Decreased estrogen levels cause the tissues in your vagina to thin and deteriorate, making your vagina dry. People in postmenopause may continue to struggle with vaginal dryness for years after their last period. Using vaginal lubricants can help ease any discomfort caused by sex.
Hormone therapy for postmenopausal women with an intact uterus should comprise both estrogen and progestogen to reduce the risk of endometrial hyperplasia.
Systemic estrogen therapy remains the most effective treatment for the relief of troublesome menopausal hot flashes and night sweats. Have other symptoms of menopause. Estrogen can ease vaginal symptoms of menopause, such as dryness, itching, burning and discomfort with intercourse.
There is good news for older women age who are experiencing menopause symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats. You can safely get relief with hormone therapy (HT), according to the North American Menopause Society (NAMS).
During menopause, lower levels of estrogen have a big impact on your skin. Less estrogen makes you prone to thinning, sagging, and wrinkling. Fortunately, you can relieve some of the skin-related effects of aging by taking care of your specific skin care needs.
Hot flashes, flushes, and night sweats are the most common symptoms of low estrogen. At times, blood rushes to your skin's surface. This can give you a feeling of warmth (hot flash). Your face may look flushed.
“Estrogen-deficient skin can be characterized by dryness, wrinkling, thinness and itching. Interestingly, many women don't associate that with menopause, just with getting older,” says Dr. Berson.
Low estrogen can affect your body in various ways, depending on where you are in terms of your sexual development. Low estrogen: May delay puberty, slow or prevent sexual development. Occurs in perimenopause and menopause, often leading to painful sex, lower sexual desire and hot flashes.
A Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center study involving postmenopausal, overweight, and obese women who took 2,000 IUs of vitamin D daily for a year found that those whose vitamin D blood levels increased the most had the greatest reductions in blood estrogens, which are a known risk factor for breast cancer.
Many women also notice an increase in belly fat as they get older — even if they aren't gaining weight. This is likely due to a decreasing level of estrogen, which appears to influence where fat is distributed in the body.
How Estrogen Replacement Therapy Can Help with Belly Fat During Menopause. Recent studies show that menopausal women on hormone therapy tend to have less body fat, especially visceral belly fat. Because estrogen affects how your body distributes fat, low estrogen levels can contribute to gaining fat in your belly area.
Some of the vitamins linked to better estrogen balance include vitamin D, the B complex, and vitamin C. Minerals such as calcium and boron may help protect against the effects of low estrogen, while some herbal supplements, including dong quai and black cohosh, are also known for their hormone-balancing effects.
And how do you go about it? 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.
Magnesium is critical in the making of hormones
Magnesium is needed for the production of hormones such as progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone.
Recommendations for vitamin D — The current recommendation is that men over 70 years and postmenopausal women consume at least 800 international units (20 micrograms) of vitamin D per day.
Estrogen deficiency following menopause results in atrophic skin changes and acceleration of skin aging. Estrogens significantly modulate skin physiology, targeting keratinocytes, fibroblasts, melanocytes, hair follicles and sebaceous glands, and improve angiogenesis, wound healing and immune responses.
Estrogen therapy (ET) 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.