Menopause Treatment

Menopause is a normal phase in a woman’s life. It usually signifies the end of menstruation in a woman, and results from decreased production of female sex hormones of estrogen and progesterone in the woman’s body. Menopause usually sets in a woman’s life between the ages of 45 and 55.



There is no treatment for menopause

As it is, menopause does not require any treatment. However, as the symptoms of menopause may vary from woman to woman with some women experiencing mild symptoms, and others debilitating, treatment may sometimes be required for menopause.

Hormone replacement therapy is the main form of treatment for menopause. It is usually estrogen that is replaced, and not progesterone. This is because with its replacement, the hot flashes a woman experiences is reduced. Estrogen also helps maintain bone strength and thus delay the onset of osteoporosis. It also helps in reducing urinary incontinence and in keeping cholesterol levels low in the body. However, though estrogen replacement is beneficial, its long term treatment may increase the chance of heart attacks, strokes, dementia, gallstones and some forms of breast cancer
Hormone replacement therapy can reduce menopuase symptom
This is why it is now advised that women undergo short term hormone replacement therapy wherein symptoms are reduced and risks associated with long term therapy reduced. Here, hormones are prescribed for a short period, and has to be discontinued on the termination of this period. It is always better to have a breast examination, and a mammogram done before embarking on hormone replacement therapy. However, women who are at risk of osteoporosis stand to benefit the most from long term hormone replacement therapy.

Besides hormone replacement therapy, making numerous lifestyle changes can also make a woman improve her menopause symptoms. It is better to stop smoking as smoking itself enhances stress, headaches and the chances of cancer. Alcohol intake should also be controlled during menopause as excessive consumption of alcohol elevates health complications like heart disease. And of course, with regular exercise and a healthy diet, it is very much possible to control menopause. As soy products are considered to be rich in plant estrogens, and helps in reducing the intensity of hot flashes, it should be included in one’s diet.

So although hormone therapy is effective in treating menopause, it produces many side effects. The best thing one should do to control menopause is to implement changes in diet and lifestyle, meditation and include new drugs like biphosphonates that reduce bone loss, to fight against osteoporosis.