If you are healthy, most experts agree that HRT is safe to use at the lowest dose that helps for the shortest time needed. If you're 59 or older, or have been on hormones for 5 years, you should talk to your doctor about quitting.
Ultimately, HRT may not be right for every woman after 65. But it might be right for you. The best way to find out is to consult a practitioner who specializes in hormone replacement therapy and discuss your symptoms, your health history, your treatment options, and your personal preference.
You can safely get relief with hormone therapy (HT), according to the North American Menopause Society (NAMS). Under some circumstances, low-dose HT, one of the most effective treatments for symptoms of menopause, may be appropriate for women over 65 who meet certain health criteria.
All women taking HRT should have an annual review with their doctor or nurse. If you continue to be healthy and feel the benefits of taking HRT, there is no reason for stopping it. Women are often surprised when their menopausal symptoms return after coming off HRT, even those women that have taken it for many years.
Starting HRT after the age of 60 does not lower the risk of heart disease but it is not thought that it increases it either. Starting HRT over the age of 70 may have more risks than benefits. When to Stop HRT? There is no arbitrary age to stop HRT.
Breast cancer: combined HRT slightly increases the risk of breast cancer. This increased risk gets bigger the longer HRT is used. When HRT is stopped, the increased risk goes down over time. This takes longer, the longer that HRT was used.
Women who begin hormone therapy at age 60 or older or more than 10 years from the onset of menopause are at greater risk of the above conditions. But if hormone therapy is started before the age of 60 or within 10 years of menopause, the benefits appear to outweigh the risks.
But taking hormones over time is less about following a set duration and more about developing a course of treatment based on your unique symptoms, needs, history and quality of life, while considering risks and benefits. Research has typically supported an acceptable HRT duration of two to five years.
HRT is also known to help women maintain softer, smoother skin, resulting in a younger look. In addition to—and, often, as a result of—these physical changes, HRT often changes how you see yourself. In very real ways, using HRT to address symptoms of hormonal change can help you feel younger.
In addition to increasing longevity, hormone replacement therapy can help to address many of the changes we experience as we grow older. Estrogen therapy is associated with healthier and younger-looking skin in women.
While there are many inevitable health consequences of menopause and aging, the initiation of systemic or local HRT may be both appropriate and acceptable in some older women in order to improve the quality, if not the quantity, of life.
Studies have revealed that decreased estrogen levels in the postmenopausal stage may speed up skin complications and signs of aging, such as dryness, wrinkles, and delayed wound healing.
Hormone therapy can be extremely beneficial for bone health purposes for women up to the age of 60 years, and in some circumstances women may continue hormone therapy after this age, depending on their general health, family history and bone density / history of fracture.
Conclusions: Our results show that a number of women aged 80 years or older still use hormone therapy and that most women who started a new treatment period had only one or two dispensations despite the median duration of treatment being more than half a year.
Genes associated with follicle growth were not significantly altered by vitamin D3. However, it increases expression of genes involved in the estrogen-biosynthesis. Further, estrogen concentrations in porcine granulosa cell-cultured media increased in response to vitamin D3.
Many women believe that taking HRT will make them put on weight, but there's no evidence to support this claim.
Traditional natural hormone replacement therapies
phytoestrogens, which are dietary estrogens found in legumes, seeds, and whole grains. folate (vitamin B-9 or folic acid) St. John's wort.
Some people find that stopping HRT is unremarkable, with no symptoms at all. However, it is common for menopause symptoms (including flushes and night sweats) to come back in the months after stopping HRT. These are often temporary and tend to fade away after a few months.
Current menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) is associated with reduced total and visceral adiposity, but the effect is small and disappears when therapy is discontinued, according to a cross-sectional study of about 1,500 postmenopausal women 50 to 80 years of age.
The International Menopause Society guidelines recommend that if menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) is prescribed, it be commenced before the age of 60, or within 10 years of menopause.
HRT initiated before the age of 60 or within 10 years of the menopause is likely to be associated with a reduction in coronary heart disease and cardiovascular mortality. If HRT is to be used in women over 60 years of age, lower doses should be started, preferably with a transdermal route of estradiol administration.
Q: What are the benefits of starting HRT in the early stages of menopause? In women, if we can initiate therapy within five years of menopause or before age 60, you're getting the most benefits, according to scientific evidence.