How Is Hormone Replacement Therapy Beneficial To Women's Health?
Menopause is a cycle of life that all women go through. For some women, it is a great feeling of relief to reach the age of menopause and no longer have to go through menstruation every month. However, for other women, menopause is not an enjoyable time of life. There are various symptoms that often occur during menopause that can be quite unpleasant. Often these symptoms are treated by hormone replacement therapy. This involves taking estrogen or estrogen and progesterone on a daily basis. HRT is also used to treat and prevent other health conditions that women commonly have as well. These are some ways that hormone replacement therapy is beneficial to women's health.
Menopause Relief
The main reason that many women begin hormone replacement therapy is to treat the symptoms of menopause that are sometimes difficult to tolerate. These include hot flashes, night sweats, dry, itchy skin, and vaginal dryness. When these symptoms occur, it can also affect a woman's mood as well. Hormone replacement therapy helps prevent these symptoms from occurring as frequently and makes them milder if they do occur. HRT also has been found to improve the overall mood of women during menopause and gives them a better sense of wellbeing.
Strengthening Bones
As women age, their bodies do not produce as much calcium as when they were younger. This is due to a lower natural production of estrogen, which also helps manage how calcium is used in the body. When estrogen is put back into a woman's body through hormone replacement therapy, the body's level of calcium increases and this makes the bones stronger and less porous. HRT prevents osteoporosis from occurring and also helps decrease the loss of teeth.
Cardiovascular Benefits
Hormone replacement therapy has also been shown to have a positive impact on a woman's cardiovascular system. Taking estrogen helps increase good cholesterol (HDL) and decrease bad cholesterol (LDL). It also helps relax and dilate blood vessels so that the blood flows properly throughout the body. Estrogen also absorbs free radicals in the blood that might otherwise cause damage to the arteries and tissues of the heart.
Determining which type of hormone replacement therapy one should begin depends mainly on if a woman still has her uterus. If a woman does have her uterus intact, she will most likely benefit from taking a combination of both estrogen and progesterone. This is because taking estrogen alone can cause excess cell growth in the uterus, which may then lead to uterine cancer. Taking progesterone along with estrogen causes the body to shed these cells every month so that cancer does not develop. If a woman has had a hysterectomy and no longer has a uterus, taking estrogen alone is sufficient.
For more information on hormone therapy, talk to your doctor today.
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