Estrogen Replacement and Therapy in Arizona

Estrogen Replacement and Therapy in Arizona
As women age, their bodies change. Menopause, often called a "change of life," is actually a change in body, a drop in production of female hormones, including estrogen. Its symptoms can range from mild to devastating, and a treatment that works well for one woman may be ineffective for another. For years, doctors have prescribed medications to replace the missing estrogen. These medications have mitigated common symptoms and, in some cases, have helped protect against heart disease and bone-thinning. 

What is Menopause? Menopause is what happens when, because of age, a woman's production of female hormones begins to dwindle. When this takes place, a woman stops having menstrual periods, and she can no longer become pregnant. The loss of these hormones sometimes can bring significant physical and emotional changes. Most women undergo menopause at about age 50, although this can vary widely - it's not unheard of, for example, for men-opause to begin as early as age 43, or as late as age 57. Two key hormones involved in menopause are estrogen and progesterone; both are made in the ovaries. Women are born with a fixed number of eggs - about 2 million - in each ovary. Only about 400 or so are actually used in ovulation during a woman's life span. (Eggs that are not ovulated generally die and are dissolved within the ovary. This is a normal process and doesn't harm the ovary or the body.) And every month or so, before the egg is released at ovulation, special cells in the ovaries make estrogen. After the egg is released, they make progesterone. When eggs no longer remain in the ovaries, the hormones estrogen and progesterone are no longer produced. Without these hormones, the lining of the uterus is not stimulated to grow, and menstrual periods no longer take place. When no periods have taken place for an entire year, menopause has begun.

Estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) or estrogen therapy (ET): a form of therapy with estrogen hormones most commonly used to treat the symptoms of menopause. It reduces or stops the short-term changes of menopause such as hot flashes, disturbed sleep, and vaginal dryness. Estrogen replacement therapy is thought to help prevent osteoporosis, a consequence of lowered estrogen levels. Estrogen therapy has more recently been referred to without the use of the term "replacement" and is simply referred to as estrogen therapy or estrogen therapy.

What is estrogen replacement therapy? 

Estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) refers to taking regular doses of estrogen, usually the lowest effective doses, to replace the natural estrogen that decreases at menopause. After you have passed through menopause, your ovaries no longer produce eggs and your body produces less estrogen. 

Estrogen is one of two major female hormones. The other is progesterone. For women who still have their uterus, progesterone is added to the estrogen doses because it reduces the risk of cancer of the uterus, a major concern with ERT in the past. The hormones estrogen and progesterone can be taken as tablets. They are also available in the forms of creams, skin patches, vaginal suppositories, and shots. 

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