As of: February 21, 2024, 4:28 p.m
By: Natalie Hull-Deichsel
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Hormones have been proven to help women relieve certain symptoms of menopause.
If used early, they counteract bone loss.
It is a phase in life that every woman experiences or will experience.
Some get through the menopause well (climacteric), others less so because they suffer from unpleasant symptoms such as hot flashes and regular sleep disorders as well as depressive moods and headaches.
Most women start transitioning between the ages of 40 and 45, and some even earlier.
Menopause and the associated change in hormones are also associated with health consequences, especially for the bones.
The risk of osteoporosis is significantly increased.
Taking hormones can counteract bone loss.
However, opinions regarding hormone replacement therapy vary widely among experts.
The internist and author Dr.
med.
Helena Orfanos-Boeckel explains in an interview why she supports hormone therapy to preserve bones in women.
Prevention and treatment of osteoporosis: Hormone replacement therapy can help
It's not just exercise and sport that are important and good for the bones.
Hormone replacement therapy may be useful for some women during menopause to maintain bone density and prevent osteoporosis.
(Symbolic image) © Daniel Ingold/Imago
Since the 1960s, so-called hormone replacement therapy – HRT for short – has been prescribed to women with severe menopausal symptoms.
The hormone deficiency resulting from the change can be compensated for with the help of medication, so that thanks to HRT, for example, the frequency of hot flashes in affected women is reduced by an average of 75 percent, as the
Pharmazeutische Zeitung
summarizes.
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What I know from those around me is that many women are afraid to take hormones because they think they could definitely cause breast cancer.
Dr.
med.
Helena Orfanos-Boeckel
The therapy cannot exactly restore the previous hormone concentration in the body, but the symptoms and diseases of menopause caused by estrogen deficiency can be specifically limited or even prevented, according to the
online gynecologists
portal .
At the same time, thanks to hormone replacement therapy, it is possible to counteract bone loss and thus prevent osteoporosis, as studies show.
When speaking to a gynecologist or family doctor, the pros and cons should always be weighed up in each individual case, as HRT, in addition to the benefits, also carries an increased risk of breast cancer, for example, in women with a genetic predisposition, as Dr.
Orfanos-Boeckel white.
However, the experienced doctor sees hormone replacement therapy as a valuable option for prevention, especially with regard to bone health.
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For example, a woman who is in her early 50s and who, for genetic reasons, already shows signs of osteopenia in bone density measurements, the precursor to osteoporosis, would be advised to take a preventive dose of transdermal estradiol, accompanied by progesterone, even if she is not suffering from the loss of bone at all Estrogen suffers because it can really help the bones not break down as quickly.
I have experienced this several times in practice.
Dr.
med.
Helena Orfanos-Boeckel
This article only contains general information on the respective health topic and is therefore not intended for self-diagnosis, treatment or medication. It in no way replaces a visit to the doctor. Our editorial team is not allowed to answer individual questions about medical conditions.