EVISTA is NOT a hormone, like estrogen. It's called an estrogen agonist/antagonist, which means it works 2 ways in your body. EVISTA acts like estrogen in some tissue, and has the opposite effect of estrogen in other tissues.

Many women find that Estrogen Therapy (ET) diminishes moderate to severe menopausal symptoms, including bothersome hot flashes and vaginal dryness. Women also are at higher risk for developing osteoporosis during menopause. Estrogen Therapy (ET) helps to lower this risk so that women go through the second phase of life with healthier bones.

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.

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 is a treatment that is used to supplement the body with either estrogen alone or estrogen and progesterone in combination. Estrogen and progesterone are hormones that are produced by a woman's ovaries. When the ovaries no longer produce adequate amounts of these hormones (as in menopause), HT can be given to supplement the body with adequate levels of estrogen and progesterone.

While the levels of hormone entering the body from Vivelle-Dot are low, yet the levels are appropriate for treating moderate to severe menopausal symptoms? and are similar to levels achieved in a phase of your menstrual cycle. That's true in part because the hormone in Vivelle-Dot passes directly through the skin and into the bloodstream, avoiding the digestive tract and liver metabolism. Therapeutic levels are achieved with smaller transdermal doses as compared to oral therapy.

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.

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.

Women in the Estrogen-Alone study were randomized to take either a placebo pill or an active pill containing 0.625 mg of conjugated equine estrogens (CEE, commonly known as Premarin®) each day.The CEE was taken alone, without the addition of a progestin. Estrogen-Alone participants had a hysterectomy before joining the WHI, so they did not need to worry about estrogen effects on endometrial (uterine) cancer.

Animals in industrialized countries, especially the U.S., are routinely fed synthetic estrogens and eat grain and grasses that are laden with pesticides. These synthetic compounds are concentrated in the fat of the meat and dairy products sold commercially. Substances with a hormone-like effect on the body, mostly petrochemically based. These chemical compounds, the majority of which mimic the action of estrogen, can be found in such everyday items as soaps, perfumes, medicine, and plastics.

with any other hormone therapy, blood levels should be monitored. However it is very important to have a correct test: A free-estradiol test is the one I recommend. Monitoring your estrogen levels with a total estradiol (kit test) or by measuring follicle-stimulating hormones in the blood. Both tests are totally inaccurate and misleading. This issue is another example of media distortion. A recent article reported that these conditions doubled with hormone use.