What are the Advantages of Hormone Replacement Therapy?

Aging is a part of life that is inescapable. At this stage, although many people are getting wiser or sometimes richer, the looming decrease in hormonal production in both men and women can be heart-breaking to experience. In men, the body will continually produce less testosterone hormone as they age. This hormone is necessary for male sexual development, muscle growth, and other benefits.

In women, their bodies experience menopause which is a normal aging process where their monthly periods stop. Before or during this process, the female body usually experiences a fluctuation of hormones which causes symptoms that disappear with time in some women. This article will look at the advantages of a method used to treat hormonal imbalances in men and women called Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Patients

HRT is one of the most effective treatment methods used to treat hormonal imbalance symptoms. This treatment is advisable only to women under 60 or within the first ten years of menopause with menopausal symptoms. 

While it is not certain how HRT is helpful to men with a natural decline in testosterone, this treatment can be effective to those with unnaturally low levels caused by a dysfunction in the testes. There are various other Benefits of Hormone Replacement Therapy, such as fixing the effects of hormone imbalance.

Symptoms of Hormonal Imbalance

Hormonal imbalance can cause severe symptoms in both men and women. The symptoms for women menopause include:

• Hot flashes
• Night sweats
• Elevated risk of bone loss
• Mood swings
• Vaginal dryness
• Reduced sex drive

The symptoms of hormonal imbalance in men include:

• Low sex drive
• Erectile dysfunction
• Lack of concentration and poor memory
• Fatigue
• Moodiness and irritability
• Loss of muscular strength

Types of Hormone Replacement Therapy

Before discussing the benefits that a person gets from undergoing HRT, we must first understand what type of HRT medication is available for men and women.

In women, there are mainly two types of treatments which include, 

• Estrogen Therapy – This treatment involves estrogen alone, which is prescribed in low doses mainly for women who have removed their wombs. This estrogen is taken daily and can be in the form of a cream, vaginal ring, a pill, patch, gel, or spray.
• Estrogen Progesterone Therapy – This treatment involves a combination of estrogen and progesterone or progestin usually prescribed for women seeking to continue giving birth. Progesterone in this combo is used to guard the lining of the uterus against the risk of cancer.

HRT only begins after the first signs of menopause which are usually hot flashes or night sweats. It is advisable to seek your practitioner’s recommendation to determine which type of treatment is best for your condition.

In men, on the other hand, there are three types of treatments that include;

• Testosterone Injections – These are injections to your buttocks that your doctor will be administering once every two to three weeks. This treatment is mostly prescribed to men with abnormally low testosterone.
• Testosterone Patches – This treatment involves the daily use of patches on the back, arms, buttocks, or abdomen to stimulate testosterone.
• Testosterone Gel – This treatment prescribes a gel that can be applied to your shoulders, arms, or abdomen to help produce testosterone.

There are currently various side effects for men on HRT. Therefore, it is mandatory to seek your physician’s advice to establish if this treatment is for you.

Advantages of Hormone Replacement Therapy

HRT is more beneficial to women than men. Women in the menopausal stage that undergo this treatment can experience these benefits;

1. Relieves Hot Flashes – This is usually the main problem that affects women as they near their menopause phase. HRT medications can tremendously help in reducing and even eradicating this problem in a short time of use.
2. Improves Sleep – Most women reported having improvements in their sleep. They experience fewer sleep disruptions and also have better dreams just a few months into the treatment.
3. Reduces Osteoporosis – This is the condition of thinning of bones, making them easy to break. After a few months of estrogen treatment, women had reported increased bone mass and more strength than when they were not using the treatment.
4. Increased Vaginal Fluids – HRT has been instrumental in fighting vaginal dryness, which causes women to feel pain during sex.

On the other hand, men on HRT have reported the following improvements. 

1. Increased Libido – A few months into testosterone injections, men have had a spike in sex drive that has improved their sex life.
2. Firm Erections – Men on testosterone have had a firm and steady erection that lasts for longer than before.
3. Increased Muscle – After some time on HRT, men have been found to increase muscle size and energy.

More studies are being undertaken on using HRT as the main treatment for hormonal imbalance; it is yet to establish if these benefits could be universal to each individual. Meanwhile, it is always advisable to seek your practitioner’s recommendation to determine whether the benefits outweigh the risks.

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