Risks of Hormone Replacement Therapy

What is the menopause?
Menopause is the time when, as part of the natural ageing process, a woman’s periods become irregular and then stop. This ‘change of life’ generally occurs between the ages of 45 and 55 years, but can happen earlier or later than this for a variety of reasons. Medically, a woman is described as ‘postmenopausal’ when her periods have stopped completely for one year or more.

What happens during the menopause?
As your body approaches the menopause, the ovaries gradually become less active, producing less oestrogen and progesterone. As the level of these hormones falls, the menstrual cycle is disrupted. Exactly how the periods are affected varies from one woman to another; most commonly there is less bleeding and longer gaps between each period, but some women experience heavier, longer-lasting periods. This transitional phase, when many women seek healthcare advice, may be referred to medically as the ‘perimenopause’.

How do I know whether I am going through the menopause?
When the levels of oestrogen and progesterone fall during the menopause, this automatically causes the level of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) to rise. Your GP can arrange for a simple blood test which measures your FSH level, confirming whether or not you are going through menopause.

What symptoms might I experience?
More than 8 in 10 women sail through the menopause symptom-free or experience only mild symptoms, but some women experience debilitating symptoms that interfere with their lives.1 Menopausal symptoms may begin up to five years before the periods finally stop and usually last for one to two years. Most commonly, these include hot flushes, night sweats, headaches, mood swings and a lower sex drive.

“Homeopathic treatment can help with hot flushes and sweats, tiredness, anxiety, sleeping difficulties, mood swings and headaches.”2

What is HRT?
The conventional medical view of menopause is that it is a disease that needs to be treated, in which women become deficient in oestrogen and progesterone. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) provides artificial forms of the missing hormones in the form of pills, patches or creams. If menopause is viewed in this way (rather than as a natural change in body function) replacing the missing hormones with artificial ones seems a logical solution. However, recent research has shown that this is not a risk-free option.

What’s the problem with HRT?
HRT was originally developed to help women experiencing debilitating menopausal symptoms, but later became much more widely used when doctors also began prescribing it for healthy postmenopausal women to protect against osteoporosis and heart disease. As more and more women used HRT for longer periods of time, there was growing concern amongst doctors about its safety.3

Two large studies have since demonstrated the dangers of HRT and led to significant changes in the way it is prescribed.

Overall the health risks of taking the most common form of HRT outweigh the benefits.

A major US research project involving over 16,000 women looked at the effects of the most commonly used form of HRT – pills known as ‘combined HRT’. In 2002, this trial had to be stopped early because of the health risks to the women involved. The researchers concluded that although this form of HRT gives protection against osteoporosis and bowel cancer, these benefits are outweighed by an increased risk of breast and uterine cancer, heart attack and stroke.

In 2005, results of the NHS-led ‘Million Women Study’ confirmed the link between breast cancer and combined HRT, with researchers estimating that 20,000 cases of breast cancer over the last decade have been due to HRT use. It was also found that oestrogen-only HRT carries a significant risk of endometrial cancer.



Homeopathic treatment for the menopause
Homeopathy is a system of medicine which is based on treating the individual with highly diluted substances given in mainly tablet form, which trigger the body’s natural system of healing. Based on their experience of their symptoms, a homeopath will match the most appropriate medicine to the patient.

The menopause is a natural process but sometimes our bodies get out of balance and need help to restore good health. Homeopathic treatment has been shown to be effective for hot flushes and sweats, tiredness, anxiety, sleeping difficulties, mood swings and headaches. In a study carried out at an NHS Well-Woman clinic in Sheffield, 81per cent of 102 patients reported improvement of these menopause symptoms after homeopathic treatment.2
Women are always being treated by their doctors with harmful drugs to control their reproductive systems and natural cycles. This is especially true during menopause.

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is the latest, favorite, quick and easy solution to supposedly prevent the natural aging process and its problems. Medical doctors don't know what to do to help women without using harmful drugs. And, the drug companies must make lots of money even if their solutions are harmful.

HRT for menopause is quite controversial, even in the allopathic medical world, because of the serious health risks and undesirable "side effects" of taking estrogen. Its long-term safety and efficacy remain a matter of great concern. Their own list of concerns includes:

The most common side affects:
bloating,
weight gain,
irritability and, rarely, depression.

For the first three to six months, vaginal spotting occurs in 30% to 50% of women taking continuous estrogen and progestin.

Serious risks:
the increased risk of developing breast cancer (by 25% and worse in women if there is current cancer or a family history), and
Uterine cancer by up to eight fold in women with an intact uterus;
Undiagnosed vaginal bleeding;
Acute liver disease;
Gall bladder disease;
Pancreatic disease;
blood clots;
Stroke;
Heart attack.
Relative risks:
Hypertension,
Benign breast disease,
Benign uterine disease,
Endometriosis,
Pancreatitis,
Epilepsy,
Migraine headaches.
Subjective Complaints of:
Nausea;
Headaches;
Breakthrough bleeding;
Depression;
Fluid retention.

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Homeopathy for Menopause
Natural Re-adjustment of Hormone Levels
Homeopathy is the safest treatment before, during, and after menopause because it stimulates the natural hormonal balance without the use of harmful drugs. Constitutional homeopathic treatment is best during the transitional period of menopause in order to balance hormonal levels and cure the many accompanying symptoms. You cannot address the complex of these symptoms as separate from the whole individual; for this reason true classical homeopathic prescribing is highly recommended for the treatment of menopause.