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Article Series: Menopause
Menopause Symptoms and Relief
Disadvantages
of
Hormone Therapy for Menopausal Women
Using Hormone replacement is considered the norm in today’s
society at large. The first thing women think about when
they hear the word menopause is HRT. Menopause is not an
illness but rather a very normal stage of the aging process
in a woman, leading her out of her childbearing years. It
is the physical changes and symptoms that can make a woman
feel like she has a disease not to mention put her at risk
for developing certain illnesses later on as she ages. Women
need to make sure they know all of the information available
on HRT today to make an informed decision for them. Not knowing
what the issues are that concern HRT can end up causing some
woman more discomfort and side effects then the menopause
itself.
The hormones involved in the normal menstrual cycle and with
hormone replacement are extremely complex and carry out many
functions. Estrogen and progesterone are the two hormones that
play the most critical role in a woman’s physical and emotional
state through out her life. Once menopause occurs the production
of both these hormones goes down and the ovaries lose their
function. This causes multiple physiological affects and changes
in the body. The most common changes and symptoms are missed
menstrual periods, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, increased
risk of heart disease, and loss of bone density.
Hormone replacement is a full or partial replacement of the
female hormones progesterone and estrogen into a woman’s system
once her ovaries have ceased their biological function. These
replacements are available in several forms that include pills,
skin patch, a cream that is vaginally inserted, or through
injection at a doctor’s office. The pill form of these hormones
is taking in different doses through out the recreated menstrual
cycle to mimic what the body would have been doing. Usually
estrogen is taken daily through the entire cycle while progesterone
is only taken in the later half. One the progesterone is stopped
the menses begins and the HRT cycle is repeated. The actual
doses will vary woman to woman and depend on the severity of
symptoms as well as other issues. The patch is worn on the
skin and hormones can pass directly through and not even have
to be processed before they begin to work. This helps to lessen
the side effects of the HRT in general. Vaginal creams are
a great way to help solve vaginal dryness that can be quite
irritating and cause painful intercourse. They do not help
as well as other therapy types when it comes to other symptoms
or prevention of menopausal diseases. Injection hormones are
quite effective but can be a pain since more doctor appointments
are required.
When considering whether HRT is for you really need to make
sure you are fully aware of all the possible side effects
and risks to your health before receiving treatment. It is important
to know that using estrogen alone for women who still have
their uterus is not healthy and can increase the risk of uterine
cancer. For these women a progesterone supplement must also
be in the mix to make sure that they get a menses each month.
This sheds the uterine lining build up that the estrogen makes
as well as reducing the risk of cancer. The risk of breast
cancer is more prominent for those women on HRT of any kind
verses the women who elect to not be on it. The studies thus
far have been inconclusive with the majority of woman who now
has breast cancer having been on HRT for more than 15 years.
These are the same risks as for women on birth control as well.
If a woman already has a form of cancer that has yet to be
detected then HRT can cause its rapid growth. More common and
less life threatening side effects of HRT are nausea, breast
tenderness, cramping and weight gain. These can also be very
annoying for a woman. Rarely, hormones can interfere with liver
function and have also been associated with an increased risk
of gallbladder disease in the women who use them. There are
over 40 different combinations of HRT available, so if one
doesn't work well for you there will be other options. You
should try each method of treatment for 3 months before deciding
if it's suitable for you. Possible side effects:
- Nausea
- Breast tenderness
- Bloating, due to fluid retention
- Headaches
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by SolveYourProblem.com
: 2006
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