If you are a woman, you may be considering estrogen supplements to prevent bone loss, keep your mood stable or relieve discomfort related to menopause. Estrogen production can start to diminish in perimenopause, the years leading up to menopause, and extend into postmenopausal years, often causing symptoms severe enough to seek medical help.
Estrogen supplements prescribed in HT, or hormone therapy, often combined with progesterone, restore hormonal balance that could improve your quality of life.
Prevent Bone Loss
Estrogen maintains the ability to absorb dietary calcium, which contributes to preserving bone strength, decreasing the risk of bone fractures and development of osteoporosis. Bone loss is usually greatest in the spine, hips and ribs.
The 2010 Position Statement from The North American Menopause Society reports that "Recent data supports the initiation of HT around the time of menopause to treat menopause-related symptoms; to treat or reduce the risk of osteoporosis or fractures in select postmenopausal women; or both."
Reduce Hot Flashes and Night Sweats
Low levels of estrogen in your body can cause hot flashes, a sudden intense flushed feeling accompanied by sweating, dizziness, nausea or weakness.
These can occur during the day or night and disturb quality of sleep. Increased fatigue contributes to feelings of irritability and mood swings.
Help with Depression
To restore a feeling of well being, estrogen supplements may help by re-balancing your essential mood-boosting hormones such as serotonin. These hormones regulate and minimize depression, anxiety and panic attacks.
Skin Problems
With age, your skin becomes thinner, less elastic and prone to wrinkles. Estrogen helps maintain adequate production of collagen and elastin, the supportive and elastic proteins in the skin.
Improve Memory
Estrogen may improve short-term memory. According to Gayatri Devi, M.D., "Estrogen docking sites are present in several regions of the brain, including those involved in memory. When activated by estrogen, these sites, in turn, activate processes that are beneficial to the brain."
Dangers and Adverse Effects
Taking estrogen has been linked to increased risk of life-threatening conditions such as pulmonary embolism, stroke, blood clots and gall bladder disease.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends that women use estrogen at a low dose for the shortest time possible. Women over age 65 should not start HT as it can increase the risk of dementia.
According to the National Cancer Institute, the ability of estrogen to promote the proliferation of cells in the breast and uterus can increase a woman's chance of developing breast or uterine cancer.
The Women's Health Initiative, found "that taking estrogen and progestin could increase the risk of both breast cancer and heart disease and that the hormones didn't seem to help much with sleep, depression, energy, or sexual satisfaction, compared with a placebo." The trial was stopped early because the researchers assessed that the overall risk of taking estrogen outweighed the benefits.
JoAnn Manson, MD, from Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital says, "There is still a lot of confusion even among physicians about hormone therapy, and many avoid prescribing it."
Since the jury is still out regarding proven dangers and benefits of HT and the associated risk of heart disease and breast cancer, you should discuss taking estrogen with your physician.
References
- Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society Position Statement: Conclusions
- Skin Biology: Reversing the Effects of Menopause and Male Aging: Estrogen to Prevent Wrinkles
- The New York Memory Services: ABCs Of Aging, Alzheimer's, Estrogen And Memory: Memory Loss, Estrogen, Menopause & Alzheimer's Disease: Q: How does estrogen affect the mind?
- Medical News Today: Estrogen Supplements Not As Effective As Claimed
- National Cancer Institute: Understanding Cancer Series: Estrogen Receptors/SERMs : Estrogen and Cancer
