As you age, many different changes happen in your body. More often than not, these lead to unpleasant symptoms that could significantly affect your life. These unpleasant symptoms that come with age are mostly because of different hormone imbalances.
Hormones may be too minute to be visible, but their contributions to maintaining overall health are enormous. However, hormone imbalances occur due to different factors such as aging, exposure to hormone disruptors, poor lifestyle choices, and certain medical conditions.
When different hormone imbalances occur, a variety of medications and treatments come to mind. One of which is hormone replacement therapy. Here are six reasons why you may need to consider undergoing this kind of treatment:
You’ve undergone surgical menopause.
Surgical menopause occurs right after undergoing oophorectomy or having your ovaries removed. Ovaries are essential body parts in producing enough estrogen hormones for a healthy female. One known personality underwent this operation at age 39. Angelina Jolie-Pitt resorted to oophorectomy early this year to lower her risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
When the ovaries are removed, a woman’s estrogen levels undergo a significant and abrupt drop. Without the estrogen, risks of osteoporosis, coronary heart disease, anxiety, and early death heighten. To maintain healthy levels of estrogen and to strengthen the body’s immunity after an oophorectomy, bioidentical estrogen hormone replacement therapy must be considered.
Your menopausal symptoms are severe.
With menopause follows different unpleasant symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, depression, insomnia, vaginal atrophy or dryness, and many others. The severity of menopausal symptoms varies for every woman. For some, they may be manageable, but when menopausal symptoms are still severe, estrogen therapy may be taken into consideration.
Estrogen therapy, one type of hormone replacement therapy, has been found to reduce the severity of menopausal symptoms especially hot flashes, vaginal atrophy, and sleeping difficulties. According to Mayo Clinic, systemic estrogen therapy in the form of patches, pills, gels, and creams remain as the most effective when it comes to the relief of menopausal symptoms.
You have either an underactive or overactive thyroid.
The thyroid gland significantly influences a lot of body functions such as growth and development, metabolism and appetite, mood, and even sexual function. An overactive thyroid gland produces too many hormones and results to hyperthyroidism. However, the thyroid can also become underactive and not produce enough hormones, leading to hypothyroidism.
Most often, a patient with an underactive thyroid may be prescribed to undergo thyroid hormone replacement therapy to suffice the lack of hormones produced by the thyroid gland.It is an individualized process specially designed for the right dosage you may need. This treatment aims to normalize the production of hormones in your thyroid for a healthier you.
Your family has a medical history of osteoporosis.
If you belong to a family with a history of osteoporosis, and you’re starting to lose bone mass severely, you may want to consider hormone replacement therapy. HRT has been proven to increase and improve bone mass and density by five percent in two years’ time. There are two types of HRT usually used to treat osteoporosis and bone problems.
The first one, treatment with tibolone, has been found to be beneficial in increasing bone mineral density and reducing bone fractures. Another one is through the administration of the parathyroid hormone. It is injected into the skin and also increases calcium absorption and bone formation. Age and other health issues are to be discussed with your doctor before undergoing treatment.
Your hormones need a reset for successful weight loss.
You may have tried countless diet and workout fads yet still fail to see positive improvements in your body. What could be wrong with your body? If this applies to you, start considering a possibility of hormone imbalances. Imbalances in at least one of the thyroid, sex, and stress hormones can hinder you from losing your extra pounds.
Weight loss becomes very challenging when hormones aren’t in their optimal levels. To address weight loss difficulties due to hormone imbalances, lifestyle changes with hormone replacement should be practiced. Typically, hormone replacement therapy programs are designed with personalized nutrition plans, workout routines, and the like for a more successful weight loss.
Your hormones are severely out of whack.
In general, hormone imbalances happen when there is either an underproduction or overproduction of the body’s naturally produced hormones. Other most common signs of hormone imbalances to watch out for include unexplainable weight gain, stubborn abdominal fat, depression, chronic stress, low libido, fatigue, flaky skin, and sleeping difficulties.
When you feel like your body isn’t functioning its best, it is recommended to have your hormone levels checked for possible hormone imbalances. How your body is on the inside would significantly affect how your body functions externally. Hormone imbalance is no joke. Get in touch with a hormone specialist today for the right diagnosis and treatment!