Q: What is menopause, and what can I expect in the way of symptoms?
A: Menopause is the time in a woman's life (average age in America is 51) when her menstrual periods lessen in frequency or totally stop, and the ovaries begin to produce smaller amounts (or inadequate amounts) of three hormones—estrogen progesterone, and androgen. A woman can expect her menopause to begin at about the same time that her mother's began.
Aside from her periods becoming irregular or stopping completely, a menopausal woman may experience hot flashes, which do go away in time. In addition, estrogen loss may lead to night sweats, vaginal dryness, and even osteoporosis. For more information on osteoporosis, a good source would be the National Osteoporosis Foundation. An excellent online source of information on menopause is the Web site of the North American Menopause Society.
Q: I've heard that hormone replacement therapy can help reduce the effects of menopause. Could you explain this type of therapy? What are the side effects?
A: Briefly, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is used to relieve or prevent the symptoms of menopause. Usually, it involves treatment with either estrogen alone or with estrogen and progestin combined. The estrogen works on the hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, disturbed sleep, and the bone loss. The progestin prevents the overgrowth of cells in the lining of the uterus which sometimes occurs as a result of the estrogen intake.
Not all women experience side effects to this hormone therapy, but those who do may experience breast pain, menstrual cramps, irregular bleeding or spotting, or even skin irritation around the area where the patch is applied. In most cases, these side effects are temporary, or can be alleviated by changing the form of treatment. The use of estrogen alone has been linked to an increase in the incidence of uterine cancer. And, there is some suggestion that it could be linked to breast cancer as well. These are still being studied and have not been conclusively proven. The majority of studies do not link the usual doses of estrogen with an increased risk of breast cancer. Most research scientists believe that the benefits of HRT significantly outweigh the cancer risks.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is not appropriate for all women, so it is important that you consult with your physician first to discuss your medical history, and the advantages and disadvantages of this treatment. To round out your personal study of this topic, there is good information from the Web sites of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the National Institute on Aging.
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