Menopause often brings with it symptoms that are not easy to bear in the long term. Hormone therapy can help here.
Hormone therapy during menopause – all information
Menopausal hormone therapy (also known as hormone replacement therapy or HRT) is used to relieve menopausal symptoms caused by falling hormone levels, particularly estrogen and progestin.
- Hormone therapy aims to supply the body with the hormones that it produces less after menopause, especially estrogens and progestogens.
- The main aim is to alleviate the symptoms of menopause. These usually include hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disorders, vaginal dryness, concentration and memory problems,Mood swings and depressive moods.
- But estrogen also helps slow bone loss and reduce the risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures. This is why hormone therapy can be particularly beneficial for your health.
- However, HRT is not harmless because it increases the risk of breast cancer. This also increases the risk of thrombosis, strokes and cardiovascular diseases, especially in older women or those with certain risk factors.
- Hormone therapy is prescribed by a person working in gynecology and covered by health insurance. It can be in the form of tablets, patches, gels or creams.
Bioidentical hormones
Bioidentical hormone therapy differs from traditional hormone therapy primarily in the type of hormones used and the philosophy behind the treatment.
- Bioidentical hormones are artificially produced hormones whose chemical structure is exactly the same as the endogenous hormones that the body produces before menopause, in particular estrogen, progesterone and testosterone.
- These hormones are often derived from plant sources (such as soy or yams) and then modified in laboratories so that they are structurally identical to the hormones in the human body.
- In contrast, traditional hormone therapies often contain synthetic or animal hormones that have similar effects but are not chemically identical to the body's own hormones. For example, some HRT preparations contain estrogens obtained from the urine of pregnant mares.
- It is often claimed that therapy with bioidentical hormones can be better tailored to a woman's individual needs than HRT with its standardized preparations. Some providers offer blood or saliva tests to measure hormone levels and prescribe an individualized dose. However, it is controversial whether these tests are really meaningful.
- Bioidentical hormones are often marketed as more “natural” or “safer,” but scientific evidence to support this is often lacking. To date, there have been fewer extensive and long-term studies on bioidentical hormones, especially on individually tailored preparations. There is also a risk that preparations manufactured in specialized pharmacies are not subject to the same strict quality controls as approved medicines.