Menopause - Mid Life Services
Here is some information about hormone therapy or HT.
It can relieve symptoms of menopause. It can also prevent osteoporosis — bone thinning. Before using HT/ET, you need to know the possible advantages, disadvantages, benefits, risks, and warning signs to watch for. We have listed them here for you. Be sure to read the manufacturer’s information, too. We are happy to answer any questions you have.
We will also give you information about the use, effectiveness, advantages, disadvantages, benefits risks, and warning signs of alternative therapies that do not contain hormones. Let us know if you have any questions about them.
Perimenopause is the period of gradual changes that leads into menopause. It’s when a woman’s body makes less and less estrogen and progesterone. Menopause is the time at midlife when a woman has had her last period because hormone production has stopped.
HT combines two hormones — estrogen and progestin — that are like those a woman’s body makes during her fertile years. For women who have not had a hysterectomy, HT can relieve the symptoms some women experience during this time of life. For women who have had a hysterectomy, ET — estrogen only — is recommended instead.
The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Study
In 2002, a study of postmenopausal hormone therapy compared women who were taking estrogen combined with progestin to women taking placebo (sugar) pills. The study was stopped early because it found increased risk of breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and blood clots in the women taking hormones. Some benefits were also shown. Women taking hormones had fewer cases of hip fractures and colon cancer.
Although there was no increase in death rates for women taking hormones, it was decided that the overall health risk — especially for cardiovascular disease and breast cancer — was greater than the benefits of lowering the risk of colon cancer and bone fractures.
A WHI study of the effects of estrogen without progestin is still continuing. |
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