Hormonal Replacement Therapy Sterling VA – hormone …

When you enter the early stages of menopause, the question of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) arises. The two female hormones, estrogen and progesterone (often in its synthetic version, the progestins), are certainly the most widely prescribed therapies utilized by physicians for the relief of menopausal symptoms and the prevention of certain hormone-related conditions of aging. Medical research during the past 50 years has created many different types and dosage regimens of hormones. Such therapies vary in terms of absorption, frequency of usage and dosage.

Many women are confused or uninformed about their choices of hormonal therapy. They don't know what to ask at medical visits to determine which hormonal regimens, if any, would suit them best. As a result, the best treatment combination for each individual woman may not be possible. Each woman should explore options and fine tune an individual approach until the best regimen is determined. This book will give you basic information about hormonal replacement therapy that can help you, with your physician, to make an intelligent and informed decision about using HRT. First, the history of hormonal replacement therapy in this country will be discussed; then, the steps to follow before beginning HRT. Detailed information is provided about the different types of estrogen, progesterone and even androgen therapy, as well as the various monthly schedules that can be utilized when taking HRT. Finally, helpful tips are given on how to adjust to HRT as well as on how to comfortably and safely discontinue HRT if you desire to do so.

History of HRT The use of hormones after menopause is a recent innovation in human history. Relatively few women even survived the rigors of more primitive societies to face the issue of postmenopausal aging. How long a woman lived did not depend on sophisticated hormonal therapies synthesized in a laboratory, but rather, on a combination of good genes, familial longevity, a healthy lifestyle with adequate nutrition, balanced responses to stress and a balance of physical activity and rest. Only since the turn of the century have women begun to outlive their menopause and continue to do so for several decades.

Scientists first isolated estrogen and progesterone in the laboratory in their purified state during the 1920s. In the decades before this advance, physicians prescribed various formulations of the whole gland. Animal ovaries were powdered, pulverized and liquefied and then given by health care providers to women who had gone through surgical menopause or to those who suffered from menstrual cramps. Use of hormones remained limited throughout the 1930s and 1940s. By the 1950s and 1960s, the benefits of estrogen in treating menopausal symptoms were understood and appreciated and its use became widespread. A number of books and articles were written during this era ab...

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Hormonal Replacement Therapy Sterling VA - hormone ...