If your life is disrupted due to symptoms such as brain fog, mood changes, hot flashes, low libido and insomnia you are likely in the middle of a menopause journey. Many women find themselves engulfed by this sudden onset of health condition and desperately seek relief from it. There are millions of women facing the transition to menopause known as perimenopause.
Though it starts as early as your 30s, the symptoms are noticeable after a few years. Usually, menopause is spurred by natural processes that gradually lower your hormone levels. Women having surgically removed their uterus or ovaries due to sudden health issues might find that their menopause occurs abruptly and they are launched into menopause almost overnight.
Many women go through menopause without requiring any treatment. However, if the transition causes troubling or distracting symptoms, a variety of treatment approaches are available.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a treatment doctors might recommend for managing menopause symptoms. It helps balance estrogen and progesterone levels. Also known as menopausal hormone therapy, HRT can help relieve sweating, hot flashes, and other symptoms of menopause. It can also reduce the risk of osteoporosis. It is often found that doctors suggest HRT for women to manage symptoms of menopause. Indeed hormone treatment can help address a range of issues. Moreover, the right combination and dosage of the hormones depends on the reason for prescribing this form of treatment.
In recent years the view towards hormone therapy for women has changed and medical professionals as well as patients are open towards HRT for women. Evidently, the choice to use hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is very personalized, based on a woman’s needs and potential risk factors. Medical professionals take into account and support not only the lowest dose for the shortest time but also 'the appropriate dose for the appropriate amount of time for HRT for women.
Choosing your primary care doctor is of utmost importance because hormone therapy for women is a shared decision-making process with your doctor.
What Is Hormone Therapy For Women?
Indeed hormones play a pivotal role in our health and wellness. By replenishing the supply of estrogen and progesterone Hormone Replacement Therapy helps reduce menopausal symptoms in women. Moreover, HRT for women is recommended as it also offers protection from diseases such as osteoporosis.
HRT for women involves taking hormones called estrogen and progestin (progesterone). Estrogen can be taken as pills, skin patches or gels. If you’re prescribed progesterone, it can be combined with estrogen in a pill or patch, but will more likely be given separately.
Hormones can help in manifolds for women’s health. It is widely known that estrogen and progesterone play key roles in your body. Progesterone predominantly helps with pregnancy and the health of your uterus. Besides helping with reproductive functions estrogen also protects your bones, lowers cholesterol, fuels your brain through glucose metabolism and keeps the lining of your vagina healthy. Estrogen receptors in a woman’s brain, bones, heart and blood vessels are not only linked to the menstrual cycle and reproduction function in females they also impact multiple systems. Thus during menopause, women experience things like cognitive decline, mood changes, low libido and a higher risk for osteoporosis.
What are the Benefits of HRT for Women?
Your doctor can help understand the benefits of HRT therapy. If you’re under 40 and experiencing menopausal symptoms, or you’ve reached menopause with no periods for a year and experiencing symptoms that are affecting your quality of life, it might be the right time to see a specialist. Together with your doctor, you can be aware of hormone therapy for women to bring relief.
Listed below are major benefits offered by HRT for women:
1. Bone Health - The most noticeable benefit of HRT for women is the easing of menopausal symptoms. Specialists are of the opinion that hormone therapy also protects your bones.
2. Hormone therapy reduces the risk of fractures. For women for those whose uterus and ovaries are removed before age 45, this is very important. Women having experienced such a type of “surgical menopause” are at a higher risk of bone loss and osteoporosis.
3. Alzheimer’s risk – did you know that hormone therapy for women is beneficial for your brain as it protects the nerve cells? Indeed drop in estrogen during menopause lowers the brain’s ability to get energy from glucose, which is the body’s main fuel source. In order to adapt, the brain switches to using fats, or lipids, for fuel. However, it harvests this fat from the brain’s white matter and uses it to produce ketones—chemicals created in the liver— to provide energy.
4. Thus it is recommended that women start with HRT therapy before reaching menopause and during the perimenopause transition because HRT reduces the risk of this fuel switch and can cut a woman’s Alzheimer’s disease risk in half.
5. Stroke and cancer - Transdermal estrogen patches carry a lower risk of stroke and blood clots for women who still have a uterus. They need combination therapy (estrogen and progesterone). Depending on your age, medical history and hormones your doctor will decide on the HRT therapy for you.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q.1 What are the frequently experienced symptoms around menopause?
During menopause, women experience disturbing symptoms such as:
• Hot flashes and night sweats
• Vaginal dryness
• Bone thinning, or osteoporosis
• Urinary problems
• Thinning hair
• Sleep problems
• Mood changes
• Irregular periods
• Difficulties with concentration and memory
Q.2 How HRT can help manage some of the above symptoms?
Hormone levels change throughout a person’s lifetime. However during menopause levels of progesterone and estrogen fluctuate throughout each month, in females, contributing to the menstrual cycle. HRT for women helps through a prescribed hormonal medication called estrogen and progestin (progesterone). Estrogen is often prescribed as pills, skin patches or gels. Progesterone is combined with estrogen in a pill or patch, but will more likely be given separately.
Q.3 Does HRT cause weight gain?
Some people worry that hormone treatment might lead to weight gain, but there is no evidence to support this. Eating a healthful diet and getting plenty of exercise can help manage the weight gain that commonly affects females in midlife.
Q.4 What are the types of HRT for women?
There are various ways of delivering hormone therapy for women. You can find trusted sources and doctors offering different types and combinations and amounts of hormones depending on your individual case. Ways of delivering HRT include tablets, creams or gels, vaginal rings and skin patches. Common types of HRT include:
• Estrogen-only HRT: A doctor may recommend this if a person has had their uterus and ovaries removed, in which case progesterone is not necessary.
• Cyclical, or sequential, HRT: This may be a good option if symptoms occur before menopause; the dosage can align with the menstrual cycle.
• Continuous HRT: After menopause, a doctor may prescribe a continuous combination of estrogen and progesterone.
• Local estrogen: Vaginal tablets, creams, or rings can help with urogenital symptoms, including vaginal dryness and irritation.
Hormone therapy for women is a new-age approach to a range of health issues. Certain hormones or combinations of hormones are approved to manage symptoms of menopause. Your doctor and healthcare providers can describe the potential benefits in detail and help you make the right decision.
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