Archive for the 'HRT' Category

Women entering menopause should not worry about hormone replacement therapy - despite a highly publicized study that put off many woman from the drugs.

HRT was popular until 2002 when a Women’s Health Initiative study suggested it could raise the risk not only of breast and ovarian cancer, but also strokes and other serious conditions.

Researchers told a global menopause summit in Madrid that a 2002 study which discouraged many women from hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was flawed, as the subject group was relatively old and suffered from other conditions that all boosted risk.

The message is that each woman should discuss her general health and risk factors such as family history…with her doctor, but generally healthy women entering the menopause should not have fears.

Valerie Beral, an epidemiologist at the University of Oxford cautioned that the Pines-led review only looked at a fraction of the evidence, saying regulators recommend women only use HRT for short periods.

The review does not agree with regulatory bodies in the United Kingdom, U.S. or Europe who have reviewed the totality of the evidence.

Source: Reuters

HRT stands for Hormone Replacement Therapy. It is a highly popular medical regimen that contains one or more female hormones.

The hormones usually include estrogen and synthetic form of the hormone progesterone, also called progestin.

HRT is also known as Hormone Therapy (HT). HRT is usually available in a variety of forms: pills, patches, and vaginal creams.

The hormone therapy involving estrogen only, known as estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) and can be taken by menopausal women.

Mostly, it is prescribed to women who have lost their uterus due to surgical menopause [HRT for menopause]. As there will be no uterus present, the need for progesterone is not compulsory.

‘Continuous’ combined hormone replacement therapy, a most common type of HRT, involves both estrogen and progesterone. Mostly, it is used to prevent the overgrowth of uterine lining.

During this therapy, estrogen will be taken one for each day regularly, while progesterone will be taken on a supplementary basis.

However, irregular bleeding may occur in the beginning of this medication, or moving to this medication from other course of medication. Over eight million women are presently using this combination HRT. It is designed particularly for women who have a uterus.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) also referred to as hormone therapy (HT), is a form of treatment designed to replace one or more female hormones, commonly estrogen and progesterone.

HRT comes in the form of a pill, patch, spray, gel, or implant. Hormone Replacement Therapy is often used to treat menopause symptoms.

Mostly, you will reach the menopause stage between the ages of forty-five and fifty-five where your regular menstruation or menses stops and you no longer produce eggs and give birth to a child.

As you reach your menopause stage, the estrogen and progesterone (the hormones responsible for reproduction) levels in your body decreases and gradually puts an end to your chances of becoming pregnant.

However, the fluctuations of these hormone levels also cause menopause symptoms such as mood swings, hot flushes, excessive sweating, urinal problems, vaginal dryness, vaginal bleeding, sleep disorders, and other symptoms.

Although the menopause stage in females occurs naturally at an age of forty or fifty, having hysterectomy (removal of uterus through surgical method) done at a pre-menopause age can still bring about the menopause. This is known as a surgical menopause.