Women who have been suffering from the effects of hormonal imbalance due to menopause sometimes resort to HRT or hormonal replacement therapy. HRT is said to relieve the unpleasant effects of menopause. This is the main reason women seek the particular treatment. However, the treatment appears to possess its own dark side. It is reported to be linked to a higher breast cancer risk. In fact, HRT has also been linked to other cancers with growth that are associated to female hormones.
What is HRT exactly?
HRT is the use of a drug that contains female hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone. These female hormones should replace the ones a post-menopause woman’s ovaries will no longer produce.
What are the types of HRT?
There are three main types of HRT. One is the estrogen-only treatment. The other one is the combined HRT, which involves the use of not only estrogen but also progesterone. Another type of HRT is the steroid compound called the tibolone. Tibolone is a combination of estrogen, progesterone and weak androgens. The combined HRT is supposed to provide a more significant increase in the risk of breast cancer. On the other hand, estrogen-only HRT is recommended to women who still have their uterus intact. The estrogen-only HRT may provide less increase in breast cancer risk but it increases the risk of getting cancer of the uterus.
What does HRT do for women?
HRT is said to be able to relieve the effects of menopause. These effects include hot flushes, vaginal dryness and insomnia. Post-menopause women also tend to suffer from depression or anxiety, even a combination of both. Their bodies are just getting used to not being able to produce female hormones. The hormonal imbalance causes physical and emotional upheaval. Because of the extent of the symptoms of menopause, it is just natural for many women to seek HRT treatments.
What is it in HRT that increases breast cancer risk?
Well, HRT provides women with additional exposure to female hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone. Risk factors for breast cancer usually involve exposure to female hormones. For example, a girl who has her first period before twelve years old is at higher risk than someone who has her first period at a later age. The one who had her first period earlier will be exposed to more years with female hormones. Those who are on the contraceptive pill may also be more at risk. HRT is already a direct way of providing a woman with female hormones beyond their childbearing years. In a way, exposure to female hormones has been extended for them.
What do the studies say about HRT?
According to the combined effort of research and statistics, HRT will increase breast cancer risk in such a way that there will be 19 extra cases (out of a thousand) of women with breast cancer among those who take a combined HRT of estrogen and progesterone. There will be 5 extra cases in terms of women who take estrogen-only HRT. For women who do not go through HRT, there will be 32 cases of breast cancer. This means that at the post-menopause age, many women are already at high risk of getting breast cancer. HRT ups the chances, however, adding 5 cases to those going through estrogen-only HRT and 19 cases to those going through combined HRT. This means that out of the thousand, less than 10% will be developing breast cancer – at least statistically speaking.
Is HRT worth the risk?
So is HRT really worth the risk? If it increases the chance of getting breast cancer, you are basically heightening the risk on your life. The answer is not that simple for this particular case, however. While breast cancer can be quite frightening, there is no guarantee you will not get it even without HRT. There is also a 90 plus percent chance that you won’t get it even if you go through the combined HRT. Your physician should recommend or not recommend HRT based on your own particular case. For most cases, however, doctors have become hesitant to recommend hormone replacement. They are painfully aware of the risks. However, you cannot ignore post-menopause women who are experiencing debilitating symptoms. If they cannot live their lives normally without HRT, they are not that better off from having breast cancer. Provided that they are not at risk of dying because of a deadly disease but they are suffering so much it feels that way. In the end, the treatment depends on each individual case. Your physician should know what is best for you. Go for a second opinion if you are not sure about the appropriateness of your physician’s recommendation.
Hormone replacement therapy offers both the good and bad. You just have to see whether you can live through the symptoms of menopause or not. If your symptoms are not that bad then you may just skip the HRT altogether. Many women have survived long before HRT was ever established as a form of treatment.