Hormonal Replacement Therapy

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is one of the treatments approved by the government to relieve the symptoms of menopause. These symptoms, caused by lower estrogen levels in menopause, include hot flashes, sleep disorders, and vaginal dryness. HT is also supported to prevent osteoporosis.
For many years, doctors have routinely prescribed hormone replacement therapy to treat menopausal symptoms and menopause, as well as to reduce the risk of osteoporosis and heart disease.

So what is hormone replacement therapy?

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a treatment used to increase the levels of the body’s natural hormone, either in the form of estrogen alone (ET) treatment, for women who have undergone hysterectomy (or surgical menopause).

Why replacement hormone therapy?

In addition to thickening the lining of the uterus to prepare it for egg implantation, estrogens together with progesterone serves many functions.
Helps the body to take advantage of calcium (important for strengthening bones), helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels, and maintains the health of the vagina.
With the onset of menopause, however, the amount of natural estrogen and progesterone ovaries secrete sharply drops. This in turn can lead to symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, painful intercourse, mood changes and sleep problems. By regenerating estrogen supply in the body, hormone replacement therapy can help relieve symptoms of menopause and protect against osteoporosis.

When should women start hormone replacement therapy, and how long will treatment continue?

Although the average age of menopause is 51, and in many women, severe symptoms often last for two to three years, there are no strict rules about when women reach menopause or about the duration of their symptoms.
Doctors say a low dose of treatment – the most effective way to get the benefits of hormone replacement therapy while limiting the potential increased risk of heart disease and breast cancer identified by the Women Health Initiative, for up to five years is reasonable.
“We say if you have moderate to severe symptoms that are enough to interfere in your life, by all means you should take hormone replacement therapy – but not for more than four or five years,” says Jack Rossouw, Managing Director, WHI. “In most cases, it is not even necessary to take it that long time.”

The bottom line of HRT:

Hormone replacement therapy is not the treatment previously thought to be a cure-all, but for the most severe cases, it remains the best bet to treat unpleasant symptoms of menopause and improve quality of life.

There are two general ways to take HT:

Systemic products spread throughout the bloodstream and throughout the body. It is available a in our pharmacy are available as oral capsules and can be used in hot flushes, night sweats, vaginal symptoms, and osteoporosis.
Local products only affect a specific or local area of the body. It is available as a cream, and can be used for vaginal symptom.

DHEA: Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is typically secreted by the adrenal glands and its secretory rate changes throughout the human lifespan. When human development is completed and adulthood is reached, DHEA levels start to decline so that at 70-80 years of age, peak DHEA concentrations are only 10-20% of those in young adults.

There are also side effects associated with the drop in DHEA among menopausal women, including:

Decreased libido
Decreased strength
Decreased muscle mass
Decreased bone density
Decreased energy

Progesterone: Women can take progesterone by mouth for inducing menstrual periods and treating abnormal uterine bleeding associated with hormonal imbalance, and severe symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Progesterone is also used in combination with the hormone estrogen as part of hormone replacement therapy. If estrogen is given without progesterone, estrogen increases the risk of uterine cancer.

Progesterone is also used to ease withdrawal symptoms when certain drugs (benzodiazepines) are discontinued.

Progesterone cream is sometimes used in hormone replacement therapy and for treating menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes. Topical progesterone is also used for treating or preventing certain allergies in which hormones play a role; and for treating bloating, breast tenderness, decreased sex drive, depression fatigue, lumpy (fibrocystic) breasts, headaches, low blood sugar, increased blood clotting, infertility, irritability, memory loss, miscarriages, brittle bones (osteoporosis), bone loss in younger women, symptoms of PMS, thyroid problems, “foggy thinking,” uterine cancer, uterine fibroids, water retention, weight gain, and vaginal irritation.

As you get into your midlife, prevention becomes your best defense against age-related health conditions.

Pregnenolone: is vital to correct hormone imbalance in females. Pregnenolone is the building block of your hormonal response, and has the ability to affect all of your primary hormones, making it the most influential tool to fight the onset of aging.

Typically, we consider using Pregnenolone replacement therapy to address hormone imbalance issues such as:

Reducing the onset of fatigue
Increasing your vitality and energy
Preventing Alzheimer’s disease
Enhancing your memory
Recovery from trauma and other injuries
Stress reduction
Immune system booster
Treat skin disorders including psoriasis and scleroderma
Reverse typical signs of aging
Arthritis treatment
Improving depression symptoms.

In addition, it’s common for women to use Pregnenolone replacement therapy to treat conditions like:

Fibrocystic breast disease, or lumpy breasts
Endometriosis -a disorder of the lining of the uterus
The symptoms of menopause
Premenstrual syndrome.

Thyroid capsules: As some symptoms of thyroid disease can be similar to postmenopausal symptoms, it’s not unusual for them to be incorrectly attributed to the menopause or even put down to stress. To check the diagnosis, a blood test for thyroid function should be performed.

Vitamin D3 capsules: If you are approaching menopause, or already experience menopause, it’s time to think about vitamin D. This little wonder of a vitamin plays a central role in many body processes and is on the A-list for women during menopause. Studies have linked it to preventing heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, cancer and weight gain.

Estradiol cream: for topical application to the vaginal area used to treat certain symptoms of menopause such as dryness, burning, and itching of the vaginal area and urgency or irritation with urination

Testosterone cream: testosterone cream for women and other treatments could help women combat a variety of health issues. Whether you want to increase your sex drive, fight aging or avoid the effects of menopause, it can improve your health and confidence. Many postmenopausal women may also benefit from testosterone therapy. There is little research on the long-term safety of the therapy for those with a history of: