Ask your doctor about the pros and cons of hormone use if you are entering menopause. Women have been advised for the last several years that hormones can cause heart disease, blood clots and breast cancer. But new research has shown the pros may have considerable more impact then the cons. The decision is up to you and how miserable your hot flashes make you.
The Pros and Cons of Hormones
If you are going through menopausal hot flashes, you might have wondered if hormones would be the right thing for you. Many women have taken them over the years and many women take them today. Doctors used to prescribe hormones for life. Estragon is known to prevent bone loss and we do lose bone mass as we grow older. It was only a few short years ago it was discovered that estragon can put a woman at risk for breast cancer, a blood clot or heart attack. Some doctors pulled patients right off estragon. Some didn’t. The pros and cons are pretty even.
Women have been frightened, and doctors no longer prescribe hormones as they once did. Some doctors say the pendulum has swung too far away from hormones, leaving women without any recourse from hot flashes that keep them flushed and wet with sweat. Often awake and changing wet sheets at night. How bad was estragon really? Maybe not as bad as we were led to believe. Some doctors say the pros outweigh the cons.
Women who suffer the distress of hot flashes are turning again to hormones with the approval of their doctors. With new studies it appears that heart disease may be elevated only slightly. The Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that the small increase in the likelihood of having a heart attack, stroke, or blood clots disappears as soon as the woman goes off hormones. And many woman go off hormones about 5 years after the beginning of menopause. Some women choose to never go off them because of bone loss when they stop, and the feeling of strength and well being while taking hormones.
For now research is lacking to guide women and doctors in the best form of oestrogen. It isn’t known if conjugated equine oestrogen, which is made from horse urine, or oestradiol which comes from plants, and is identical to oestrogen made in the body is best. Hormones can be taken in pill form, skin patch or suppository. Most doctors leave it up to their patients whether to take hormone treatment or not. If you have suffered the torture of the dreaded hot flashes you might choose hormones. But not all women suffer this affliction so it’s really up to you. Look at the pros and cons and see what you think.