Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy After Menapause

Natural hormone replacement therapy (NHRT) entails using natural supplements, with a chemical structure the same as natural body-produced hormones. NHRT is also called bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) and is mostly used to relieve menopause symptoms, such as hormone imbalances and shortages. However, recently it has been applied to postpone diseases of aging.

Plant hormones (phytohormones) were first used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years. In 1938 natural progesterone was first crystallized from plants. However, it wasn't until the late 1970s that NHRT was developed and then available for commercial use in the early 1980s. In 1989 progesterone was further developed so it was better absorbed into the bloodstream. Because of discontent with conventional hormone replacement therapy (HRT), NHRT use among women with menopausal symptoms has grown. Most of the concern about HRT was related to risks for breast and uterine cancer, besides side effects and ineffectiveness.

The two female hormones, estrogen and progesterone, are unstable, changing much during the months or years before menopause. As ovaries try to keep up with an aging woman's body, menopausal symptoms result from changing hormone levels. Symptoms, including hot flashes, mood swings, sleep disorders, irregular periods, anxiety, fatigue and others may continue after menopause, so hormonal therapy is often needed for relief

Although NHRT helps relieve hormone imbalance symptoms and shortages anytime after puberty, it is mostly used for correcting hormone imbalances during and after menopause. It is then that hormones including estrogen, progesterone and testosterone start declining. Improvement often occurs only after one to three months of use. Low levels of hormones may be linked with aging diseases. Other benefits include improvement in heart disease, osteoporosis, less chance of cancers, digestive problems and improved cholesterol levels, as well as reducing the odds of Alzheimer's disease. Unlike conventional hormone replacement therapy which uses animal or synthetic hormones, NHRT uses structures matching or akin to to hormones made in the human body. By using natural hormones the body can metabolize hormones better, not producing the horrendous side effects from synthetic hormones which can be strong.

Whether you choose NHRT, it is good to know what is going on inside your body as having hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms can be scary, not knowing the reasons they are happening. Menopausal and post-menopausal women considering NHRT should especially get tested to see if they are low in hormone levels of estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). When ovaries start failing, levels of estrogen and progesterone begin to drop, showing you have entered menopause. High levels of FSH may show your body is trying to encourage ovulation but isn't succeeding, which is one of the first signs of menopause. As normal FSH levels range between 5 and 25 millimeters per one unit of blood, a test signaling a reading higher than 25 shows that you have started menopause. You are in menopause with levels higher than 50.

Besides doing as much research on NHRT as possible, talk to other women as well as do research online. Most importantly, talk to gynecologists, making a list of all questions before making a decision.

Although many women are afraid to use NHRT because they think it will cause weight gain, it is not true. Weight gain usually occur to women at this time of life, anyway and is not linked with hormone therapy.