Hormone therapy often gets a bad rap. But should it? Read what experts have to say about whether hormone therapy increases your risk of breast cancer, causes you to gain weight and more.
Chaunie Brusie is a mom of five, a native Michigander and a registered nurse turned writer and editor. She specializes in health and medical writing. Her work has appeared everywhere from The New York Times to Glamour to Parents magazine.
Hormone therapy often gets a bad rap. But should it? Read what experts have to say about whether hormone therapy increases your risk of breast cancer, causes you to gain weight and more., and its little sister, perimenopause, are having a moment. It may be a moment that’s dripping with sweat and confused about its own name, but it’s still a moment. And it means that more and more women are talking about and destigmatizing the big change — and we think that’s great. But sometimes, more chatter means more misinformation, too. So we’re here to bust six common myths aboutWhile many women do notice weight gain and body changes as they get older, Hanna explained that any midlife weight gain is more likely due to age-related metabolism shifts than hormone therapy itself.to weight in either regard — up or down — hormone therapy could help someone who is struggling with hormone-related symptoms that impact their lifestyle. "Hormone therapy may be helpful for weight maintenance, in that if you’re sleeping better, your mood is better. You have less joint pain … all of might help you make better choices around lifestyle, and the result might be improved weight management."The myth that estrogen increases the risk of cancer is one of the most prominent and lasting ones — but it’s also wrong. This myth originates from the 2002That study did find a slight increased risk of breast cancer in women, but, DePree said there are two key facts women need to know about those findings: The increased risk was only found with a specific type of estrogen that was given with a synthetic version of progestin.Despite those key facts that meant estrogen wasn't causing breast cancer, the study kicked off a lot of frenzy and lingering fears. Fortunately, those findings have been replaced byfactorsEstrogen can increase the risk of a heart attack or stroke, but there's a catch, said DePree: The risk depends entirely onwhich changes a blood-clotting protein slightly enough to increase the risk of blood clots. However, nearly all HT is delivered in a patch or in other non-pill forms, which means the risk of oral estrogen is not present. Of course, anyone with cardiovascular conditions or who is at risk of a stroke should always discuss their risk with their healthcare provider ., co-director of the Sexuality, Intimacy, and Menopause Program for Cancer Survivors at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale Medical Center and member of HealthyWomen’s WHAC.Hanna is even more emphatic on when to start HT: “Let me be clear here,” she said."Women who are still having periods but are experiencing symptoms can safely begin hormone therapy. No one should be left to suffer with symptoms until they have gone a year without a period. Perimenopause hormone chaos is real, and women deserve management options."has found that the closer HT is started to the onset of menopause, the lower the risks associated with using it.Hanna is also very passionate about dispelling this myth, especially when it comes to practitioners selling compounded “natural” hormones to women that are not covered by insurance and come with steep price tags.You can only take hormone therapy for a few years.is that women can safely use HT until age 65 and then have an individualized risk/benefit discussion with their HCPs on stopping or continuing. The bottom line, according to DePree, is that female hormones are nothing to fear, especially when you consider the fact that most women never question them when their bodies are naturally producing them. “For 40 years or so, our ovaries were very efficient in producing hormones, and no one ever questioned the safety or advisability of having exposure to female hormones,” she said. “So is there something about it when you turn 52 or 55 or 45 that now hormones are inadvisable and shouldn't be considered? I think the answer is no.”Chaunie Brusie, R.N.
Hormone Therapy Menopause Perimenopause Hormone Health
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