What is HRT
HRT is an abbreviation of hormone replacement therapy. It is generally prescribed for the short term relief of the symptoms of the menopause. It is may also be prescribed in the longer term therapy to help prevent osteoporosis. Summary of Risks/Benefits of HRT Studies show that relatively small increase in the risk of heart disease, breast cancer, blood clots, and stroke are posed to an individual woman taking treatment. However, when the entire population of postmenopausal women and the number of years a woman may be on treatment are considered - the number of strokes, heart attacks, breast cancer cases and blood clots tend to outweigh the protective effect of HRT on bones.Women may still wish to consider HRT for short term treatment of menopausal symptoms. The key is weighing the risks associated with taking the treatment against a particular woman's risk of heart disease or osteoporosis without taking treatment. Every woman has a different build-up. Therefore, the entire medical history should be evaluated individually when considering treatment. Forms of treatment - Treatment is available in many forms which include pills, patches, and vaginal creams. It may be necessary in come cases to try more than one regimen before finding which one works best for you.
• Cyclic hormone therapy is generally recommended. With this therapy, estrogen has to be taken in pill form for 25 days, with progestin added somewhere between days 10-14. The estrogen and progestin are taken together for the remaining 25 days. Then no pills are taken for 3-5 days. However there will be monthly bleeding with cyclic therapy.
• Continuous, combined therapy is one where estrogen and progestin are taken together everyday. In the start of this therapy or when switching from cyclic to continuous therapy, a woman may experience irregular bleeding. Most women stop bleeding within 1 year of starting this therapy.
• Treatment is also available as a patch which is applied either to the abdomen or to the thigh. This patch allows estrogen to be absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream. This method is preferred by some women because they do not have to take pills.
• Vaginal cream containing estrogen may also be given to women for vaginal dryness. The cream is usually given with one of the other forms of treatment because the cream may not relieve many of the other symptoms and doesn’t appear to protect against bone disease. More articles on this topic below
About HRT
The hormonal replacement therapy tries to restore the hormones and it also helps in the prevention of various types of diseases. There are various problems that are associated with the menopause like the mental depression and memory loss for a short span of time. As the preparation is synthetic it has other problems associated with it like the cancer related to the ovaries....more
Against
In a study it has been found that women who use estrogen therapy alone have increased risk of developing ovarian cancer. This risk increases with the number of years for which a woman uses estrogen. For a woman who used estrogen for 20 or more years, the risk of ovarian cancer will be three times that of women who did not use estrogen....more
Alternatives
There are a lot of supplements like the vitamin d that is used if the bone weakness occurs. Apart from that there are various types of exercises and yoga therapies that are of a great help. The women undergoing through the problems of wrinkles can follow a regular application of the moisturizers and creams so that the skin is uplifted again....more
Benefits
Research has shown that HRT may also help in preventing osteoporosis, heart disease, short-term memory loss, depression and other diseases in post-menopausal women. HRT is highly effective at relieving menopausal symptoms and may provide protection against conditions such as osteoporosis....more
Fem HRT
It is very convenient when it comes to intake because one has to consume just a pill in a day. The effects are seen in a months and the effects of the hormonal changes are not a problem then. It is synthetic but not problematic as the other forms of HRT are. The only problem is the one of side effects as it is not bio-identical....more
Hysterectomy
If HRT is commenced following hysterectomy, it is generally prescribed as an oestrogen only preparation. This is usually as a daily tablet, a weekly or twice weekly patch, a daily gel, a daily nasal spray, a 3 monthly vaginal ring or a 6 monthly implant. This particular type of prescription is tailored to suit the needs of a woman and is chosen after consideration of individual preference, past history and cost....more
Menopause
The use of HRT is highly effective for improving the quality of life of women suffering from acute symptoms of menopause, like hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, increased fatigue and irritability, depression, skin changes, vaginal dryness and incontinence. There was significant evidence that HRT also provides some long-term protection against cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and colon cancer....more
Natural Hormones
These hormones are efficient in the functioning as they have the same structure and they metabolize in such a way so that the functioning of the kidney and liver is regulated. Some of these are plant based which have become popular and they have fewer side effects and they are known for the building up of the bones and they also help in the avoidance of fractures....more
Patches
The applied skin patch results in the required hormones being delivered directly into the bloodstream. Since they don’t have to travel through the stomach and liver first, the dose is also lower than the dose in tablets which results in less side effects....more
Replacement Options
There are many herbal remedies which may help some women with perimenopausal symptoms. These include black cohosh extract, which help to reduce hot flashes, menstrual cramps and PMS, goldenseal, which lowers blood pressure, flaxseed, which may decrease heavy menstrual bleeding, evening primrose, which may help increase breast tenderness and regulate hormonal levels, and chasteberry, which can help with breast tenderness and menstrual irregularities by increasing progesterone levels. Other plants reputed to have estrogenic activity are ginseng, fenugreek, licorice, sasparilla, gotu kola, dong quai to name a few....more
Side Effects
There are changes observed in the vaginal bleeding of the person and it keeps on changing with the intake of the dose. It can be a problem of for the patients who have been through problems associated with liver....more
Stopping
f stopping of HRT is in mind, a high dose of oestrogen preparation for example a 2mg tablet oestradiol or 75 or 100mcg patch should be reduced for 2-3 months before completely stopping. This is done to minimise the chance of oestrogen deficiency symptoms from coming back. If one is already on a medium or low dose preparation that is about 1mg tablet oestradiol or 25 or 50mcg patch, the reduction is unnecessary....more
Therapy
HRT therapy is used for controlling the problems during menopause but they vary from person to person. Some women may not exhibit many problems but the most common are the hot flashes and they become a matter of great concern. To ad to it there are severe changes in vagina and urinary tract that causes dryness and thinning leading to a great discomfort....more
Tibolone
Tibolone is a synthetic steroid, which has progestogenic and some androgenic properties as well as estrogenic effects. Since it has the effects of all three groups of hormones produced by the ovaries (the female gonads) it has been called as gonadomimetic. It has the advantages of HRT whilst allowing bleed-free HRT for postmenopausal women. However a little irregular bleeding for up to 4-6 months in 10% of patients is a possibility?...more
Weight Gain
Several studies have been undertaken in order to answer this very question asked frequently. The conclusion drawn from these studies is that HRT doesn’t routinely contribute to weight gain. But, there are always exceptions and there have been women who have experienced weight gain....more
Withdrawal
The withdrawal symptoms of HRT can sometimes be very severe for some patients who discontinue their treatment abruptly. It has been discovered that the severity of HRT withdrawal symptoms is dependent on a many factors. Some of the factors determining the extent of withdrawal symptoms are severity of the patient’s original menopausal symptoms, the type of hormone replacement therapy underwent and the length of time a patient was taking hormone replacement therapy....more Related Resources HGH Release Supplement
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