Hormone Replacement Therapy and its Various Types
HRT (Hormone replacement therapy, also referred to as hormone therapy, estrogen replacement therapy, or menopausal hormone therapy, is a treatment that uses the female hormones progesterone and estrogen to treat the symptoms of aging and menopause. Often, doctors prescribe it during or after menopause.
After the end o your periods, the level of hormones in your body falls causing uncomfortable symptoms like hot flashes, vaginal dryness and conditions like osteoporosis. The HRT replaces the hormones that your body is no longer capable of making. The HRT is the most effective treatment for symptoms of menopause.
The Importance of Estrogen
You might think of pregnancy when you think of oestrogen. In women who are in the age of childbearing, estrogen helps the uterus to get ready to receive the fertilized egg. It has other functions as well–it controls how your body uses calcium, which helps in bone strengthening, and raises the good cholesterol levels in the blood.
When is the Right Time to Tale Progesterone
If you have your womb, it is not advisable to take estrogen without progesterone as it grows your cancer of the endometrium risk. The fact that the endometrium cells are no longer leaving your body during your period, they may build up in the womb and lead to cancer. Progesterone lowers this risk by thickening the lining.
Hormone Replacement Therapy Types
In general, doctors suggest that women who have undergone hysterectomy should ingest a low dose of estrogen. There are many forms of the estrogen hormone with the most common being the patch and the pill, but there are also other forms available such as the vaginal ring, gel or spray.
Estrogen/Progesterone/Progestin Therapy
It is often referred to a combination therapy since it combines doses of estrogen and progestin, the synthetic form of progesterone. The treatment is designed for women who still have their uterus.
Women with a family history of osteoporosis as well as those experiencing mild to severe symptoms of menopause are all candidates for hormone replacement therapy.On the other hand, women that have breast cancer, heart disease, liver disease, or a history of blood clots as well as those without the menopausal symptoms should not go to the hormone replacement therapy.
Hormone Replacement Therapy Regimes
Depending on whether you are in the early stages of the menopause, or you have had the menopausal symptoms for a while, you have different HRT courses to choose. The common regimes are the Cyclical or Sequential and the Continuous HRT.
The sequential HRT is for women using the combined HRT who have the menopausal symptoms but are still having their periods. Cyclical HRT is of two types; the Monthly HRT for women with regular periods and the three-monthly HRT for irregular periods.
Continuous combined HRT is for women who are post-menopausal meaning that they haven’t had their period for a year. It is the continued use of estrogen and progesterone every day without a break.