What Are The Benefits Of Estrogen

What Are The Risks Of Et

Estrogen therapy may increase the risk of health problems in a small number of women. This increase in risk depends on your age, your personal risk, and when ET is started. Talk with your doctor about these risks. Using ET may increase your risk of:footnote 4

• Stroke.

You should not take ET if:

• You have unexplained vaginal bleeding.
• You have liver disease or other problems with your liver.
• You have breast cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, or blood clots or have had a stroke.

If a close family relative has had breast cancer, ET may not be right for you. Talk with your doctor about the risks and benefits.

Causes Symptoms And Treatment

• Frequently Asked Questions

Estrogen is a hormone produced in the ovaries and commonly associated with the female reproductive system. However, it is also present in small amounts in mens bodies. Hormones are substances that regulate the activity of specific cells and organs. There are many hormones, many of which work together to release other regulatory hormones in the body.

Estrogen is considered a sex hormone because it regulates sexual development in females. There are also synthetic hormones used in supplementation for women with low hormone levelssuch as low estrogen.

What Are The Risks Of Hrt

The health risks of HRT include:

• Increased risk of endometrial cancer For women who have had a hysterectomy , this is not a problem
• Increased risk of breast cancer with long-term use
• Increased risk of cardiovascular disease
• Increase in inflammatory markers
• Increased risk of blood clots and stroke, especially during the first year of use in susceptible women

All women taking hormone replacement therapy should have regular gynecological exams . The American Cancer Society also recommends that women over age 50 should:

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What Matters Most To You

Your personal feelings are just as important as the medical facts. Think about what matters most to you in this decision, and show how you feel about the following statements.

Reasons to use ET

Reasons not to use ET

I need something to help me manage hot flashes and other menopause symptoms.

I think I can handle my menopause symptoms on my own.

I feel that the benefits of ET are worth the risks.

I’m very worried about the risks of ET.

I feel that ET offers me the best protection against thinning bones.

I think I can reduce my risk for thinning bones without ET.

The thought of using ET for many years doesn’t bother me.

I’m not sure I want to take any medicine for many years.

Why Does Your Estrogen Level Matter

Estrogen is a hormone. Although present in the body in small amounts, hormones have big roles in maintaining your health.

Estrogen is commonly associated with the female body. Men also produce estrogen, but women produce it in higher levels.

The hormone estrogen:

• is responsible for the sexual development of girls when they reach puberty
• controls the growth of the uterine lining during the menstrual cycle and at the beginning of a pregnancy
• causes breast changes in teenagers and women who are pregnant
• is involved in bone and cholesterol metabolism
• regulates food intake, body weight, glucose metabolism, and insulin sensitivity

Girls who havent reached puberty and women approaching menopause are most likely to experience low estrogen. Still, women of all ages can develop low estrogen.

Common symptoms of low estrogen include:

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Whats Been Approved By The Us Food And Drug Administration

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves all estrogen therapy medications. Some hormones are sold as bio-identical hormones and are not FDA-approved. They are available without a prescription, and they are not held to the same safety standards as prescription medications. Despite marketing claims, these hormones are also not more natural than the FDA-approved treatments.

Meet The Women Changing Conversations About Menopause

There are many menopause experts, including me, who feel very strongly that for women with moderate to severe hot flashes, it’s actually far safer to take post menopause estrogen than to NOT take estrogen. Thats because we now know hot flashes correlate very strongly with heart disease, breast cancer, problems with cognitive function and osteoporosis.

Knock out the flashes and you will likely live longer and better than if you decide to tough it out for the next 10 years.

So, if you havent already, you should talk to your doctor about your options. If your own doctor is not an expert in menopause or hormone therapy, the North American Menopause Society is your best resource to find a clinician who is.

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What Other Treatment Might You Try Instead Of Et

Instead of ET, you might try other prescription medicines for menopause symptoms.

• Antidepressant medicines can lower the number of hot flashes you have. And they can make hot flashes less severe when you do have them. Some women have side effects such as headaches, an upset stomach, and problems sleeping. It’s not clear how safe this medicine is if it’s taken for a long time.
• Clonidine, a blood pressure medicine, may relieve hot flashes for some women. But studies have not shown that clonidine makes hot flashes less severe or less frequent. Some women have side effects related to low blood pressure.
• Gabapentin , an antiseizure medicine, may lower the number of hot flashes each day and the intensity of hot flashes. Possible side effects include sleepiness, dizziness, and swelling.

You might also try dietary soy to manage hot flashes.

Black cohosh is a medicinal root that may prevent or relieve menopause symptoms. But the research on black cohosh has had mixed results. Health Canada advises that you talk to your doctor before using black cohosh if you have liver problems or if you develop symptoms of liver problems after using black cohosh.footnote 1 Symptoms of liver damage can include being more tired than usual, feeling weak, losing your appetite, and yellowing of the skin.

To reduce your risk of osteoporosis, eat foods that are rich in calcium, and take vitamin D supplements.

You might also try other medicines to prevent bone thinning.

Key Points To Remember

• Until menopause, the ovaries make most of your body’s estrogen. When your ovaries are removed during a hysterectomy, your estrogen levels drop. Estrogen therapy replaces some or all of the estrogen that your ovaries would be making until menopause.
• Without estrogen, you are at risk for weak bones later in life, which can lead to osteoporosis. ET lowers your risk by slowing bone thinning and increasing bone thickness.footnote 2
• If you are in your 20s, 30s, or 40s, you may want to use ET to avoid early menopause after oophorectomy. But if you have already gone through menopause, you probably don’t need ET after your ovaries have been removed.
• Early menopause can cause hot flashes and other symptoms. ET lowers the number of hot flashes you have, and it makes them less severe when you do have them. ET also helps with other early menopause symptoms, such as vaginal dryness and sleep problems.
• ET does have risks, including a slight risk of stroke, blood clots, and breast cancer. But for most women in their 20s, 30s, or 40s who have had their ovaries removed, the benefits of ET are stronger than these risks.
• Instead of ET, you might try other prescription medicines to help with early menopause symptoms and to prevent osteoporosis. And you may be able to prevent bone thinning if you take vitamin D supplements and eat foods that are rich in calcium, and do weight-bearing exercises.

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The Menopause And Skin Aging

Following menopause many women detect a swift commencement of skin aging skin becomes thinner with decreased collagen content, decreased elasticity, increased wrinkling and increased dryness. Many of these effects can be reversed by estrogen replacement which increases epidermal hydration, skin elasticity and skin thickness as well as reducing skin wrinkles and augmenting the content and quality of collagen and the level of vascularisation.,, A recent immunohistochemical study has shown that while there is no difference in the expression of ER and ER between male and female human skin, the expression of ER is significantly decreased in the epidermis of those above 70 years of age.

Post Menopausal Hormon Replacement Therapy

How prevalent is heart disease among women?

Female Reproductive Organs

Cardiovascular disease is NOT just a mans disease. Cardiovascular disease is the Number 1 killer of women over age 25 in the United States, regardless of race or ethnicity. Once a woman reaches the age of 50 , the risk for heart disease increases. In young women who have undergone early or surgical menopause, the risk for heart disease is also higher, especially when combined with other risk factors such as:

• Diabetes
• Elevated LDL cholesterol
• Low HDL cholesterol, sometimes called “good” cholesterol
• Obesity
• Family history of heart disease

What is menopause?

Menopause is a normal stage in a womans life. The term menopause is commonly used to describe any of the changes a woman experiences either before or after she stops menstruating. As menopause nears, the ovaries gradually produce less estrogen , causing changes in the menstrual cycle and other physical changes. The most common symptoms of menopause are hot flashes, night sweats, emotional changes and changes in the vagina .

Technically, menopause is the end of a womans reproductive cycle, when the ovaries no longer produce eggs and she has her last menstrual cycle. The diagnosis of menopause is not confirmed until a woman has not had her period for six to twelve consecutive months.

How is heart disease associated with menopause?

What can be done to reduce the risk of heart disease for menopausal women?

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Early Treatment Switch May Benefit Patients With Estrogen Receptor Mutations

Bidard F-C, et al. Abstract GS3-05. Presented at: San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium Dec. 7-10, 2021 San Antonio.

Disclosures: ESR1We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact .

A liquid biopsy-based approach to treatment selection improved outcomes among patients with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer, according to study results presented at San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Patients treated with an aromatase inhibitor plus the cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor palbociclib who displayed a rising ESR1 mutation in their blood prior to disease progression doubled their median PFS if they switched to fulvestrant plus palbociclib rather than remaining on the same regimen, results of the randomized phase 3 PADA-1 trial showed.

PADA-1 is the first trial to demonstrate that, in most patients, resistance-associated mutations in the estrogen receptor gene can be detected and targeted before tumor progression,François-Clément Bidard, MD, PhD, professor of medical oncology at Institut Curie and Paris-Saclay University in France, said in a press release. The trial suggests a statistically and clinically significant benefit when fulvestrant is used during this very new window of opportunity.

In the studys first step, patients received an aromatase inhibitor plus palbociclib as first-line therapy and underwent centralized ESR1 mutation screening every 2 months.

What Happens During Menopause

Absence of menstruation for 12 consecutive months is defined as menopause, after all other reasons are ruled out. The median age for natural menopause is about 52 years. Menopausal transition may take up to three years. Menopause may also occur earlier due to reasons other than natural such as surgery, radiation or chemotherapy.

During menopausal transition, menstruation becomes irregular and the intervals increase. The ovarian function reduces and estrogen levels drop which give rise to early menopausal symptoms such as:

Many other conditions may mimic the vasomotor symptoms of menopause and must be ruled out with tests before starting hormone therapy. Post menopause, estrogen deficiency may lead to genitourinary syndrome of menopause which may cause:

• Genital symptoms such as:
• Burning or itching of vulva
• Sexual symptoms such as:
• Spotting or bleeding after intercourse

Menopausal women are at higher risk for developing diseases such as:

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Benefits Of Estrogen For Beauty And Health

Estrogen, as you know, is responsible for a number of bodily changes that occur throughout puberty. But, for those past their teen years, what exactly are the benefits of estrogen?

Truth be told, the sex hormone maintains its importance throughout a womans life. From keeping skin looking youthful to providing protection against depression, estrogen is vital to female health.

Surely youre intrigued, and youre already thinking about the things you could enjoy with help of this hormone. So, dont think twice and join us as we dig deep into the science behind its many perks for beauty and health.

So What Are The Benefits Of Estrogen

So we know that estrogen is greatly beneficial to the maintenance of our bodys health. Is there anything else in particular it does well to keep certain areas of our body in the condition we want or better? The answer is yes. In estrogen replacement therapy, you not only get an inexpensive method of relief from your menopausal symptoms, but minimal side effects as well. Some women are skeptical about using this kind of treatment due to a fear of breast cancer. This is dangerous. From the best research study conducted ever, estrogen has proven that this is not the case. This hormone does not cause an increase in the risk for cancer.

The confusion comes from those cases where progestin, not estrogen, was taken. A lowered level of estrogen, as you may know, increases chances of heart disease and osteoporosis. There are an overwhelming number of women who could have avoided these health risks if they had taken estrogen treatment. Over 90% of these women could have reduced their complications and risks from heart disease and osteoporosis if they had just gone through with therapy. With more than 40 years of research and studies, it has also been shown that estrogen protects against Alzheimers, memory loss and loss of cognition. Additionally, the hormone decreases risks for colorectal cancer, decreases cataracts and macular degeneration, prevents tooth loss and gingivitis, and prevents urogenital atrophy, painful intercourse and stress incontinence.

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Heart Disease And Strokes

HRT does not significantly increase the risk of cardiovascular disease when started before 60 years of age, and may reduce your risk.

Taking HRT tablets is associated with a small increase in the risk of stroke, but the risk of stroke for women under age 60 is generally very low, so the overall risk is still small.

Page last reviewed: 09 September 2019 Next review due: 09 September 2022

What Are Hysterectomy And Oophorectomy

A hysterectomy is surgery to remove the uterus. Most of the time, a hysterectomy is done to treat a problem with the uterus, such as heavy menstrual bleeding, uterine fibroids, or endometriosis.

An oophorectomy is surgery to remove the ovaries. Oophorectomy may be done because of a growth on one or both ovaries, or to treat severe endometriosis, or breast cancer. It may also be done to lower the risk of ovarian cancer.

ET is the use of man-made estrogen to replace the natural estrogen made by your ovaries. ET is available as:

• A pill.
• A skin patch or gel.
• A vaginal ring, cream or tablet.

Until menopause , the ovaries make most of your body’s estrogen. When your ovaries are removed, your estrogen levels suddenly drop. This causes early menopause. It can also increase your risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures, because estrogen helps your bones stay strong.

ET keeps estrogen levels up, which protects against bone thinning and helps prevent menopause symptoms.

If you are in your 20s, 30s, or 40s, you may want to use ET to avoid sudden early menopause after having your ovaries removed. But if you have already gone through menopause, you probably don’t need ET after an oophorectomy.

Estrogen therapy:

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Artificial Estrogen And Natural Estrogen

With the side effects mentioned above, many doctor advise the intake of natural estrogen. Natural estrogen can be found in beans and fruits. Estrogen that are found naturally in plants is called phytoestrogen. Significant amount of phytoestrogen can be found in soya beans and papaya. See health benefits of wholegrains.

Moreover, phytoestrogen contained in plants are easier to be absorbed, and has just the exact amount needed by our body. It is also easier to be elliminated from our body. Nowadays, it is easy to find soya bean products worldwide, such as tofu, tempe , soya milk, and energy bars that contain soya. Papaya can be found in any fruit market now, although the price can be expensive in subtropical countries. However, the highest amount of phytoestrogen is found in soya milk.

Soya products are cheap in Asian countries, therefore much more economical than artificial estrogen.

To get the best result of getting rid of pre-menopause syndrome, it is advised to combined estrogen with regular exercise, not smoking, consuming calcium and foods that contain calcium, and consuming a lot of fruits, vegetables and beans. Young women can also take natural estrogen, to prevent osteoporosis and pre-menopause syndrome which could happen decades later.

How Serious Are Side Effects Of Hormone Replacement Therapy

Most side effects of HRT are not severe. However, HRT can rarely cause more severe side effects, including double vision, depression, extreme weakness and fatigue, fever, and severe abdominal pain. If you experience these or any other concerning or persistent symptoms, call your healthcare provider immediately.

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