Estrogen therapy can help lower the risk of certain health conditions, such as osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke, dementia, and mood changes. If hot flashes, night sweats, and other menopausal symptoms make you feel sick, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can help.
Here, Dr. Jennifer Howell, an obstetrician, gynecologist and certified menopause specialist, answers the most frequently asked questions about hormone therapy.
Vaginal estrogens help with vaginal dryness.It doesn't increase the risk of breast cancer, blood clots, or other conditions. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a treatment that doctors may recommend to control menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes and night sweats. It helps balance estrogen and progesterone levels. However, HRT may not be safe for all people.
People over 60 who start hormone replacement therapy have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and dementia, which is why hormone replacement therapy is not usually recommended because the risks outweigh the benefits. For best results, hormone therapy must be adapted to each person and reevaluated from time to time to ensure that the benefits continue to outweigh the risks. Hormonal therapy is associated with certain harmless side effects that are transient and usually go away. If menopausal hormone therapy is contraindicated or not desired, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, such as paroxetine, escitalopram, venlafaxine and desvenlafaxine, may be considered, as well as gabapentin.
Hormone therapy is most commonly used to treat common menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes and vaginal discomfort. Hormonal therapy for menopause and the risk of ovarian cancer in the National Institutes of Health (AARP) diet and health study cohort. When hormone replacement therapy is used for more than five years, the risks of blood clots, strokes, and breast cancer (especially when medications containing progesterone are used) may increase as you age and the longer you take the medication. Duke Health's certified menopausal specialists are obstetricians and gynecologists who can prescribe hormonal hormone therapy, but your primary care provider or obstetrician gynecologist can also prescribe hormone therapy.
If you're considering hormone therapy, it's important to learn everything you can from your healthcare provider. Hormone replacement therapy focuses primarily on replacing estrogen that the body no longer produces after menopause. Symptoms that may or may not respond to hormone therapy include mood, joint pain, and lack of concentration and memory, commonly referred to as “mental confusion.” In the NCI study on hormone therapy and ovarian cancer, researchers examined data from a large study involving 23,722 women who underwent hysterectomies and 73,483 women. with the uterus intact.
