Women are commonly given hormone replacement therapy (HRT) by conventional healthcare practitioners for the treatment of the symptoms of menopause. Some of the symptoms include hot flashes, sweats, foggy memory, low libido, vaginal dryness and poor concentration.
Menopause occurs over a period of several years. Some of the early symptoms include irregular periods, spotting and symptoms of estrogen dominance. This is because the ovaries gradually fail to produce eggs and the progesterone levels drop. As the ovarian output of estrogen decreases, the pituitary gland puts out more follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) or luteinizing hormone (LH). Some doctors test for the level of these glandular hormones to detect whether or not menopause is approaching. Many doctors, however, fail to check for the hormone levels and simply start HRT whenever a woman has symptoms of menopause or if she has had her ovaries removed.
The vast majority of HRT involves the giving of two hormones: synthetic estradiol and synthetic progesterone (progestins). The pills are taken together in doses much higher than their normal ovaries ever did. The estradiol is a proliferative hormone, meaning that it can promote the growth of several kinds of cancers in women, including breast cancer, ovarian cancer and uterine cancer. Doctors often rationalize that the progestin component counteracts the bad effects of estrogen; however, this isn’t always the case. Even worse, some providers give only the estrogen component of HRT, making the risk for growth of female cancers much higher.
Some people are under the mistaken impression that the ovaries just quit making hormones completely. In fact, other body areas, like the fat cells and the ovaries themselves, continue to make enough natural hormones for the body to function properly. The hormones made by the ovaries after menopause are less likely to promote the growth of female cancers. In addition, estradiol in the doses used in HRT put a woman at a higher than normal risk for blood clots in the legs and lungs.
Natural progesterone and estrogen can be put into a cream and rubbed into the thinner areas of the skin. The two major problems with “natural” or bioavailable hormones is that the hormones still carry the risks of proliferation of certain cancer cells and, because the medication s delivered by means of a cream, it is nearly impossible to get a constant dose each time it is used. The amount of hormone delivered to the body depends on the size of the blob of cream used and on where the cream is rubbed in.
While HRT actually improved the HDL (good cholesterol) and decreased bad (LDL) cholesterol, it actually increases the risk for heart attack by almost 30%. Stroke risk also increases, as does the risk of developing deep vein blood clots in the legs and lungs. There is also a 26% increase in the development of breast cancer in those who took estrogen and progesterone in combination. Women on estrogen have up to 8 times the baseline risk of developing cancer of the uterus. Ovarian cancer is much more common in women on estrogen than women on nothing.
Other, less serious side effects include soreness in the breasts, mood swings, headaches, bloating, nausea, water retention and irregular bleeding.
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