HRT - Hormone Replacement Therapy
/HRT Hormone Replacement Therapy
Hormone replacement therapy is a treatment to relieve symptoms of the menopause. It replaces hormones that are at a lower level as you approach the menopause.
HRT started in the 1960s, when researchers looked for a solution for common menopausal symptoms.
Looking at declining estrogen levels, symptoms could simply be eliminated if the missing hormones were replaced. Scientists believed that maintaining hormone levels similar to what the body was used to would provide relief. It really took off in the 1990's but following clinical trials in 2002, HRT was thought to cause more detrimental than beneficial effects. HRT use dropped in numbers creating panic amongst some users and new guidelines from doctors. The media also gave it bad press
In the following years, new studies showed that the use of HRT in younger women or in early postmenopausal women had a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system, reducing coronary disease.
HRT was a simple solution for managing menopausal symptoms. However, since several major studies have shown that HRT exposes women to serious health risks such as breast or ovarian cancer, many women have begun seeking more natural solutions. Those who have turned to yoga for relief have found that while asana may not directly influence estrogen production, specific postures can help control unpleasant symptoms. Restorative postures in particular can relax the nervous system and may improve the functioning of the endocrine system especially the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, the thyroid, and the parathyroid gland, which helps the body adapt to hormonal fluctuations.
Currenlty the medical profession states that HRT works and can be a life line for women who have severe symptoms. Statistically, although the risk of developing cancer is higher if taking HRT, it's only marginal with a 2.7 times higher risk than those not taking hormones. This stat was for those on a combined pill of estrogen and progesterone rather than just estrogen. It's worth noting here that women need progesterone to protect against womb cancer unless they've had a hysterectomy.
HRT isn’t recommended for women with a history of breast cancer because oestrogen promotes the growth of breast cells. Some studies have also linked HRT to an increased risk of breast, womb and ovarian cancer, though this increased risk is small compared to many lifestyle risk factors like smoking and obesity.
Women have to make a difficult choice between mental and physical wreckage and flooding their bodies with synthetic hormones. There's an alternative, bioidenticals.
Bioidentical hormone therapy is another option available to women and considered more 'natural' as they mimic hormones produced in a womans body and made from plants. hormones contained in the bulk of conventional treatments are in fact artificial, molecularly different to hormones produced natively in the body. Studies suggest taking bioidentical hormones produce less side effects.
Women who have a history of or actually have breast, uterine or ovarian cancer are advised not to take HRT. Also if you have blood clots or heart or liver disease.
The decision to take HRT or use an alternative more natural option really depends on medical history, how severe symptoms are and how much they are affecting your quality of life.
I have a history of breast cancer in my family, so won't be taking HRT. Also as a yoga teacher who believes in the benefits of regualr yoga, pranayama and meditation, I'm taking the natural path but in doing so making appropriate dietry and lifestyle change. Diet, lifetyle and stress levels are the three elements to llok at closely.
