Are you having any of menopausal, premenopausal or postmenopausal symptoms?
Here is a system of medical treatment called hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopausal, premenopausal and postmenopausal women.
It helps to reduce the pain and health issues which are due to the reduced circulating estrogen and progesterone hormones.
In the United States alone, more than 10 million people are taking hormone replacement therapy.
Hormone replacement therapy involves a series of drugs intended to artificially improve hormone levels. The hormones which need to be boosted include estrogen, progesterone and sometimes testosterone.
Estrogen and progesterone are the hormones which are produced in the ovaries during a woman’s reproductive life. During the menopausal state, the levels of these hormones will dramatically fall down. Testosterone can be produced in adrenal glands and ovaries.
Not only hormone replacement therapy helps to relieve the problems like hot flashes, night sweats, urinary symptoms and vaginal dryness, but also it protects you against several postmenopausal conditions, such as osteoporosis and heart disease. You might take HRT for short-term and the duration is in between six months and five years.
Frankly speaking there are more health risks than benefits for women who undergo hormone replacement therapy. Hormone replacement therapy is not suitable for all of you. If you want to consider this therapy, then you should have the below mentioned tests:
- Blood pressure examination
- Breast examination
- Thyroid test
- Height and weight measurement to determine body mass index
- Internal pelvic examination
While taking hormone replacement therapy, you should check your breast for every six months and also you should have usual cervical spots and breast screening.
Hormone replacement therapy consists of administration of estrogen alone or combination of estrogen and progesterone therapy. If you have had hysterectomy, then you need to take estrogen only, because you don’t need the security from endometrial cancer that progesterone provides.
Are there any risks associated with hormone replacement therapy?
You will experience side effects during hormone replacement therapy. They can be more minor or more severe effects. The minor side effects include: breast pain, headache, and nausea.
If you experience the side effects for month’s duration, then your doctor will alter any of the progesterone or the estrogen part of the hormone replacement therapy.
There are more serious risks associated with hormone replacement therapy. They include:
- Vein clots in the legs
- Blood clots in the lungs
- Uterine cancer
- Heart disease
- Abnormal vaginal bleeding
- Breast cancer
- Strokes
- Fluid retention
If you take HRT for more than 5.2 years, you will experience the risk of breast cancer, heart disease and stroke. Also, there is decreased risk of colon and rectal cancer, uterine cancer, hip fracture and death from other causes.
According to recent studies, it has confirmed that women who take commonly prescribed drugs of hormone replacement therapy are not gaining the weight when compared to the women who don’t take hormone therapy.
When you want to consider the hormone replacement therapy, you should consult your doctor and talk with him about risks and effects of this therapy.
