Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is the treatment used to relieve symptoms of menopause. The treatment causes a lot of debates and discussions in the world of health as reviews have shown HRT can increase the risk of ovarian cancer, increase the risk of blood clots and strokes, and increase the risk of other types of cancer (breast and womb).
The Problems Of Hormone Replacement Therapy
In layman’s terms, HRT is the process of taking horse urine from the pregnant mares using a contraption held around the horses body to collect all the urine. Lots of women go onto HRT because it holds back the hot sweats and gives them a better quality of life, or so they think.
Their periods come back and some times the women can bleed 2 or 3 times a month and much heavier. Can you imagine a lady of the gran age of 75 having back those periods she said goodbye to years earlier?
Some women go on to have breast cancer, because the side effects are so different with each woman. The safe way is to let nature take it’s course and let your body go through what is natures way of dealing with what happens to a woman’s body when she reaches the age of non child bearing time.
Most men also go through whats called Andropause or Men’s menopause. Although Doctors shy away from telling men this even happens to them in later life. You remember the little tent you found each morning when you woke from a good nights sleep? Well getting older means this happens less frequently and in time it will stop all together. This again is mens time to get ready to find gardening or another past time.
The Findings On Hormone Replacement Therapy
A review on the effects of HRT show that the treatment didn’t ‘reduce the risk of deaths from any cause or cardiovascular causes during follow-up’. The review showed that this, sometimes unnatural, treatment increased the risk of stroke and blood clots.
Researchers estimated that for every 1,000 women taking HRT, 6 would experience a stroke and 8 would experience a blood clot.
Cancer Research UK scientists ran a study of 1 million women using different types of HRT treatment. The study concluded that women who are using oestrogen-only HRT and combined HRT (oestrogen and progestogen) have a higher chance of developing breast cancer.
In fact, combined HRT doubled the risk of breast cancer compared to non-users. The risks increase if treatment has been used for 10 years.
Oestrogen-only HRT also increases the risk of womb cancer and ovarian cancer, however, breast cancer is much more common than other types of cancer. When a woman who has been using the HRT treatment for under 5 years, stops, the risks of developing ovarian cancer reduce. For every 50+ woman who has been using HRT for 5 years, it’s believed that 1 will develop ovarian cancer.
Should You Take Hormone Replacement Therapy?
HRT has been quite a controversial subject with lots of studies showing the pros and cons of using such a treatment. As with all medical concerns, consult your doctor as they will provide the pros and cons on the different types of HRT and determine whether or not it’s right for you.
HRT treatment is still an effective short-term treatment for menopausal symptoms but one thing that’s for sure is that HRT is not natural.