Hormonal Treatments for Women: Hormones play important roles in your health and life. When your body makes less of them during menopause, you may experience a range of symptoms such as hot flashes, vaginal dryness, and thin bones.
If you are experiencing menopause symptoms, your doctor can prescribe hormone treatments called MHT (menopausal hormone therapy). It may also help you reduce your risk of developing bone loss and heart disease.
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HT
Hormone therapy (HT) is the use of hormones that are not made naturally by a woman’s body. It is used to treat menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, sleep problems, and mood changes.
HT is usually given for 25 days at a time, or it can be combined with progestin. The hormones are either taken orally or injected into a vein.
For many women, HT can relieve menopausal symptoms and reduce their risk of developing heart disease or bone loss. However, it may increase the risk of certain cancers such as breast and uterine cancers. It is important to check with your doctor before starting HT and to make sure it is right for you.
There are many different types of HT, and they are often prescribed based on the symptoms you are experiencing. The hormones you receive can be estrogen or a combination of estrogen and progestin.
The hormones that are prescribed vary based on the type of HT and the dose. The most common formulations are oral conjugated equine estrogens (oCEE), medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), and tissue-selective estrogen complex (TSEC).
When deciding on HT, your doctor should take into account your age, health, and lifestyle habits, as well as any other medicines you are taking. Your doctor can help you choose the best hormones for you and recommend an appropriate schedule for using them.
Some doctors also prescribe a drug called fenofibrate to lower your cholesterol levels and decrease the risk of heart disease, osteoporosis, stroke, and blood clots. The drug can be bought over the counter or from your gynecologist.
You may have to take a low dose of this medication for about 3 months before your doctor will be happy with the results and start you on higher dosages. This is because it can cause liver damage and other side effects if you take it for too long.
In some cases, your doctor will also prescribe other drugs to help with the symptoms of menopause such as glucocorticoids. These can be taken in the form of pills, capsules, or injections.
The benefits of HT are not as high as the risks, so you should discuss the benefits and risks with your doctor before starting treatment. The benefit-risk ratio for HT is favorable when it is started in women younger than 60 or within 10 years of their last period and who do not have contraindications. Best Medicare Supplement Plans and providers
ET
Estrogen therapy (ET) is a type of hormone treatment that is given to postmenopausal women. It comes in pill, skin patch, ring or gel form and is usually given to help relieve the symptoms of menopause.
Systemic estrogen (the most common type of HT) helps control hot flashes and other symptoms associated with menopause, such as night sweats, sleep disturbances, depression, irritability, mood changes, itching, and dryness of the skin. It also can help protect against bone loss and osteoporosis.
It is a safe and effective treatment for women who are experiencing menopause. It is also helpful for women who are undergoing treatment for cancer or other health conditions, such as heart disease or blood clots.
ET is the most effective treatment for relieving hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms. It can also help reduce the risk of some health conditions, such as dementia and heart disease.
The amount of estrogen you take depends on your needs. The best dose of estrogen is determined by your doctor. It is important to remember that estrogen can cause side effects, such as nausea and vomiting.
Taking too much estrogen can also cause blood clots or stroke. If you have had a stroke, you should talk to your doctor before starting estrogen or any other hormone therapy.
If you have a history of blood clots or have been diagnosed with diabetes, you should not start hormone therapy. Similarly, if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant, talk with your doctor about hormone therapy.
Some women need progestin (progesterone) to prevent endometrial hyperplasia, or the growth of cells in the uterus lining, which can lead to endometrial cancer. This is especially true for women who have had a hysterectomy.
Progestin can be given along with the estrogen or combined with it (a form of HT called EPT). The goal is to use estrogen to thin the lining of your uterus and prevent the development of cancerous cells in your uterus.
Because these risks can vary from woman to woman, it is important for your doctor to carefully review your health history and risk factors before deciding if estrogen or other hormone therapy is appropriate for you. The type and dose of hormone therapy you take should be tailored to your needs and risks, and it should be reevaluated every few years.
CYCLIC THERAPY
CYCLIC THERAPY is used to treat heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) that interferes with a woman’s health and quality of life. It can be done with a short or long course of hormone tablets called cyclical progestogens and is safe for most women.
The treatment works by regulating the ovaries’ production of estrogen and progesterone, which are two hormones that are important for a woman’s health. When a woman’s ovaries make too much of these hormones, they can cause symptoms, such as hot flashes or night sweats.
When a woman’s ovaries don’t produce enough of these hormones, they can cause problems such as mood changes, anxiety, or problems linked to thinning of the lining of the vagina. Hormones, such as estrogen, can help ease these symptoms and also can help prevent bone loss, which can cause osteoporosis.
There are several types of cyclic therapy, each designed to work with different types of women. One type, called “luteal phase replacement,” combines estrogen with progesterone in an oral form and is taken during the luteal phase of each month, a time when the ovaries normally make these hormones.
Another type, called “oral micronized progesterone,” combines progesterone with an anti-androgen drug called clomiphene citrate. The combination of these drugs is used to control uterine bleeding in women with androgenic polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
It’s not known why the luteal phase therapy works, but some researchers believe that it may help keep ovaries from growing. Other studies have shown that luteal phase therapy improves symptoms of depression and anxiety in some women.
The treatment is effective in treating other symptoms that can occur during perimenopause or menopause, such as irritability, headaches, sore breasts, and sleep problems. It can also be used to help prevent or slow heart disease and osteoporosis in some women.
Taking a combination of estrogen and progestin (a synthetic version of progesterone) can be beneficial for some women who are menopausal, but it’s not recommended for all women because it can cause unwanted side effects, such as breast cancer. For this reason, a woman should talk with her healthcare provider about the benefits of taking a combined estrogen and progestin regimen, as well as other ways to prevent or slow the development of heart disease and osteoporosis.
COMBINED THERAPY
There are many types of hormone treatments for women, and they can help with a variety of menopausal symptoms. Some hormones are given orally, while others are applied topically to the skin or vaginal area.
The most common type of hormonal treatment is estrogen and progestin, also called combined hormone therapy (CHT). It is used by many women who have never had a hysterectomy or have not yet reached menopause.
It is most often taken in pill form or as a patch placed on the skin. It is most effective for women who have hot flashes and night sweats, as well as other symptoms of menopause. It can also ease vaginal problems that are linked to thinning of the lining of the vagina.
Some women take systemic hormones, such as the female hormone estrogen, and also a male hormone called testosterone or both. This can help relieve hot flashes, but it is not commonly done.
Another way to treat menopausal symptoms is to give hormones in a low-dose cream, tablet, or ring form. These can be effective for some women, but they do not provide as much relief as systemic hormones.
You should talk to your doctor before starting any type of hormone treatment, especially if you have certain health conditions or are taking other medications. You should also tell your doctor about any unexpected symptoms you may have, such as vaginal bleeding.
Combination therapies are a class of drugs that use multiple drugs to attack the same cancer cells in a targeted manner. The drugs have different mechanisms of action, with each targeting a different cancer cell type and responding to its particular genetic makeup or cellular response pathway.
In this way, the drug does not harm normal cells or cause toxicity. Typical combinations use doxorubicin, a p53-inducing agent, to kill cancer cells and taxol to inhibit actively dividing cells and induce mitotic arrest in those cancer cells that lack p53.
These therapies are more effective than single therapies for some cancers and offer better outcomes with fewer side effects and toxicity. This makes them an important option for many women with cancer.