The advantages and disadvantages of replacement hormone therapy

What is replacement hormone therapy?

Menopause symptoms are a natural bi product of dropping estrogen levels in an aging woman's body. Such symptoms usually occur in women between the ages of 45-55. Replacement hormone therapy (HRT) is an artificially engineered treatment for menopause symptoms that is a possible alternative to the host of the natural alternatives that exist. As women approach a mature stage of life their ability to reproduce estrogen recedes to differing degrees. A shortage of estrogen can lead to a variety of menopause symptoms including: Mood swings, loss of libido, insomnia and night sweats. Replacement hormone therapy excels at assisting with any shortage of estrogen in women's bodies. It works by introducing artificial hormones into the body and is good at soothing some of the harsher effects of menopause symptoms.

What are the alternatives to replacement hormone therapy?

Natural remedies: Women afflicted with menopause symptoms often use phytoestrogenic herbs for assistance. In recent years the use of such herbs has become significantly popular. Phytoestrogenic herbs function similarly to HRT, but without some of the more harmful side effects. Herbs such as red clover and ginseng function by introducing plant-like estrogen into the bodies of menopausal women. Such a function can have noticeable results on menopausal women.

Non-estrogenic herbs are capable of carrying out a similar purpose but do so without any of the harmful side effects. Despite their increasing popularity phytoestrogenic herbs are generally not thought to be as practical in the fight against menopause symptoms as replacement hormone therapy.

Lifestyle changes: Replacement hormone therapy is often seen as the invasive last option for women who are seeking respite from symptoms such as depression, vaginal dryness, and digestive problems. Many of the menopausal symptoms can often be avoided or made less severe by subtle lifestyle changes and it is these changes that many medical practitioners will suggest in the event of menopause symptoms manifesting.

Good aspects of replacement hormone therapy

- Regenerates new estrogen in order to halt some of the symptoms of menopause.
- Estrogen is important to the human body and is able to provide it with calcium in order to maintain the health of bones.
- Fights against osteoporosis
- Replacement hormone therapy steadies healthy cholesterol levels and helps to keep the vagina healthy
- Minimizes the risk of endometrial cancer.

Bad aspects of replacement hormone therapy

-Can lead to complication with blood clots
-Replacement hormone therapy has been known to increase the chance of contracting breast cancer

Treatments for hormonal imbalance

Hormone replacement therapy is considered one of the most efficient means of dealing with the issue of menopause symptoms, but the means of treatment entails a certain degree of risk. The change in the natural balance of the body's chemical makeup can cause dramatic symptoms but introducing artificial chemicals through hormone replacement therapy in order to correct such a deficiency can also cause its fair share of problems.

Replacement hormone therapy is used by many menopausal women across the world to treat their menopause symptoms. Studies have found however that hormone therapy comes with a flurry of side effects which can be dangerous to women's health. Because of this it is advised that women consider all of the alternatives to hormone replacement therapy before they consider the invasive treatment of hormone replacement therapy.