Hormonal Treatment Option for Women
Hot flushes, excessive sweating, vaginal dryness… For the longest time, these conditions have come to be associated with the dreaded mid-life crisis among women called menopause. After all, menopause, which usually occurs between ages 45 and 55, means more than just cessation of the monthly menstruation. It is the period in a woman’s life when the ovaries stop producing estrogen, a steroid hormone which promotes the development and maintenance of female secondary sex characteristics. The resulting hormonal disturbance affects the equilibrium of the body, therefore leading to conditions like hot flushes, sweating and vaginal dryness. These conditions tend to interfere with normal life. Hot flushes and sweating, for instance, cause a lot of inconvenience, since a menopausal woman has as many as 10 to 15 episodes of such every day. The hormonal disturbance also causes menopausal women to experience mood swings.
These are the immediate effects of menopause. There are, however, more serious long-term effects to estrogen deficiency, such as brittleness of bones that eventually leads to debilitating diseases like osteoporosis.
Until recently, these immediate and long-term effects of menopause were considered inevitable, something which women simply had to live with. Then, after years of research and study, medical scientists discovered the beneficial effects of Hormonal Replacement Therapy (HRT), and women welcomed it as the possible solution to their menopause-related problems.
The concept of the HRT is simple: Replace the hormones that become lost with menopause. By doing so, it is supposed to put an end to the hot flushes, sweating and vaginal dryness that menopausal women experience. Scientific studies have also shown that HRT reduces the risk of osteoporotic fractures by about 40% and the risk of cardiovascular disease by half. Estrogen replacement is also being touted as an effective therapy for other disabling problems, such as urogenital aging, urinary incontinence and pain during intercourse.
A health expert said that after menopause, the body does not get any hormones. So, when you take HRT, the body has to adapt to its new condition. The deficiency in estrogens during the menopause may ultimately lead to brittleness of the bones, making it very fragile and fracture-prone.
But it is still best to consult an OB-gynecologist first before getting started on any HRT program.
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