Alternative Treatments for Hot Flashes (cont.)
How are hot flashes usually treated?
Traditionally, hot flashes have been treated with either
oral (by mouth) or transdermal (patch) forms of estrogen.
Hormone therapy (HT),
also referred to as hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or postmenopausal hormone
therapy (PHT),
consists of estrogens or a combination of estrogens and progesterone
(progestin). Both oral and transdermal estrogen are available either as estrogen
alone or estrogen combined with progesterone. All available prescription estrogen replacement medications,
whether oral or transdermal, are effective in reducing the frequency of hot
flashes and their severity. Generally, these medications decrease the frequency
of hot flashes by about 80 to 90%.
However, long-term studies (the NIH-sponsored Women's
Health Initiative, or WHI) of women receiving combined hormone therapy with both
estrogen and progesterone were halted when it was discovered that these women
had an increased risk for heart attack, stroke, and breast cancer when
compared with women who did not receive HT. Later studies of women taking
estrogen therapy alone showed that estrogen was associated with an increased
risk for stroke, but not for heart attack or breast cancer. Estrogen
therapy alone, however, is associated with an increased risk of developing endometrial cancer
(cancer of
the lining of the uterus) in postmenopausal women who have not had their uterus
surgically removed.
The decision in regard to starting or continuing hormone therapy, therefore, is a very individual decision
in which the patient and doctor must take into account the inherent risks and
benefits of the treatment along with each woman's own medical history. It is
currently recommended that if hormone therapy is used, it should be used at the
smallest effective dose for the shortest possible time.
Next: Which alternative prescription medications are effective in treating hot
flash symptoms of menopause? »
- estropipate, Ogen - Information on Estropipate (Ogen, ORTHO-EST) a drug prescribed for the treamtent of the symptoms of menopause such as vaginal dryness and hot flashes as well as the prevention of bone fractures due to osteoporosis.
- Hormone Therapy - Hormone Therapy (HT), can ease the symptoms of menopause and protect against osteoporosis.
- Night Sweats - Night sweats have many different causes. A doctors must take a complete medical history and order tests to find the cause of the underlying medical condition that is responsible for night sweats.
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