Estrogen can reduce menopausal symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness. If you have a uterus, you'll likely need to take progesterone along with the estrogen. Estrogen without progesterone increases the risk of uterine cancer.
Hormone therapy can help ease symptoms of menopause. But it is associated with a lot of serious risks if used over the long term. Although the treatment lowers the risk of bone fractures, it increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (heart and blood vessel problems) and breast cancer.
Most women are able to stop taking HRT after their menopausal symptoms finish, which is usually two to five years after they start (but in some cases this can be longer). Gradually decreasing your HRT dose is usually recommended, rather than stopping suddenly.
The Multiple Benefits of HRT After 65
Introducing exogenous estrogen via HRT therefore not only addresses more overt postmenopause symptoms, it can offer protection against bone loss and help you prevent osteoporosis. These benefits are no less important once you reach the age of 65.
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.
Estrogen can ease vaginal symptoms of menopause, such as dryness, itching, burning and discomfort with intercourse. Need to prevent bone loss or fractures. Systemic estrogen helps protect against the bone-thinning disease called osteoporosis.
There is very little evidence regarding starting HRT for older women because this research has not been undertaken. However, most women who are otherwise fit and well do still gain benefits from taking HRT even if it has been more than 10 years since their menopause.
When estrogen is balanced, the right amount of fat helps carry out female reproductive functions. However, when there's too little or too much estrogen, weight gain often results. Overweight women typically have high amounts of estrogen, as do women in the first half of pregnancy.
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.
Stroke, blood clots, and heart attack.
Women who took either combined hormone therapy or estrogen alone had an increased risk of stroke, blood clots, and heart attack (1, 2).
Using hormone therapy in women ages 65 and older remains controversial. There is limited data in this population, but some research says that women shouldn't be starting the therapy after the age of 60. However, hormone therapies offer bone protection, which opens the door discussion on usage.
Doctors most often prescribe a low dose of estrogen to be taken as a pill or patch every day. Estrogen may also be prescribed as a cream, vaginal ring, gel or spray. You should take the lowest dose of estrogen needed to relieve menopause symptoms and/or to prevent osteoporosis.
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.
Hormone replacement therapy can help in many ways with your weight loss goals if you're suffering from symptoms of menopause. Several studies have found that menopausal HRT can have a big impact not only on weight loss, but also how much fat your body stores and where.
Some evidence suggests that estrogen hormone therapy increases a woman's resting metabolic rate. This might help slow weight gain. Lack of estrogen may also cause the body to use starches and blood sugar less effectively, which would increase fat storage and make it harder to lose weight. Other age-related factors.
In postmenopausal women, estrogens, taken with or without a progestin, increase the risk of cancer of the breast/ovaries, stroke, dementia, and serious blood clots. When used along with a progestin, estrogens also increase the risk of heart disease (such as heart attacks).
Literally hundreds of clinical studies have provided evidence that systemic HT (estrogen with or without progestogen) effectively helps such conditions as hot flashes, vaginal dryness, night sweats, and bone loss. These benefits can lead to improved sleep, and sexual relations, and quality of life.
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.
The hormone estrogen is responsible for making skin look younger due to the hyaluronic acid it produces. Estrogen not only affects your skin but also your muscle mass, metabolism, and energy levels.
Estrogens have significant effects on skin physiology and modulate epidermal keratinocytes, dermal fibroblasts and melanocytes, in addition to skin appendages including the hair follicle and the sebaceous gland. Importantly, skin aging can be significantly delayed by the administration of estrogen.
Estrogen Replacement Therapy May Increase Collagen
Another way estrogen may help prevent signs of aging on your skin is through collagen production. Estrogen receptors may also act on the fibroblasts in the dermal layer of your skin.
The first changes you will probably notice are that your skin will become a bit drier and thinner. Your pores will become smaller and there will be less oil production. You may become more prone to bruising or cuts and in the first few weeks you'll notice that the odors of your sweat and urine will change.