Doctors continue to prescribe hormone therapy pills for menopause in higher doses, despite clinical evidence that low doses and skin patches work just as well. Doctors continue to prescribe menopausal hormone therapy pills at higher doses, despite clinical evidence that low doses and skin patches work just as well and pose fewer health risks. As for the right time to start hormone therapy, Dr. Mary Claire Haver, author of The Galveston Diet and founder of the Mary Claire Wellness Clinic, explains to Yahoo Life that women shouldn't experience not a single symptom of menopause.
Not only are menopausal symptoms uncomfortable, but they can also affect a woman's health, relationships, and career. While hormone therapy can reduce or eliminate menopausal symptoms, most menopausal women don't take advantage of hormones because of a decades-old study that warned of serious health risks. While the way we think about hormones has changed, some women are still confused and fearful, and some doctors refuse to prescribe hormones. Now, the CEO of a telehealth start-up, celebrities, doctors and others are trying to raise awareness about how the way we think about hormone therapy has evolved over the past twenty years.
Alicia Jackson, founder and CEO of Evernow, also wants to help alleviate the confusion surrounding hormone therapy and other treatments for menopausal symptoms. He created the telehealth company that focuses on menopausal care to provide women with easy access to expert menopausal doctors. They should look for professionals who are true experts, who want to partner with them and provide them with the tools and information they need to make good decisions for their health, Jackson explains. Evernow doctors can help women decide if hormones are the best option for them and, if appropriate, they can often be prescribed after a virtual consultation.
While some of these new FDA-approved formulations are promising, all the experts I spoke to warn against using compound hormones. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate compound hormones, and these compounds have not been proven to be safe or effective and may contain impurities and inconsistent doses. As evidence of the lack of reliable information available to women, 35% of women currently receiving hormone therapy take these unregulated compounds. How do you know if your hormones are composed? If the hormones are produced by a pharmaceutical company recognized and approved by the FDA, then they are not composed.
For women with menopausal symptoms who are not good candidates for hormone therapy or who are reluctant to take hormones, there are other possible remedies. For example, Evernow also offers SSRIs as an option. SSRIs, which are normally prescribed as antidepressants, have been shown to relieve hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms. Every woman has unique needs and finding a knowledgeable health professional is critical to determining what's best for your health.
For those women who have doctors who aren't trained in menopausal treatments or who refuse to talk about hormone therapy, there are still options. These women can choose telehealth and speak virtually with trained professionals, or they can access the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) website to find a NAMS-certified menopause professional in their area. Earlier studies discovered the potential risks of hormone replacement therapy and made many people reluctant to take or prescribe it. However, this view is now considered to be out of date because it doesn't take into account both benefits and risks.
Increasingly, other types of hormones are being used, such as micronized progesterone, which doesn't increase the risk of breast cancer, Streicher says. The report found that women who took hormones were no more likely to die in the next 18 years than those who didn't. In addition to research on the effects of low-dose hormone therapy, recent studies have also shown that administering hormones through the skin through a small patch, called transdermal delivery, reduces the risk of serious health problems, such as the formation of blood clots. Of the women who had spoken to their primary care physician about hormone replacement therapy, 65% were of the opinion that they were in favor of using it to alleviate the symptoms of menopause.
Mosconi writes that there is some evidence that, for younger women who begin hormone therapy within five years of menopause, these hormones may be useful in combating cognitive decline. Available in many forms, such as pills, patches, topical creams and gels, and vaginal rings, hormone replacement therapy works by releasing hormones into the bloodstream or vaginal tissues. Perhaps doctors who are familiar with the immediate benefits of higher-dose hormone therapy to alleviate menopausal symptoms are reluctant to change, Tsai said. However, menopause experts say it's time to reconsider hormone therapy, because now a lot is known that we don't it was known two decades ago.
After the release of those initial results, the number of women who were prescribed menopausal hormone therapy at higher doses dropped dramatically: it fell 47 percent between 2001 and 2004, according to the Stanford study. As a result, Manson said: “Women who would be suitable candidates are denied hormone therapy to treat their symptoms. Despite recent encouraging findings, many doctors are still reluctant to prescribe hormone replacement therapy, said Manson, head of the preventive medicine division at Brigham and Women's Hospital and one of the principal investigators of the WHI study. However, sometimes they think that not prescribing hormone replacement therapy is the right decision, due to outdated research.
Although women collected information about the therapy from sources other than their doctor, doctors play an important role, as therapy providers, in listening to women and helping them make their own decisions about whether or not to take hormone replacement therapy. Despite the good news, many women and doctors continue to rely on original warnings to make decisions regarding hormones.
