Medical science has come far in terms of everything. There is no doubt that this field is fully capable of delivering miracles to everyone. And with the introduction of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), women undergoing menopause can benefit greatly!
HRT is a medication that contains female hormones to add some oestrogen or progestin to your body. Women during menopause often run low on these hormones, and their shortage can disrupt their lives. The HRT medications can supply your body with oestrogen, progestin, or testosterone to treat common menopausal symptoms.
What Are The Benefits Of HRT?
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is one of the most widely used medications that address multiple issues for women in their menopause. Dealing with menopause is difficult, and everyone goes through its dreaded symptoms. An HRT can help in curbing these signs. Here are the several benefits of HRT for women:
- Help With Frequent Hot Flashes
If you feel a sudden warmth up your upper body, especially the face, chest and neck, and these occurrences have suddenly increased or started happening once you entered menopause, you are evidencing a hot flash.
A hot flash can cause you to sweat profusely and redden your skin, making it appear as if you are blushing. And once you lose the heat in your body, you feel chilly afterwards. Hot flashes that are more prominent during the night are called night sweats, and they can even disrupt your sleep cycle, making you feel cranky the next day. Getting an HRT relieves you from hot flashes and night sweats.
- Curb Extreme Mood Swings
Feeling extremely irritated or sad during menopause is common. This happens because your body decreases the oestrogen levels during this stage, making you feel as if you are experiencing PMS (premenstrual syndrome). Some of the most common emotional changes a woman feels during menopause are:
- Sadness
- Irritability
- Anxiety
- Aggressiveness
- Hard time concentrating
- Extreme fatigue
- Quick change in your mood
- Lack of motivation
There have been various studies that reveal the importance of HRT to treat severe mood swings that cause a hurdle in your current living situation.
- Deal With Vaginal Problems
Most women experience vaginal atrophy that leads to thin, inflamed, dry vaginal walls, causing vaginal dryness and making sexual intercourse painful. The main culprit behind this condition is menopause.
Supplying oestrogen levels in your body increase your vagina’s lubrication to help with the dryness and flexibility. Hormone replacement therapy provides high hormone doses to help with vaginal problems.
- Strengthen Your Bladder
Urinary tract infections are common for women of every age and can increase as you grow older. A review by the National Library of Medicine has given a critical overview of considering HRT for treating urinary symptoms. Giving your body a high dose of oestrogen can cure urinary stress and allow you to control incontinence. It can even reduce the risk of recurrent infections for menopausal women with a history of urinary tract infections.
- Improve Your Sex Life
The declining hormones in your body can negatively affect your sex drive because once you reach menopause, you are not fertile and cannot reproduce. Naturally, this decreases your libido, leading to a loss of interest in sex.
Sex hormones like testosterone, oestrogen, and progesterone are associated with making libido in women. And during menopause, you will see a decline in their numbers. HRT can boost oestrogen and progestin, which can improve your sexual drive. Depending on your dosage amount, you might have to wait for at least six months to see results. But once you get a balanced amount of hormones in your body, they can even amp up your libido.
- Prevent Bone Fracture Or Loss
Systematic oestrogen prevents osteoporosis, a bone-thinning disease that can weaken your bones and make them brittle. They can become brittle to the point that even coughing or bending can cause a fracture. This condition can accelerate during menopause. Some studies suggest that taking HRT at different doses can preserve bone mineral density and even reduce non-vertebral and vertebral fractures.
Who Should And Shouldn’t Take HRT?
While most women with no serious health problems can take HRT with proper consultation from their doctor, some will need to be cautious of their hormone dosage. According to a few clinical trials, hormone replacement therapy that was held for the oestrogen-progestin pill increased the risk of breast cancer, stroke, blood clots, and heart disease. These risks were directly related to the women’s:
- Age: Women who reached 60 or started their hormone therapy after 10 years of the onset of menopause were at greater risk.
- Health History: Family history was major in developing HRT side effects. Your personal and family health history determines whether you will develop the risks of HRT.
- Hormone Therapy Type: The risk of HRT also varies depending on the type of HRT medication you are taking, whether it’s an oestrogen-only or progestin mixed. It also depends on the amount of dose you take.
So, there are chances of HRT not suiting you if you:
- Arepregnant because it is possible to get pregnant while taking HRT. So, if you are under 50 years, continue with your contraception until two years after your last period
- Have liver disease
- Have a history of medical conditions like blood clots or ovarian, blood, or womb cancer
- Have untreated blood pressure
I Don’t Want To Take HRT! What Should I Do?
If you are from a group of women who cannot take HRT or, for some reason, don’t want to add artificial hormones to your body, there is no need to worry! It’s not the only option to relieve your menopausal problems and you don’t have to continue living by compromising with them. You can still resort to other methods.
- Approach a healthy lifestyle to deal with hot flashes and night sweats. Limit your caffeinated and alcoholic beverages. Practice meditation or other relaxation methods to stay calm. Talk to your doctor, as they can prescribe you some non-hormonal medicines.
- If you have vaginal concerns like painful intercourse or dryness, apply a lubricant or vaginal moisturiser for relief. Your doctor may even prescribe certain medicines that don’t contain hormones to deal with the pain during sex.
Author Bio: Krishma Patel is the Co-founder and the Superintendent Pharmacist at MedsNow, an online pharmacy in the UK that provides health and wellness products and treatments along with free online consultations. She is passionate about showcasing the integral function community pharmacies can play in supporting the healthcare system and the NHS by providing patients with high quality, safe and discreet access to healthcare at their convenience. Along with being the co-founder of MedsNow, Krishma is also the Director and the Superintendent Pharmacist of Enimed Ltd., an independent pharmacy group comprising 32 branches.
