr Amos Pines
Women experiencing symptoms of menopause can consider a number of potential treatments of varying efficacy.
From a large body of evidence, there is considerable certainty that estrogens are the most effective treatment for relieving vasomotor symptoms and are accompanied by the greatest improvement in quality-of-life measures.
For other common symptoms – psychological, urogenital, and sleep disturbance – although estrogens are effective, some non-hormonal agents compare favorably.
Estrogens are accompanied by potential long-term harms that require consideration.
There is limited evidence on the potential consequences of long-term use of non-hormonal agents when those agents are used to treat menopausal symptoms.
Reference
Grant MD, Marbella A, Wang AT, et al. Menopausal symptoms: comparative effectiveness of therapies [Internet]. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); 2015 Mar. (free for downloading from PubMed)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25905155
Content updated 4 June 2015