Female Hormone Therapy for Menopause and Other Conditions
- December 28, 2021
You might think of hormone replacement therapy only as a treatment for those going through menopause. Although menopause is one of the most well-known hormonal conditions, women can experience various disruptions or imbalances in hormone production that can affect them physically and emotionally. When this happens, it’s important to consider hormone replacement therapy to restore balance.
Conditions Treated by Female Hormone Therapy at Regen Doctors
Hormone therapy has a variety of uses for many different conditions, including:
Menopause: During menopause, the levels of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone all decrease in a woman’s body. The drop in these hormones can cause many symptoms for the years before menopause (perimenopause), all the way through the cessation of menstruation.
Thyroid conditions: Thyroid diseases occur when the gland makes either too much or too little hormones. These hormones play an important role throughout the body and imbalances can lead to conditions such as hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, thyroiditis and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.
Menopause: In this condition the levels of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone all decrease in a woman’s body. The drop can cause many symptoms for the years before menopause (perimenopause), all the way through the cessation of menstruation.
Mental health: Depression is a mental illness that can result from a chemical imbalance of serotonin within the brain. As noted above, serotonin is the chemical in the brain that controls a person’s mood and is usually decreased in patients suffering from depression.
Chronic pain: When it comes to chronic pain, research is promising. One study found that in 372 patients with knee pain caused by osteoarthritis, tissue was able to better repair itself when the “sex hormones” (estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone) were present and balanced.
Schedule a consultation at Regen Doctors to determine whether you have a condition that requires female hormone therapy.
What is Female Hormone Therapy?
The following hormones are among those that constitute what is often referred to when the term “hormone replacement therapy” is used:
Estrogen: a hormone produced by the ovaries and adipose (fat) cells. It has a variety of functions, including:
* Causing an increase in blood flow and oxygen metabolism
* Increasing neurotransmitters responsible for many of the emotions you experience
* Improves mood by increasing serotonin levels
It is important to have a balanced level of neurotransmitters to maintain normal body functioning and stable mood. Estrogen replacement therapy helps maintain proper levels of these neurotransmitters, especially during times when estrogen naturally drops (e.g., during menopause).
Progesterone: a relaxing hormone produced by the ovaries. It works with a different neurotransmitter in the brain but has a calming effect. Progesterone allows for feelings of wellbeing. Just like estrogen, when progesterone levels are out of balance depression and anxiety may ensue.
Combination therapy uses estrogen and progestin, the synthetic form of progesterone. This is for those who have not undergone hysterectomy. Estrogen with progesterone lowers the risk of cancer of the endometrium, the lining of the uterus, compared to using estrogen by itself.
Takeaway
For more information about female hormone therapy and how you can benefit from it, reach out to Regen Doctors.
Regen Doctors’ center in Allentown, Pennsylvania also tends to patients from surrounding areas such as Bath, Nazareth, Macungie, Northampton and more.
Regen Doctors in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania also tends to patients from Allentown. Phillipsburg, West Norriton, Horsham and more.