If you are taking HRT then you will want to know exactly what risks you are putting onto your body. Is HRT safe and if not what exactly are the risks of hormone replacement therapy? Here you will hopefully find the answers to your questions.
The Risks of HRT
HRT for years has been the drug of choice for many menopausal women. It takes away the most frustrating menopausal symptoms including hot flushes and night sweats and it makes life so much easier too. However, recent studies have found that HRT may not be as safe as many women think that it is and in fact there are various severe health risks that you are exposed to whilst taking the drug.
HRT risks include Breast Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease, Alzheimer’s and Blood Clots. However it is thought that each different type of HRT causes different risks. So when looking into hormone replacement therapy risks do not forget to consider all different types of hormone replacement therapies. It is thought that the risk of hormone replacement therapy is higher if you are on combined HRT. This is because obviously you are being exposed to more than one type of drug.
Do the Risks of HRT Outweigh the Benefits?
Despite the seriousness of the hormone replacement therapy risk, benefit wise many people think that it outweighs that risk.
HRT has been used for such a long time and many women have been taking it for years yet they have not experienced any health problems at all. Some doctors even do not believe that the hormone replacement therapy risk is anything to worry about. This is because there are so many studies which have shown that there is a slight increase, others have shown that there isn’t. So there is a lot of contradicting evidence and that is why many women still take HRT today.
There isn’t a lot in terms of HRT replacement available, as nothing seems to work quite as well as HRT does. It takes away the most serious menopausal symptoms which cause many women endless frustration and unnecessary suffering, so many will say that the benefits of the therapy far outweigh the risks but it is something which only you can decide. As mentioned, doctors tend to have differing opinions and so only you can choose whether you want to try it or not. If you are concerned ask your doctor what other treatments are available and also look into alternative treatments which could be used as well as medical ones to take away the symptoms.