Hrt - Good Or Bad?
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) has been the answer to many women's health problems for many years. Many women have taken it to in an attempt to reduce the risk of heart disease, dementia and osteoporosis, not to mention the symptoms of menopause itself such as hot flashes, sweating, anxiety, Insomnia, irritability, loss or libido and vaginal dryness.
However, there have been recent findings from several large studies indicating that oestrogen plus progesterone can increase the risk of heart attacks, strokes, breast cancer and embolism. Due to this, the guidelines for taking HRT have been revised and the combination therapy of oestrogen and progesterone is usually only recommended for short term relief of menopausal symptoms or for the prevention of osteoporosis if other treatments were not suitable for use.
Due to these new found risks and its publicity, many women have stopped using HRT. Some have continued to use the combination due to its beneficial effects on their moods and quality of life.
The decision that many women face at menopause is whether or not she should take hormone replacement therapy and there is no overall answer that suits all women.
Different women experience the menopause in different ways. Not all women experience hot flashes and night sweats. Some women experience milder symptoms which disappear by themselves whilst other women go through very severe symptoms that can last for years if not treated.
In the past, there has been two main reasons to consider taking HRT, that being relief for menopausal symptoms and the other for prevention of the above mentioned diseases.
Although hormone therapy is still the most effective way to relive a woman's menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes and nightly sweats, experts are still reassessing HRT and the assumptions about its preventative abilities. It is now believed that HRT may not be a woman's best option against osteoporosis, Alzheimer's and Heart Disease as doctors originally assumed.
The research and data regarding HRT still remains conflicting and confusing. Each study prevents conflicting good and bad news. The problems appear to be due to much of the previous research being observational. During the course of many studies, researchers have studied women who take hormones and compare them to women who do not take hormones. They note disease patterns instead of conducting random controlled clinical tests. Experts are now emphasising on the scientific evidence that comes out of controlled clinical tests and as a result hormone therapy is considered to be a short term remedy for hot flashes, along with other menopausal symptoms. Many doctors and women now fail to see any reason to continue with their treatment after five years.
Therefore a woman, once advised by her physician must weigh the pros and cons of HRT and then decide whether it is beneficial to her.