Estrogen Hormone Therapy: Is It Good for Women with Menopause Symptoms?

Women’s health, as well as mood, depends to a great extent on their hormone levels, i.e. Estrogen! Estrogen therapy is helpful in menopause symptoms.

While estrogen is the dominant sex hormone in females and helps them remain sexually active, its level drops or decreases as they age or approach menopause. As a result, hormonal withdrawal symptoms appear. Some of them can be mild whereas some can be severe and unbearable. The most common ones are:

• Hot flashes
• Night sweats
• Disturbed sleeping
• Vaginal dryness
• Anxieties and stress
• Chills
• Weight gain
• Hair loss
• Dryness in skin

Also called Menopause symptoms, these can cause dominant changes in a woman’s health and even disrupt her daily life. It is a recommendation for any women distress with these symptoms to go for hormone therapy immediately with the consultation of a doctor or hormone expert.

Hormone replacement therapy or just hormone therapy is a routine therapy comprising of medications that help to restore the estrogen hormone in women that their body stops producing during or after menopause.

Despite being claimed as a proper and proven medical therapy by experts who helps to treat menopausal symptoms, hormone therapy is still not considered by a large number of women.

And, the reason for it?

Well, it is because some of the clinical trials have shown certain risks to the health of a woman in the long-term who gets estrogen hormone therapy. That makes them reluctant to go for the therapy even if it has proved to reduce hot flashes, loss of bone mass and other menopausal and post-menopausal symptoms.

So, now the big question is – Whether to go for hormone therapy? Is it actually good or effective?

The following section answers that!

Estrogen Therapy- How It Can Be Effective for Your Health?

The effectiveness of estrogen hormone therapy depends on a number of factors. It depends on:

• The dose of medication
• How long the therapy will be
• Any pre-existing health problems

For best results and to ensure there are no risks to the health, hormone therapy should be given by a hormone expert tailored to the woman’s health parameters and medical history. Also, the estrogen level must be checked often during the entire therapy to ensure that it is improved and there is no health risk or irregularity.

Risks of Estrogen Therapy

Talking about the risks, these are some common risks that may occur due to hormone therapy:

• Blood clots
• Breast cancer
• Stroke
• Cardiac diseases

However, these are only said to be risks associated with estrogen-progestin (Prempro) drugs or pills.

How to Reduce Risks?

Concerned about the risks, health experts suggested by avoiding with the following careful considerations:

• Age: Women who are 60 years or above and have started their hormone therapy are always at higher risks. It needs to start with the therapy much earlier before 60 years, preferably right after or with 10 years of menopause.

• Health background or history: A woman’s health history, her family member’s history (hereditary health issues) matter in hormone therapy. Risks like heart disease, liver diseases, cancer, blood clots and stroke are serious ones to consider and decide whether therapy is appropriate.

• Type of therapy: It is the type of hormone therapy chosen that determine risks, i.e. whether it comprises estrogen only or both estrogen and progestin, the type of estrogen and dosage given.

The benefits of the therapy assure that and they outweigh the risks if a woman is otherwise healthy and get the therapy from a good expert.

Who Can Actually Be Benefited With Estrogen Hormone Therapy?

Women with moderate to severe menopause symptoms can be benefitted from the therapy.

The symptoms are:

• Hot flashes, chills and night sweats
• Vaginal symptoms like dryness, itching, discomfort during sexual intercourse
• Osteoporosis with risks of fractures
• Women suffering from ovarian insufficiency or those who have ovaries removed surgically before 45 years

How to Make Your Hormone Therapy Effective?

You can seek help from your doctor by talking about these therapy methods.

• Picking an appropriate product that is suitable for your health. Estrogen intake is possible through various ways like pills, gel, vaginal cream, suppository, to place inside the vagina. This therapy is ideal for those with a lesser complication in menopause and has only vaginal symptoms.

• Reducing the dosage of oral medicines and consuming them for a shorter period of time is advisable for treating your symptoms.

• Going for a regular check-up and follow-up care is necessary to extract maximum benefits from the therapy and minimize the risks associated with it.

• Opting for healthier lifestyle choices like regular exercises, following a healthy diet, limiting smoking and drinking, reducing stress, can help your body respond faster to the treatment.

Final Word

Hormone therapy is not about bad or good. It is completely dependent on individual health, especially symptoms related to menopause. So, the best thing to do is to talk and seek advice from your doctor at the onset of the symptoms.

With appropriate therapy that includes natural estrogen boosting supplements or pills and healthy lifestyle habits, you can overcome the difficult phase of menopause.