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HRT helps or doesn't?
For older women, HRT (a combination of progestin and estrogen) or ERT (estrogen only) can improve clitoral sensitivity and the flow of blood to the pelvic region. Replacement therapies also ease discomfort caused by vaginal dryness and thinning.
Some studies made by WHI in 2002 and 2004 in US revealed HRT presents a risk of stroke and blood clots. Based on these new data, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended doctors to prescribe postmenopausal hormone therapies for the shortest possible length of time and at the lowest possible dosage to reach treatment goals.
What should women do?
In light of the recent warnings made by the FDA, all women taking HRT or who are thinking about taking it for whatever motive should review their treatment plans and options with their doctors.
Only your doctor or health care provider can offer you more information about the latest studies on HRT and ERT and what are the benefits and the risks of these therapies. While HRT increases clitoral sensitivity and decreases discomfort during sexual activity for menopausal women, the therapy was not proved to improve sexual desire too. Some doctors may advise you to add androgen (the sex hormone produced in small amounts by a women’s ovaries, adrenal glands and other tissues that regulates a variety of bodily functions) in order to stimulate sexual arousal.
Related Articles:
HRT: what should women do? [Read Article] (01/10/2005)
HRT 'increases stroke risk by 29%'[Read Article] (01/06/2005)
Taking HRT is all about balancing risk [Read Article] (12/10/2004)
Risks 'outweigh benefits' for many HRT patients [Read Article] (12/01/2004)
HRT 'is in clear' over cancer risk [Read Article] (04/11/2004)
Stroke risk halts HRT study [Read Article] (03/03/2004)
Question: Are the risks lower and can the benefits outweigh them?
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HRT Benefits
Hormone replacement therapy - HRT prevents osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease as well as female sexual dysfunction. Researchers are evaluating the possible effects of the combination of HRT with drugs like Viagra on female sexual function. All tests made until now showed a significant improvement in sexual responsiveness.
Hormones have an important role in regulating female sexual function. In animal models, estrogen administration results in expanded touch receptor zones, suggesting that estrogen effects sensation. In post-menopausal women estrogen levels decreases leading to some change in sexual function.
Estrogen substitution restores vaginal and clitoral vibration and sensation to levels similar to those of pre-menopausal women. It also has protective effects such as increased blood flow to the vagina and clitoris, helping to maintain female sexual response over time.
Low testosterone levels are also associated with common sexual complaints. These include loss of interest in sexual activities, decreased frequency of sexual contact, painful intercourse, decreased genital sensation, diminished sexual responsiveness and difficulty achieving orgasm.
Testosterone increases women's desire, fact proved by clinical tests. FDA has not approved any testosterone medicine for women until now.
Pfizer Inc. was not capable to prove that its impotence medicine Viagra was efficient in treating women sexual disorders, and it would not look for regulatory approval for it as a treatment for FSD.
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HRT Risks
In the past two years older women have been warned continuously on the dangerous consequences of taking hormone replacement therapy, the effective remedy for menopause’s symptoms.
HRT presents not only a small risk of breast cancer, but risks of strokes and blood clots were discovered in 2002 also due to a study, Women's Health Initiative (WHI), made in America.
Opinions have been different from study to study since. Some back up the WHI and others contradict it. A research made by some doctors from Nottingham University on 28 trials published in the Sixties and concerning 40,000 patients concluded there is a 29% higher risk of blood clots and storks for HRT’s users. The researchers that conducted the analysis recommended women at risk of strokes to stop using HRT.
These studies had an enormous influence on HRT’s users. It has been estimated that almost 900,000 women form U.K stopped using the treatment in 2002.
Government medical advisers issued new regulations for doctors prescribing HRT. These implied that HRT should be used for no more than 5 years at the lowest possible dosage and annual check-ups were required also. The treatment would no longer be prescribed as a medication for preventing osteoporosis in women with no menopause symptoms.
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Read Articles
HRT: what should women do? - by Celia Hall, 01/11/2005
HRT 'increases stroke risk by 29% - Author: Kevin Schofield, 1/06/2005
Taking HRT is all about balancing risk - William Lyons, 12/10/2004
Risks 'outweigh benefits' for many HRT patients - by Craig Brown, 12/01/2004
HRT 'is in clear' over cancer risk - by Tara Womersley health correspondent, 04/11/2004
Stroke risk halts HRT study - by Tara Womersley health correspondent, 03/03/2004
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