Menopause is a regular change in a woman’s body that happens when she stops being able to have children. In the U.S., the average start age is 51, but it can happen to a woman as early as her 40s. Some women don’t have any problems during menopause, but others may have problems like hot flashes and night sweats. Most of the time, hormone replacement treatment (HRT) can help with these.
What Is Hormone Replacement Therapy?
When a woman moves through menopause, her body stops making estrogen. Many of the signs and symptoms of menopause are caused by this drop in estrogen. We might give you medicine with these female hormones during hormone replacement treatment. If you take this treatment every day, it can help you get rid of bothersome menopause symptoms. Hormone treatment also has some other benefits, like stopping bone loss and making it less likely that you’ll break a bone.
Does Hormone Replacement Therapy work?
People can react well, especially when handling vasomotor symptoms like night sweats, hot flashes, trouble sleeping, memory problems, and general joint pain, which tend to happen earlier in menopause and sometimes with a lot of severity.
Later, sexual and urine symptoms like vaginal dryness, pain during sex, frequent urination, and the need to go to the bathroom immediately, and more UTIs may appear. About half of the women have these signs and symptoms. Hormone replacement treatment can help with symptoms and lower the chance of diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis.
Symptoms of Hormone Replacement Therapy
If the signs of menopause are getting in the way of your daily life, you may want to try hormone replacement treatment. It can be hard to see things clearly during menopause, so you might not realize that your symptoms are due to it. Know that there are ways to treat you, and you can get help.
- Not getting enough or any sleep.
- Getting hot flashes and sweating at night
- Having pain in your joints, muscles, and other parts of your body
- Hearing from family and close friends that you’re acting or responding in a strange way
- Feeling like you don’t have enough energy or that you can’t be as busy as usual
- Feeling like you aren’t getting as much done as usual
- Getting upset over things that usually wouldn’t bother you
- Feeling like your body or feelings are out of your hands
- Having trouble remembering, thinking, speaking, or doing your job
- Not feeling good about sexual action
- Having pain that keeps coming back and doesn’t go away
People often have these and other signs. A doctor can confirm what you’re saying, look at your symptoms, and help you find the best way to feel better.
Is it safe to use hormone replacement therapy?
In fact, for decades, it was the most common treatment for menopause because it helps with the most symptoms and works the best. But in 2002, after a study about women who started the drug 10 years or more after menopause began, it stopped being used in the United States.
The study found that some women were facing more health risks. Before the careful review, the study was widely shared, making the risks seem worse. Many women in the US quit taking hormone replacement treatment. And millions of people never began. Women in other countries kept getting the help they needed from hormone replacement treatment.
Research shows that the benefits of hormone replacement treatment are greater for most women than the risks. If someone has had a blood clot, deep vein thrombosis, lung embolism, liver disease, or cancer caused by hormones, like breast cancer, there are other ways to treat them.
For example, a patch is less likely to cause blood to clot than other ways of giving medicine, and it may protect against osteoporosis better than taking pills. Also, many of the risks of hormone replacement treatment are the same as or even less serious than the risks of doing other things, like drinking booze, which can raise the body’s estrogen levels.
Hormone replacement therapy may lead to side effects in some women, such as sore breasts, headaches, and stomachaches, just like any other medicine or treatment. If you are worried about the risks, speak to your doctor about what you should do.
Why should menopause symptoms be treated?
If your symptoms are making your life less enjoyable, keeping you from doing things you normally do or getting in the way of what you want to be done that day, you don’t have to live that way. And you shouldn’t, especially if it makes it hard for you to sleep. When you don’t get enough sleep, it’s hard to feel good, focus, and do your best. Women’s worries should be taken seriously, examined, and given care choices so they can feel and be their best.
Are enough women getting help for menopause symptoms?
Women can’t get evaluated or treated because they don’t know about it, are embarrassed about it, don’t understand it, or can’t get to it. Also, some doctors and nurses aren’t trained to feel safe talking about symptoms or treatment choices. Look for a practitioner qualified by the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) to get expert advice.
What else do women require to understand about menopause?
If going through menopause was easy and smooth, there’s no need to apologize. Even if you don’t need treatment, menopause is a good time to think about where you are in life and what you can do to stay healthy in the future. Think about how you will keep your bones healthy and lean muscle mass. Learn about possible signs and solutions to feel more in control and take action. There are ways to help that are safe and work well.
Conclusion
HRT is used to treat the signs of menopause and stop its effects on bone strength and the risk of heart disease. It should be changed depending on what the patient wants. Many choices are available today, from simple pills to natural methods like transdermal E1 and vaginal progesterone that aren’t taken by mouth.
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