Estrogen therapy can help lower the risk of certain health conditions, such as osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke, dementia, and mood changes. By replenishing the supply of hormones, hormone replacement therapy reduces menopausal symptoms. It can also protect you from diseases such as osteoporosis. The benefits of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) often outweigh the risks. Recent evidence indicates that the risks of serious side effects of hormone replacement therapy are very low.
Based on medical conditions, experts say that some women should not take hormone replacement therapy.
Hormone therapy
has also been shown to prevent bone loss and reduce fractures in postmenopausal women. Like all medications and treatments, hormone replacement therapy can cause side effects in some women, such as breast tenderness, headaches, and stomach pain. Hormone therapy is most commonly used to treat common menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes and vaginal discomfort.If a person has a history of blood clots, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, liver disease, or cancer of hormonal origin, such as breast cancer, there are other treatment options. While only two products were studied at the WHO, Premarin and Prempro, it must be assumed that the risks of all hormone treatment products, including natural composite and bioidentical hormones, are similar until proven otherwise. A woman's decision to use a particular hormone product will depend on many factors: her age, her risks, her preferences, the treatment options available and the cost of the product. For best results, hormone therapy must be adapted to each person and reevaluated from time to time to ensure that the benefits outweigh the risks.
However, according to the American Cancer Society, that same combination of hormones can increase the risk of breast cancer. As new therapies and guidelines become available, and as a woman's body changes over time, reevaluations and adjustments must be made. Hormone therapy stabilizes estrogen and progesterone levels in the body, according to the National Institutes of Health. There are a variety of options, she says, from lifestyle modifications to hormone replacement therapy.
These risks depend on the type of hormone therapy, the dosage, the length of time the medication is taken, and individual health risks. It can start as early as age 30, stimulated by natural processes that gradually decrease hormone levels, or it can occur abruptly through surgical removal of the uterus and ovaries, causing you to enter menopause almost overnight. In addition, many of the risks of hormone replacement therapy are the same or even less important than other behaviors, such as alcohol consumption, which can increase estrogen levels in the body. A study of more than 25,000 postmenopausal women between the ages of 50 and 79 found that hormone therapy reduced the risk of fractures.
