Managing Menopause:
Hormone Replacement Therapy
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) uses medications to relieve the symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness. These medications can also help protect against other diseases such as osteoporosis and colon cancer.HRT medication is usually prescribed in one of two forms:
Besides hormone pills, medications can also come in the form of vaginal creams, vaginal rings, skin patches, suppositories or injections. For topical forms (creams and vaginal tablets), these external preparations usually work on localized areas where they are applied, meaning they can relieve vaginal dryness and atropic vaginitis, but not hot flashes or osteoporosis.
For many years, HRT has been the mainstay of treatment in menopause. More recently however, new research findings have revealed health risks associated with HRT, including the risk of blood clots, breast, ovarian and endometrial cancer.
This has caused much debate in the medical community about whether to recommend HRT to patients. Although the risk of adverse effects due to HRT is very low in most women, any woman considering HRT should first discuss its use with her health care provider to weigh the potential benefits of HRT against the risks.
