Question

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is most commonly known for treating the discomfort associated with menopause. However, more broadly, HRT is any form of hormone therapy that involves a patient receiving hormones to supplement or replace naturally occurring hormones in the body. For this discussion post, research different forms of HRT and choose one type to focus on.

In your original post, describe a patient who may benefit from HRT. Explain the risks and benefits to using HRT in the scenario you chose. Be sure to include information on safety.

Answer 1

Hormone replacement therapy is a type of treatment and is majorly used for women with low hormone content in their body. Mostly it was used for women going through menopause as the hormone concentration drastically reduced in their body. mostly, it is the combination of infusion of estrogen and progestin which helps in treating low hormone issues. This type of treatment is often even used for supplementing hormone and replacing naturally occurring hormones. It is known to prevent heart diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis and even can prevent cancer. The hormones are important molecules which helps in controlling and regulating many functions in the body. There are many types of hormone replacement therapy and it is one of the best ways to relieve the symptoms during menopause due to low estrogen and progesterone level.

One of the most common types of HRT is the HRT for menopause using estrogen therapy. In this estrogen is given in form of estradiol or estrone or estriol. This can be given in many forms like consumption of estrogen pills and it is mostly consumed once a day before consumption of food. The estrogen patch application is another way to given estrogen therapy in which the patch is worn on abdominal skin and it is slowly absorbed. The estrogen hormonal therapy can also be used as topical estrogen like gel, cream and sprays and as v@ginal estrogen cream.

There are many benefits of this type of estrogen replacement therapy and especially during menopause: -

· It helps in reducing and relieving the menopause symptoms which is very common during to sudden drop in hormone level. The symptoms for the menopause includes hot flashes which is sudden spread of heat throughout the body. Due to the hot flashes, it tends to increase sweating and as it happens during night, it tends to make difficulty in sleeping.

· It prevent osteoporosis and helps in strengthening the bones. With decrease in level of estrogen, there is increase in bone loss after menopause. When estrogen is given as HRT, it helps in treating bone loss and osteoporosis.

· It prevents heart attack and cardiovascular disease by helping in enhancing the flow of blood and reducing constriction of blood vessels.

· It helps in fighting off the emotional changes which occurs due to low estrogen level. Due to the change in estrogen level, it triggers depression short temper or makes a women more tired. With the HRT it helps in balancing the estrogen level.

However, the estrogen HRT also comes with some risk and the safety of its usage and application must be considered.

· When there is constant estrogen HRT, it can lead to its increase in blood leading to higher blood clots and can lead to more cardiovascular disease and stroke. The high content might lead to heart attack due to blood clots.

· When there is very high content of estrogen in the body, it even poses threat of cancer and specifically a woman becomes prone to breast cancer. It might also lead to develop of dense tissues within the breast area.