What is Hormone Replacement Therapy?
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is a treatment administered to relieve the symptoms of menopause experienced by women. It replaces female sex hormones, oestrogen and progesterone, whose levels begin to drop as women approach menopause, allowing the body to function normally again.
Menopause is a condition when a woman’s ovaries stop producing an egg every month, whereby she will no longer have monthly periods or be able to conceive naturally. It usually occurs when women are in their 50s, but for few it could be earlier. Oestrogen and progesterone play an important role in a woman’s body; falling levels can cause a range of physical and emotional symptoms.
Oestrogen helps to release eggs from the ovaries, regulates a woman’s periods and help in conceiving. It also controls other functions such as bone density, skin temperatures etc. While Progesterone prepares the womb for pregnancy and helps protect the lining of the womb known as endometrium.
In HRT oestrogen is used in combination with progesterone.
Most women will experience symptoms around menopause. Their duration and severity varies from woman to woman. Symptoms usually start a few months or years before your periods stop completely, and sometimes persist afterwards as well.
The first sign of menopause is usually a change in the normal pattern of your periods. You may start having unusually light or heavy periods and the freqnecy changes as well.
Common symptoms associated with menopuase include;
- Hot flushes
- Night sweats
- Vaginal dryness
- Difficulty sleeping
- Loss of sex drive
- Headaches
- Problems with memory
- Mood changes
- Stress incontinence – leaking urine when you cough or sneeze
- Bone thinning
- Reduced muscle mass
- Recurrent UTIs such as cystitis.
Most of these symptoms pass within two to five years.
Hormone Replacement Therapy Test is for women suffering the symptoms of menopause. This test may be taken for women beginning their transition into menopause or for women who are already taking Hormone Replacement Therapy Hormone tests are for individuals who are worried about certain aspects of their health, whether it be their growth, their fertility, their stress levels or their weight gain. Hormone tests will be governed by particular concerns or symptoms.
