What are the benefits and risks of hormone therapy?
Benefits: Hormone therapy can help with menopause by:
- reducing hot flashes
- treating vaginal dryness
- slowing bone loss
- decreasing mood swings and depression
DO NOT use hormone therapy to prevent heart attacks, strokes, memory loss or Alzheimer’s disease. Remember there also are other medicines that can help your bones.
Risks: For some women, hormone therapy may increase their chance of getting:
- blood clots
- heart attacks
- strokes
- breast cancer
- gall bladder disease
For a woman with a uterus, taking estrogen alone, without progesterone, increases her chance of getting endometrial cancer (cancer of the lining of the uterus). Adding progesterone to the hormone therapy lowers this risk.
Hormone therapy also may cause these side effects:
- bleeding
- bloating
- breast tenderness or enlargement
- headaches
- mood changes
- nausea
Who should NOT take hormone therapy for menopause:
Women who…
- think they are pregnant
- have problems with vaginal bleeding
- have had certain kinds of cancers (such as breast and uterine cancer)
- have had a stroke or heart attack
- have had blood clots
- have liver disease
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Progesta-Care
 Progesta-Care is an all-natural progesterone cream and comes in a pump-style container for easy application. Each full pump Progesta-Care dispenses 20 mg of natural progesterona in a moisturizing cream base of Aloe Vera, MSM, Grape Seed Extract, Evening Primrose Oil and more. It supports normal hormone balance and libido, positive mood and emotional balance, and healthy hormone balance for menopause.* It feels wonderful when applied to the skin and is highly recommended for promoting well-being and healthy hormone levels.
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Menopause Hormone Treatment
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Midlife Nutrition
Summary
We know that hormone therapy may be a way to get over the symptoms of menopause if taken for only a short time and in the smallest amount. Hormones do NOT help prevent heart or bone disease, stroke, memory loss or Alzheimer's disease. If you decide to use hormones, use them at the lowest dose that helps and for the shortest time needed. Check with your doctor every 3 to 6 months to see if you still need them. Because there are both benefits and risks linked to taking them, every woman should think about these in regard to her own health and discuss these issues with her doctor. We are still trying to learn more about the long- and short-term effects of hormone therapies on women's health. For more information on the risks and benefits of hormone therapy, go to http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/women/index.htm.
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