Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)
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For the Charlottesville area:
434.243.4720For Northern Virginia:
703.261.3529Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can help you find relief from menopause symptoms. Night sweats, hot flashes, and sleep issues can make you miserable. You may even have issues urinating and having sex. Hoping the symptoms go away doesn't work. Sometimes lifestyle changes don't work, either.
Menopause doesn't have to take over your life. HRT can give your body the boost you need to feel healthy and vibrant again.
UVA Experts in Hormone Replacement Therapy
At UVA, you can see nationally known specialists in HRT for menopause. We have up-to-date expertise in the latest medication options. You'll get care and treatment customized to your concerns, your needs, and your body.
Learn more about our midlife health experts.
Understanding HRT
Hormone Replacement Therapy which can help women find relief for a number of menopausal symptoms when lifestyle changes don't work.
[MUSIC PLAYING] I'm JoAnn Pinkerton, I'm a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and also the Executive Director for the North American Menopause Society. It's a society that takes care of menopausal women.
Hormone therapy is a therapy that women who are post-menopausal with hot flashes, night sweats, or elevated risk of bone loss can take to replace what their ovaries used to make. When women go through menopause, about 75% will have some hot flashes-- maybe mild, maybe not too bothersome. About 25% of women will have severe incapacitating hot flashes that stop them in their tracks, soak their beds at night.
And those women need help. They need some type of medical therapy and hormone therapy is the gold standard. It's the one that really works. It relieves hot flashes. It improves sleep, fewer sleep disruptions, better dream sleep, and it also prevents bone loss and some of the vaginal symptoms that women have. Plus there's a few other benefits. There's fewer cases of diabetes and less heart disease, but only in women who started when they're under age 60 or close to menopause-- within 10 years.
In 2002, when the Women's Health Initiative study came out, everyone was frightened of hormone therapy because it showed this increased risk of heart disease, and dementia, and blood clots, and stroke. But what we found in the last 15 years is that it really matters age and time for menopause. So women who are under age 60 or within 10 years of menopause are excellent candidates for hormone therapy, particularly if they have symptoms or are at high risk for bone loss. And those women can safely take hormone therapy and we can minimize the risks. Women who are older or further from menopause may actually have more risk from taking the hormone therapy-- more heart disease, more dementia, more strokes, and blood clots.
So once again, how old you are when you start hormone therapy, how far away from menopause, is really important. So the best candidate for hormone therapy is women who are close to menopause, women who are under age 60 or within 10 years of menopause. They're actually going to have relief of their hot flashes, improvement in sleep, fewer heart disease, and also, fewer cases of diabetes. Women who shouldn't start hormone therapy are women who are older, 60 or 70, or more than 10 or 20 years from menopause. Those are the women that shouldn't start it.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
HRT treats menopause symptoms by returning hormones to your body. A range of hormone therapies exist that can:
- Restore a healthy vaginal environment, increasing bloodflow and moisture
- Improve mood, sleep, and sexual relations
- Lower urinary tract infections by reducing bacterial growth
- Prevent bone loss
Types of Hormone Replacement Therapy
Some HRT goes on your skin. Other therapy types infuse your whole body. Different forms of HRT include:
- Pill
- Patch
- Spray
- Gel
- Ring
- Cream
The type of hormone, dosage, duration treatment method depends on your symptoms and health risks. Your provider will need to adjust your prescription as your healthcare needs change.
Hormone Replacement Therapy Drugs
Whether or not you've had a hysterectomy to remove your uterus determines the type of hormone you can safely use.
We offer therapies that include:
- Estrogen therapy (ET) treats hot flashes in women without a uterus
- Estrogen progestogen therapy (EPT) helps women with a uterus who need relief from menopausal symptoms along with protection from uterine cancer
- Estrogen with SERM, a non-hormonal compound, helps reduce hot flashes in women with a uterus while protecting the uterus and preventing bone loss
- Progestogen or progestin alone can provide treatment for women who can't take estrogen
- Estrogen-progestin birth control pills can offer hot flash relief
- Low-dose vaginal estrogen applied topically or locally can reduce vaginal dryness and atrophy
HRT can also ease genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM), a collection of symptoms involving the vagina, labia, clitoris, urethra, and bladder.
Precautions While Taking HRT
Long-term use of HRT may significantly increase a woman's risks of: Blood clots, breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, endometrial cancer, strokes, heart attacks, blood clots, ovarian cancer, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
If you've had cancer or certain other conditions, certain hormone treatments may not be advisable. Talk to your doctor.
Possible Side Effects
The following side effects may disappear over time as your body adjusts to taking HRT:
- Bloating
- Breast tenderness
- Cramping
- Irritability
- Depression
- Return of monthly periods
- Swelling of feet and lower legs
- Rapid weight gain