Treatment of Menopause Symptoms
Are There Any Treatments for Symptoms of Menopause?
There are a number of different treatment options to consider if you're suffering from symptoms of menopause.
Lifestyle changes. A healthy diet and regular exercise program will go a long way towards minimizing the symptoms of menopause and helping to maintain overall good health. It is also a good idea to finally kick any old, unhealthy habits, such as smoking or drinking too much alcohol. Other interventions that may be helpful are to dress lightly and in layers and avoid potential triggers like caffeine and spicy foods.
Hormone Therapy for Menopause and Perimenopause
By Francesca ColtreraYour need-to-know guide to today's hormone therapy -- what's safe, what's new, what's right for you Not long ago, a friend told me about a coffee date she’d had with a 50-something former office mate, Susan. As the two women were sipping their lattes and catching up on each other’s lives, Susan nervously glanced around the coffee shop, then leaned across the table and confided in a low voice, “I’m taking estrogen.” So it’s come to this. Whereas women once chatted openly...
Read the Hormone Therapy for Menopause and Perimenopause article > >
For vaginal dryness, moisturizers and nonestrogen lubricants such as KY Jelly, Replens, and Astroglide are available. Remaining sexually active may also help to preserve the lining of the vagina.
Click here for more about maintaining a healthy lifestyle after menopause.
Prescription medication. Treatment with estrogen and progesterone, called combination hormone replacement therapy (HRT), can be prescribed for women who still have their uterus to reduce the symptoms of menopause and help prevent osteoporosis. Estrogen alone is the prescribed regimen for women who have had a hysterectomy (no longer have their uterus).
In the past, HRT was widely recommended for the treatment of menopausal symptoms as well as in the prevention of osteoporosis and heart disease. A large study known as the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) shed new light on how HRT is viewed.
According to the WHI study results, long-term combination HRT increases the risk of heart disease, breast cancer, blood clots, and stroke. Estrogen-only HRT was found to increase the risk of blood clots and stroke but did not worsen a woman's chance of getting breast cancer or heart disease. Although the WHI study found an increase in the risk of heart disease in women taking combination HRT, a more recent study suggests this finding may not be relevant to all postmenopausal women.
This study, published in the January/February 2006 issue of The Journal of Women's Health showed that the risk of heart disease demonstrated in the WHI may be related more to the advanced age of the participants as opposed to the HRT. The study also found that HRT given to younger women, at the onset of menopause, appeared to decrease the risk of heart disease.
Another study, published in the February 13, 2006 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, looked at nearly 11,000 women aged 50 to 79 taking only estrogen. Researchers reported no overall difference in heart attack risk among women who took the hormone and those who did not. In addition, there appeared to be a lower overall risk of heart disease in the women who began taking the estrogen between the ages of 50 and 59, suggesting a heart-healthy benefit to taking the therapy, if begun at a younger age.
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