WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 -- American gynecologists have rewritten their advice on menopause symptoms for the first time since 2014, and the treatment their own authors call "in many cases, the best option," hormone therapy, includes one common form, the estradiol patch, that women have had trouble finding.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists published Clinical Practice Guideline 13 on Thursday, replacing a 2014 practice bulletin. It lands about a year after the Food and Drug Administration asked manufacturers to strip boxed warnings about breast cancer, cardiovascular disease and probable dementia from menopausal hormone therapy labels. ACOG now tells doctors to start hormone therapy before a patient turns 60, or within 10...