What Is Hormone Replacement Therapy?

The simplest way to understand what is hormone replacement therapy, is to first learn more about what is going on in a woman's body during perimenopause. By understanding the hormonal changes taking place, and why they occur, the role of HRT can be better understood.

During a woman's reproductive years, her ovaries produce hormones known as estrogen and progesterone. estrogen regulates her monthly menstrual cycle and secondary sexual characteristics such as breast function and development. It peaks at different times in the menstrual cycle to ensure her body is prepared for fertilization and reproduction.

Progesterone also peaks to prepare the woman's uterus for potential pregnancy and her breasts for lactation. However as a woman approaches the menopause (which is usually around the age of 50), her body produces less estrogen and progesterone. Experts have predicted that 40 million women will experience the menopause in the next 20 years.  

This decrease in estrogen can create uncomfortable symptoms such as hot flashes, vaginal dryness, sleep disturbance and many more irritable effects.

The dryness of tissue around the vagina and urethra can be uncomfortable or even painful during sexual intercourse and urination. Hormone Replacement Therapy can help relieve these symptoms and other menopausal problems.

But what is hormone replacement therapy?

Hormone Replacement therapy (HRT) is a synthetic estrogen and progesterone, known as progestin, which are designed to replace a woman's declining hormones. 

Previous research has indicated that HRT can also prevent osteoporosis, hear disease, depression, short term memory loss and other diseases in post-menopausal women. However, more recent research has shown that HRT might not provide such benefits and may create other risks including an increased risk of ovarian cancer with prolonged use, and cancer of the uterine lining for those women who do not take progestin with estrogen. 

Although HRT is effective at relieving menopausal symptoms, and possibly provides a protection again certain conditions such as osteoporosis, there is also evidence to suggest there is a link between HRT and the increased risk of breast cancer.

During July 2002, a large study on HRT was halted by the National Institute of Health. It was found that the combined estrogen and progestin regimen of the therapy was the cause of eight cases of invasive breast cancer for every 10,000 women taking HRT. This was a 26% increase in breast cancer risk compared to those women who were not taking HRT.

Experts believe that although these numbers appear to be alarming, short term use or HRT can be safe amongst those women who are not at high risk of developing breast cancer or similar diseases. This indicates the importance of making the decision about HRT based on your own individual medical situation and family history.

The two central hormones in what is hormone replacement therapy are estrogen and progestin. They are used together because if you were to take estrogen without progestin to balance the hormonal cycle, you would over-stimulate the endometrium tissue. The endometrium tissue is more commonly known as the lining of the uterus.

Over-stimulating the lining of the uterus leads to uncontrolled tissue growth (known as hyperplasia), which in turn leads to endometrial cancer. Progestin counteracts this.

These potential risks  make it important to understand what is hormone replacement therapy. By doing so, an informed choice can be made on whether to take HRT or an alternative, and how long it should be taken for.

If you'd like to know more of what is hormone replacement therapy's history, click here.