Hormone Replacement Therapy can be a very effective way to reduce your symptoms of the menopause, decrease your risk of developing breast cancer, prevent bone loss and fractures, and protect your kidneys. However, there are a few important considerations that you should make before you sign up for it.
Reduce symptoms of the menopause
Menopause symptoms can interfere with your life, and hormone replacement therapy can reduce them. However, it’s important to understand the benefits and risks of this treatment, before deciding on whether or not to use it.
HRT can be used to relieve menopausal symptoms, and can help prevent bone loss. Women can use estrogen alone, or progestin, or a combination of both. The benefits and risks of the various treatments will depend on your health, age, and the length of your medication. It is always best to discuss hormone therapy with a physician.
Hormone replacement therapy is not usually a good choice for women who have never had menopause. Some people may need to take more than one type of HRT, and women should speak with their GP to determine which option is right for them.
Symptoms of the menopause can cause a variety of discomforts, including hot flashes, night sweats, and urinary symptoms. Fortunately, many of these symptoms will subside on their own. Others will get worse as the menopause progresses.
Estrogen is the most common form of treatment. Women can take estrogen pills, creams, or patches. Depending on the type of estrogen, they can be taken once a day, every other day, or several times a day.
If a woman has a uterus, she will usually need to take a combination of estrogen and progesterone. She might need a vaginal ring or patch, or a skin patch. These are also available in gel and spray forms.
Another treatment option is low-dose vaginal estrogen products. These are usually used to treat the vaginal symptoms of menopause, but are not generally recommended for other purposes.
For some women, menopausal symptoms can be managed through alternative methods such as homeopathy, herbal therapies, or increased physical activity. Other treatment options include the use of bioidentical hormones, which are produced in an exact match to your own hormones. Bioidentical hormones can be effective, but they may have certain risks, such as potency and purity.
Those who start hormone therapy at an early age are at risk of developing the conditions listed above. But the benefits of hormone therapy outweigh the risks for most women.
Prevent bone loss and fractures
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a treatment that can reduce the risk of fractures in postmenopausal women. In particular, the risk of vertebral fractures is reduced in women who use the therapy. Despite its proven efficacy, HRT has a number of drawbacks, including increased risk of breast cancer. If you’re willing to brave the risks then you might want to visit Juventee, a Hormone Replacement Clinic in Hoboken NJ.
For patients who suffer from osteoporosis, hormone replacement therapy can be effective. However, it is important to know the risks and benefits of taking the drug. It is also important to talk to your doctor about your individual needs.
Several clinical trials have been conducted to test the effectiveness and safety of hormone therapy. These studies are divided into prevention and treatment trials. Prevention trials are designed to assess whether a particular medication will prevent bone loss and fractures. Treatment trials are based on a patient’s individual risk of bone loss and fractures.
Studies have shown that estrogen plays an important role in preventing bone loss and fractures. Compared to bisphosphonates, estrogen has similar efficacy in reducing the risk of osteoporotic fractures. Some studies have reported that the effects of estrogen are weakened after the first 60 years of age.
The National Institute for Health Care Excellence recommends using a bone mineral density test when taking hormone therapy. This is because it is possible to detect early signs of bone loss. A dual energy x-ray absorptiometry scan is the most common test to measure bone density.
There are several medications available to treat osteoporosis. They vary in dosage and carry slight to moderate risks.
Bone quality is dependent on a number of factors, including genetics, diet, exercise, and hormonal balance. Estrogen deficiency is the major factor predisposing to osteoporosis. If a woman is at high risk for fractures, she should consider taking an antiresorptive medication.
Osteoporosis is a disease that affects 10 million Americans, and the risk increases with age. It causes pain and emotional distress. Medications that can be used include Reclast, which can reduce fractures in the hip and leg; Zometa, which can reduce the risk of fractures in the hip and spine; and Raloxifene, which can increase blood clots.
Protect kidney function
Many studies have found hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to be an effective way to prevent a number of renal disorders. HRT is also a safe and cost-effective alternative to dialysis. In addition, it has been proven to increase the longevity of kidney tissue.
One of the best known benefits of HRT is that it helps reduce the rate at which your renal function declines. This is particularly true in older patients. A recent study evaluated the effects of HRT on renal function in elderly women. It was found that the most common regiment was associated with a pronounced decrease in serum creatinine and eGFR. Additionally, the study showed that the cumulative intake of estrogen over a 2-year period was associated with an accelerated decline in renal function.
The aforementioned study did not investigate the actual efficacy of the most widely prescribed tamoxifen-containing regiment, which was associated with an increased risk of CKD and hypertension. More interestingly, however, the most common tamoxifen regiment was associated with an increased risk of a host of other adverse effects, including myocardial dysfunction and vascular disease. Fortunately, a newer and better regiment, known as tamoxifen and glucocorticoid-containing regiments, is proving to be a more promising option. Besides tamoxifen, a number of other regiments have been found to be more effective, with some evidence that they might be more protective than tamoxifen alone.
Other noteworthy studies have uncovered links between HRT and an increased likelihood of surviving a traumatic brain injury, a major health hazard in older adults. Similarly, tamoxifen and glucocorticoid-containing HRT have been found to be protective against pulmonary fibrosis, a serious complication of age-related lung disease. However, the evidence is less compelling for age-related lung diseases like asthma and COPD. Despite these findings, HRT remains a controversial topic and is unlikely to be widely adopted in the near future. Therefore, it is imperative that patients and their physicians be informed of its benefits and limitations. Luckily, the good news is that tamoxifen and glucocorticoid-containing treatment regiments are more likely to be introduced as part of a more comprehensive approach to treating the elderly.
Reduce risk of breast cancer
If you have a hormone-receptor positive breast cancer, hormone replacement therapy (HT) can help you to reduce the risk of a cancer returning or spreading to other parts of the body. HT works by blocking the hormones from attaching to the receptors on the cancer cells. It can be used after surgery to lessen the risk of a cancer returning and before surgery to shrink the tumor before removal.
However, HT has side effects. You may need to undergo regular follow-up visits to monitor how your body responds to the hormones. In addition, some forms of HT have not been evaluated in long-term randomized trials. Observational studies with estrogen use for more than five years have shown a 20-30 percent increase in breast cancer rates.
The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) conducted the largest study of hormone replacement therapy to date. It was designed to evaluate the risks and benefits of using hormone therapy after menopause. The study included 27,000 women. During the trial, the main adverse outcomes were heart disease, stroke, and breast cancer. A secondary outcome was bone fracture.
The findings of the WHI were not consistent with those of many other studies. One large observational study, the Million Women Study, found an increased incidence of breast cancer in participants taking estrogen. Another study, the ET trial, found no increase in breast cancer after 10 years of long-term follow-up. But there was a small increase in stroke.
HT is sometimes combined with targeted therapy to enhance its effectiveness. The drugs attack specific weaknesses in cancer cells, such as the ability to grow. Sometimes a combination of HT and targeted therapy is used to treat a breast cancer that has spread.
Studies are ongoing to better understand how hormone therapy affects other parts of the body. As a result, the use of HT may be limited to those with hormone-sensitive tumors. Those with high cancer risks may be offered HT for a longer period of time.
Several pharmaceutical companies are working on creating SERMs that will prevent osteoporosis, bone fracture, and blood clots. Researchers and doctors hope these therapies will be effective without increasing the risk of cancer.