Hormone Replacement Treats the Top 5 Menopause Symptoms
Many women look and feel great – and then suddenly in their late 40s it feels like everything starts to “fall apart” at once. Sleep problems, mood swings, weight gain, wrinkles seem to all come on at once – and many women erroneously believe that this is just a “normal” part of getting older. But this could not be farther from the truth!
With perimenopause (usually in a woman’s forties), followed by menopause (at an average age of 51), a woman’s ovaries begin producing increasingly fewer “sex hormones” including estrogen. This is because a woman’s body no longer needs to release eggs and become pregnant.
However, the female sex hormones also regulate virtually every other aspect of a woman’s body, in addition to reproduction. Metabolism, weight gain, mental state, bone density and libido (sex drive) are all affected by hormones as well. So, when there is a decrease in hormones caused by menopause, a wide variety of changes and unpleasant side effects can occur in a woman’s body.
Fortunately, hormone decline, and its related symptoms is not something you just have to “learn to live with”. There IS something a woman can do to replace declining hormones during menopause. Bioidentical hormone pellets can offer long-lasting relief from the frustrating, painful, and even dangerous symptoms of menopause.
In this article the hormone replacement experts at Tutera Medical in Scottsdale, Chandler, or Glendale, AZ discuss the five most common symptoms of menopause – and explain how bioidentical hormone pellets can help reverse these problems and give a woman her quality of life back!
#1. Menopause Hormone Replacement for Hot Flashes
Hot flashes are probably the most well-known symptom of menopause. While not dangerous, hot flashes are incredibly uncomfortable and inconvenient.
Hot flashes – also called hot flushes – affect up to 75% of women during perimenopause and menopause. Hot flashes are caused by a sudden dilation of the blood vessels that increases blood flow – which causes a feeling of extreme heat and profuse sweating.
Experts including those at Harvard and the Mayo Clinic all agree that the most effective treatment for the severe hot flashes and night sweats caused by menopause is estrogen replacement. In a recent clinical study of 3,329 women, replacing missing estrogen (or estrogen plus progestin) resulted in a 75% reduction in hot flashes.
#2. Menopause Hormone Replacement for Weight Gain
The second biggest complaint of menopausal women is usually weight gain – especially around the mid-section or belly. This is because a woman’s metabolism slows down when estrogen levels are low, which in turn increases fat storage on the body.
Additionally, low estrogen levels result in a decreased ability to break down fat cells, which also results in fat accumulation around the waist (“belly fat”) and weight gain.
To add to the problem, if there is an excess of androgens (male hormones) it can further increase the risk of obesity. And lowered levels of the hormone leptin – which signal the brain to feel “full” after eating – also drop during menopause. And this leads to a woman feeling hungrier during menopause, thereby consuming more calories.
However, replacing missing hormones can help reverse weight gain, help build muscle, and redistribute fat storage in perimenopausal and menopausal woman.
#3. Menopause Hormone Replacement for Low Energy
Testosterone is typically thought of as a male hormone, but it actually plays a significant role in increasing energy in both men and women. Testosterone also assists the male and the female body in building proteins necessary for muscle development and energy. So, low levels of testosterone in menopausal women can lead to debilitating fatigue.
Menopausal fatigue can also be a result of a deficiency of thyroid hormones. The thyroid controls metabolism (how the body burns calories), making it essential to maintaining energy levels.
So, replacing and balancing a woman’s hormones during menopause can also improve energy and vitality.
#4. Menopause Hormone Replacement for Painful Sex
Many women believe that vaginal dryness and pain during intercourse are simply part of “getting older”. But it is actually the estrogen decline of menopause that causes the vaginal walls to become thinner, drier and lacking in youthful elasticity. In fact, more than fifty percent of menopausal women suffer from vaginal dryness and pain during intercourse due to a decline in estrogen levels.
Estrogen is responsible for building and maintaining thick, healthy tissue in the vaginal walls, and producing moisture to lubricate the vagina. And, hormone replacement can help the body rebuild thick, strong, elastic, lubricated vaginal tissue so that intercourse once again becomes enjoyable for a woman!
#5. Menopause Hormone Replacement for Osteoporosis
Up to half of all women will break a bone after the age of 50 due to osteoporosis (decreased bone density). This is because one of estrogen’s functions in the body is to stimulate the cellular activity that produces bone. So, as estrogen levels decline during menopause, the bones lose their calcium and become less ‘dense’ and strong.
Many recent clinical studies have come to the conclusion that hormone replacement is the best way to prevent or reverse osteoporosis and prevent broken bones. These experts believe that hormone replacement should be the first choice of therapy in combatting osteoporosis – rather than side-effect riddles bisphosphonate medicines (which include Fosamax and Boniva).
And, besides preventing fractures, estrogen was also shown to protect the discs in the spine in a way that non-hormonal preparations did not. So, while there are now many “synthetic” pills for osteoporosis, most medical professionals prefer to treat the underlying cause of osteoporosis – estrogen deficiency – with hormone replacement.
Menopause Hormone Replacement – Scottsdale, Chandler, or Glendale, AZ
Hormone Replacement treats fatigue, painful intercourse, vaginal dryness, weight gain, hot flashes, and osteoporosis in menopausal women. Additionally, bioidentical hormone replacement also plays a role in preventing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and many other serious medical conditions.
If you are a woman who is experiencing the challenges of perimenopause or menopause, schedule an appointment at Tutera Medical to see if hormone replacement therapy is the right menopause treatment for you. We offer SottoPelle bioidentical hormone replacement pellets for the safest, most consistent, 100% natural, and easiest-to-use method of hormone replacement.