Choosing Whether To Use A Menopause Hormone

Many women, when moving into the age where menopausal symptoms are coming into effect will start to consider going on menopause hormone therapy. Sometimes this makes women nervous because there are sometimes side effects that other women experience with these hormone therapies, while other women may use the hormones without any ill effects at all. It is important that women find out from their doctors what is recommended for their particular symptoms and body types before deciding on a particular menopause hormone.

What Are the Options?

Most of the time, the menopause hormone therapy is used with a woman who still has her uterus. When this is the case, then the woman will usually take an estrogen and progestin mix to help to relieve some of the adverse effects of menopause. If the woman has had a hysterectomy, then she will be given only estrogen as a menopause supplement. There are different amounts of these hormones that are given in order to help the women with their other menopausal symptoms. Once the doctor's find the right amount to use, then the woman will have very little side effects at all in most cases and will have most of their menopausal symptoms relieved.

One of the worst symptoms that the women have to deal with is hot flashes, when their bodies all of a sudden heat up and they start to sweat even when sitting still. Their faces will often flush and it will become very uncomfortable for them. These flashes can also happen in the night time, waking them up and disturbing their sleep. The menopause hormones will help to relieve these symptoms in most cases. Besides these effects of menopause, the hormone therapy will also often help with vaginal dryness and will help prevent bone fracture from brittle bones. The therapy also has the effect of improving cholesterol levels and can help to reduce the risk of colon cancer.

There are risks that are involved with menopause hormone replacement that are serious and need to be considered by women before starting on a therapy. There is an increased risk of stroke with the therapies. There is also a risk or blood clots and heart attack with the hormones. There is also an increased risk of breast cancer in women who take these hormones. For those women who are on menopause hormone replacement who are over sixty-five, there is also a risk of dementia. Each woman needs to consider these risks before starting therapy.