13/08/2023
Hormone Replacement Therapy for Women
Women’s Hormone Top-up Therapy (HTT) has really come out from behind the curtains in the last few years. While previously it was thought that the risks (such as cancer) far outweigh the benefits, nowadays most doctors would say the opposite. Plus, there are strategies to reduce the risk of hormone-dependent cancers including taking aromatase inhibitors like DIM which comes from broccoli.
The risks are lowest if body-identical hormones are used. In the past, we had to get these specially made and they were expensive. Nowadays, estrogen patches and Utrogestan (progesterone) capsules that are available at pharmacies are body-identical, and they are fully funded.
The benefits of topping up your hormones through the menopause include reduced menopausal symptoms like hot flushes, but also higher bone density, better heart health, clearer thinking and mood, and improved libido.
I have had some women who have asked me if progesterone causes weight gain. The answer seems to be no. A systematic literature review has shown estrogens combined with micronized progesterone (which is the most common form of HTT for women in NZ) either has no effect on weight or causes a slight reduction in weight.
