Hormone replacement therapy, commonly known as HRT, is the standard pharmaceutical treatment for menopausal symptoms. It is usually made up of two kinds of hormones — oestrogens and progestin (a synthetic form of progesterone). Levels of these hormones fall after menopause, and hormone replacement therapy helps relieve symptoms and has some long-term health benefits, such as osteoporosis prevention.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is replacing hormones–usually estrogen and progesterone–which a woman’s body once made in sufficient amounts, but because of age or medical reasons, is no longer able to produce. Replacing these hormones back to physiological levels can restore normal hormonal cycles. By doing this, women will not only begin to feel younger and more vivacious, but will also reduce their risks of cardiovascular problems and osteroporosis.

Many women now taking estrogen or estrogen combined with progestins are able to discontinue their HRT. Please consult with a medical professional before doing so. It is possible that if adequate natural progesterone levels were present, any needed estrogen could be made from it. Because progesterone sensitizes estrogen receptors, it makes sense to supplement with progesterone rather than estrogen.

The benefit of recent studies regarding the usage of hormone therapy is that they have streamlined the risk/benefit ratio, delineated which women are the best candidates for it and carved clearer prescribing guidelines. Keep in mind though; that only one type of hormone regimen was used in the Women's Health Initiative and the average age of the women in the study was approximately 65.

Estrogen and progesterone (two of the hormones used in some forms of HRT) may increase a woman's risk for developing breast cancer. Patients should be aware that these hormones affect many tissues in the body and therefore before a patient considers HRT, it is prudent to discuss all the risks, benefits, and limitations of pursuing HRT with a medical doctor.

No. Hormonal treatment for breast cancer is used to block the effect of estrogen or reduce estrogen levels. The goal is to keep estrogen from reaching cancer cells. Hormone replacement therapy (also called HRT), however, supplies estrogen to women to help with the symptoms of menopause. You should not take HRT if you have breast cancer.

Hormone Replacement Therapy can be a lifetime commitment. Most studies have been done involving a minimum of six months therapy. Many have been and are conducted over longer periods of time. Benefits gained from HRT will gradually diminish if the therapy program is not continued. Many individuals on HRT obtain excellent results with a rotating or cyclical protocol of six months on HRT and four to eight weeks off. - (1*, 2*)

VAGIFEM® is a local estrogen therapy used vaginally for the treatment of atrophic vaginitis. Unlike some other hormone therapies that deliver estrogen throughout the body, VAGIFEM® provides estrogen directly to irritated vaginal tissues where it is needed, with minimal absorption by other organs of the body.

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Hormone therapy (HT) used to be called hormone replacement therapy or HRT, and used to be limited to taking estrogen and progesterone, but there are now a number of "hormone therapies". Currently, the most commonly used form of hormone therapy is estrogen therapy (ET), used almost exclusively for women who have had a hysterectomy. Women who still have their uterus and go on hormone therapy require progesterone as well as estrogen (EPT).

In order for an endocrinologist to consider hormone therapy or for a surgeon to perform sex re-assignment surgery, the individual must meet the DSM-4 psychiatric diagnostic criteria of gender identity disorder. This is determined and documented through a psychological evaluation. The results of this evaluation are communicated via a letter to the physician prior to initiating treatment. Prior to surgery, supporting letters from two separate therapists may be required by some surgeons.

Growth Hormone therapy is injected into the subcutaneous tissue (the fatty layer under the skin). Your healthcare provider will instruct you on the method of administration that has been prescribed for you or your child. Almost anyone can learn to administer Growth Hormone after receiving instructions from his or her healthcare team.

Hormones are chemical messengers that control bodily functions. Aging depletes the body's hormonal levels. We measure a patient's level of hormones and prescribe balanced hormone replacement to restore hormone levels to where they were in the patient's early 30s. In many cases, this can be done naturally with secretogogues, which release the hormones already made by the body.

If hGH is given in excessive dosages over a long period of time, bone growth is initiated. As the growth plates are fused in adults, this results in a syndrome known as Achromegaly. Some of the other effects include carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis, vocal cord thickening, excess fluid, osteoporosis, and heat intolerance. Again, these negative effects can occur with supraphysiologic doses.

Hormone replacement therapy carries an increase risk of breast cancer with risk increasing with the duration of treatment. Short periods of HRT for relief of menopausal symptoms increase risk only slightly and the increase reverses after HRT is stopped.

The risks are increased incidence of breast cancer and uterine cancer while using estrogen. However, when estrogen and progesterone are administered together and in the correct doses, the risk of cancer of the uterus or endometrium is reduced.

It might. If you are still getting your period while taking MHT, you may need more iron than women who are postmenopausal and not taking MHT. Talk to your doctor. It could. Some women who take birth control pills have less bleeding during their periods. This would lower their risk for anemia. But women who use an intrauterine device (IUD) may have more bleeding and increase their chances of getting anemia. Talk to your doctor.

As previously stated, Hormone Replacement Therapy is used to restore your hormone levels to their optimum youthful levels. You need a blood test to determine your existing hormone levels, to see whether or not you qualify for HRT and what your replacement dosages should be. Since most of the hormones used in HRT are dispensed by prescription only, you cannot obtain them without a physician's prescription.

If you are taking Premarin, Provera, or Prempro, the drugs used in the Women's Health Initiative Study that has been so widely publicized in the last year, the answer is YES! Does that mean you should stop other hormone replacement regimes? NO! It means you should switch to non-oral human estradiol and human progesterone in a cream, gel, patch, or pellet form and monitor "free" estradiol and progesterone levels in the blood to assure correct dosage.

Hormones are substances secreted directly into the bloodstream and are produced by several glands and organs in your body such as the ovaries, testes, thyroid, pancreas, pituitary, liver and others. They travel through the bloodstream from where they are produced to where they interact with receptors to do the work for which they were intended. They initiate reactions in the body, whereas enzymes usually help to facilitate them.

Dr. Donnica Moore discusses constipation, its symptoms, and its association with some medications and diseases.

A decision that is right for one woman may not be right for another, so the answer is different for each person. The decision would depend on what a woman hopes to get from HRT, such as relief of menopause symptoms. All of the pros and cons have to be balanced against each other.

According to a long-term study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, hormone replacement therapy did not result in weight gain. However, regardless of whether they are taking HRT, women are more likely to gain some weight with aging. A good diet and regular exercise can help avoid this.

Most women who have been treated for breast cancer will not be given hormone replacement therapy, particularly if their breast cancer was "receptor positive". Some of the drugs, such as tamoxifen, which are used to treat breast cancer, have similar effects to those of hormone replacement therapy.

A: Often women with breast cancer have a cancer that is made up predominately of cancer cells that are sensitive to the estrogen balance of that women. Changing the estrogen balance with anti-estrogenic medication or using medicines that allow the ovaries or adrenal glands to make estrogen, may dramatically effect breast cancer cells, killing a proportion of the cells and decreasing symptoms of the cancer.

Tell your doctor if you suffer from any of the following: hot flashes; sleep disturbances; menopause-related mood changes; vaginal dryness; night sweats; fatigue; joint pain.