Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a treatment process for women who are suffering from an imbalance of hormones and can experience of number of potential menopause symptoms. Such symptoms can affect both the mental and physical health of a woman.
Mental
- Depression
- Mood swings
- Irritability
- Panic Disorder
Physical
- Vaginal dryness
- Osteoporosis (after several years)
- Brittle nails
- Hair loss
What Is Conventional HRT?
Non-natural or conventional HRT functions by introducing artificial estrogen into the body, and such estrogen is capable of halting some of the symptoms of menopause. This treatment method has recently come under a great deal of scrutiny, however, because the Women's Health Initiative study recently found that there was a definite link between HRT and the risk of heart disease and breast cancer. After the results of the study in 2002, the number of women using HRT dropped by a dramatic 50%, this percentage has since increased, but it has also caused many menopausal women to seek alternatives. One such alternative was natural HRT.
What Is Natural HRT?
Natural HRT has been an increasingly preferred choice to traditional HRT options as they contain substantially less risk. One option for this form of natural HRT is bioidentical hormones. Unlike traditional HRT, natural HRT doesn't try to mimic the body's hormones at a menopausal stage. Instead, the hormones engineered and used for natural HRT is instead chemically manufactured to be identical to the ones already found in women's bodies before they've reached the menopausal stage.
Traditional HRT functions by substituting women's two main sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone, with ones from animals, but complications can occur when these hormones aren't exactly the same.
What Are the Benefits of Natural HRT?
Natual HRT is made solely from plant sources, such as wild yam and soy. Compounds in this plants are then modified to be identical to female hormones. This process makes the hormones more like human hormones than those used in conventional HRT.
What Are the Negatives of Natural HRT?
Natural HRT has been linked with a number of harmful side effects, including coronary artery spasms and an increase of fats in the blood. In addition, it has not been conclusively proven to be more effective at treating menopause symptoms in comparison to traditional HRT. Some of the same professionals also deny that natural HRT is any safer than normal HRT.
Treatments for Hormonal Imbalance
Like the focus of phytoestrogenic herbs, which also serve as a natural alternative to HRT, natural HRT is also a viable alternative. Because it is derived solely from plants, many women see it as a healthy alternative to HRT. Similarly to HRT, however, natural HRT comes with certain risks which should be weighed properly in the consideration of whether or not natural HRT is the right treatment method.
