Menopause is the duration of time marking the culmination of women’s menstrual cycles. Climacterics is identified twelve months after a lady has gone without a menstrual period (National Health Service, 2020). It usually happens when ladies are in the age 40s or even 50s among fertile women. Hot flashes form a part of many symptoms of menopause and can be treated by alternative medication (Moore et al., 2017). Individuals develop flushed faces, sweating on the upper part of their bodies due to circulation changes. Moreover, missed or irregular periods are another symptom of menopause (Mayo Clinic, 2020). Vaginal dryness is the other trait that one looks at to understand menopause (Mayo Clinic, 2020). Women often want to urinate when menopause commences manifesting due to the dryness of the vagina. Midlife crisis is the timeframe that exemplifies the conclusion of a woman’s catamenial cycles, developing the symptoms including hot flashes, irregular periods, and vaginal dryness. Therefore, menopause affects women above the age of forty years, making them opt for estrogen replacement therapy as a way of reducing devastating symptoms.
Estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) is the hormone treatment that women who have reached menopause receive to increase estrogen’s actual quantity in their bodies. In addition, the ERT practice is critical for women under the age of forty who have low estrogen problems. For instance, ERT is conducted on females who develop early menopause due to cancer treatment, surgical ovary removal, or primarily those in the menopause stage because of their age (National Cancer Institute, 2017). Estrogen plays a critical role in women’s bodies, including controlling the menstrual cycle and childbearing, apart from maintaining cholesterol. Moreover, ERT aids in relieving menopause-related symptoms as mentioned earlier. It helps against osteoporosis, which is bone thinning, and subsequently reduces the individual risk of developing breast cancer afterward. According to healthcare research, women are likely to be diagnosed with cancer problems after their menstrual cycle (National Cancer Institute, 2017). Thus, ERT is offered both to women who are in menopause and young ladies who have undergone cancer treatments and accidentally affected the estrogen hormone.
As mentioned before, ERT is beneficial as it helps reduce the archaic symptoms of menopause. Regardless of most women approaching menopause without the need for a specific treatment, the shift causes distracting symptoms, requiring medical attention (Cleveland Clinic, 2020). Equally, ERT improves and increases the functioning of muscles among women (Cleveland Clinic, 2020). As ladies get older constantly, the bones functionality and strength reduce exponentially due to insufficient estrogen in the body, making hormone replacement therapy a critical alternative. Moreover, ERT reduces the risks of heart attacks and related failures (Cleveland Clinic, 2020). Among older adults, the chances of the heart pumping blood efficiently throughout the body are minimal. Thus, estrogen therapy makes an individual’s physique robust, hence, functioning effectively. Significantly, ERT helps in reducing the aging speed of the skin (Cleveland Clinic, 2020). Individuals who embraced the therapy continue living normally, whereby despite their old age, their skin remains strong, healthy, and glowing. Therefore, ERT submerges menopause symptoms, improves muscle and bone functioning, declines heart attack risks, and reduces the aging rate.
There are several short-term and long-term effects of estrogen replacement therapy. Headaches and indigestion are part of the short-term effects of ERT (National Health Service, 2020). When a woman takes high doses of estrogen, the anatomy reacts, leading to indigestion. The stomach finds it hard to digest the food eaten effectively. Other minor effects of ERT encompass vaginal bleeding and swelling in other body parts (National Health Service, 2020). Bleeding occurs due to the therapy sensitivity of the body, since other hormones are triggered. On the other hand, the long-term side effects of ERT include weight gain risks and developing cancer (National Health Service, 2020). Physically, throughout the U.S. and other parts of the world, researchers have concluded that, indeed, women who embrace the ERT subsequently gain much weight (National Health Service, 2020). However, no research relates to weight gain and taking HRT. Furthermore, ERT puts females at the peril of developing breast cancer due to blood clots and swelling of the body as short-term effects. Holistically, estrogen replacement therapy has both short and long-term effects, including headaches, indigestion, vaginal bleeding, weight gain, and risks of developing breast cancer.
Based on this research, it is prudent to note that the patient should consider ERT as a critical option in her life. Embracing the treatment will ensure that the client does not suffer because of health deterioration due to menopause. Reflectively, menopause is a phenomenon that a lady experiences approximately in the next 20-30 years or even more, considering the human lifespan Thus, avoiding medication is likely to put a woman’s life in danger of being affected with other conditions, including cholesterol and cancer. Estrogen replacement therapy means that the woman will lead a normal lifestyle free of regular body aches and other severe symptoms of menopause. Above all, ERT will help the patient lead a normal life, similar to the other women who do not experience any symptoms of ill-health conditions due to menopause.
References
Cleveland Clinic. (2020). Estrogen and Hormones.
Mayo Clinic. (2020). Menopause.
Moore, T. R., Franks, R. B., & Fox, C. (2017). Review of efficacy of complementary and alternative medicine treatments for menopausal symptoms. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, 62(3), 286-297.