Hormone replacement therapy has become an invaluable part of healthcare. But before this regimen became a widely accepted practice, it underwent several tests, criticisms, and changes. In fact, back then hormone replacement doctors in Florida as well as other parts of the United States – and even the entire world – were taking a lot of flak.
That, of course, is already a far cry from where hormone replacement therapy is today. It is nevertheless interesting to see how this rather new development improved throughout the years. With that in mind, here is the past, present, and the near future of hormone therapy.
- Not Too Old, Not Too Young – Believe it or not, hormone replacement therapy has been around for sixty years! While it may seem that it’s been around for quite some time now, it’s actually quite young as compared to a lot of other pharmaceutical products or medical procedures.During the 1950s, the very first HRT drugs in America, which were used by women to retain their youth and femininity, were made up of conjugated estrogen that were isolated from the urine of pregnant mares.
- Under Fire – In that same year, however, the practice was met with growing worry, as research indicated a marked increase of uterine cancer among those who were undergoing HRT. Nevertheless, doctors were still taught that HRT prevents heart disease and sustained the youth of women’s skin and their mental alertness. In additional, they were also told that HRT at that time had little to no side effects.In fact, during that time, a lot of women who are in their menopausal stage were told by their doctors that HRT can relieve menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, mood swings, insomnia, and weight gain. Although that is very much true until today, it was a time – the 1990s, to be exact – when women were questioning the effectiveness and safety of HRT.
- Like The Real Thing – As an answer to HRT being frowned upon by many women and some doctors, a new kind of HRT has been developed: bioidentical HRT drugs. This kind of treatment relies on hormones that are neither made up of estrogen derived from horses’ urine nor an artificially contrived. Instead, it uses hormones that similar in makeup to that of human estrogen but not exactly estrogen itself. This allows the drug to be taken and suffer fewer and/or less pronounced side effects as compared to non-bioidentical HRT medicine.In addition, bioidentical HRT is no longer limited to treating menopause-related problems, as it has branched out to treat symptoms that are related to other symptoms and disorders such as adrenal fatigue, metabolic syndrome, thyroid disease, sexual dysfunction, insomnia, depression, and many more.
- The Future: Soon to be Now – So, what’s in store for HRT a few years later? While most of it is unknown, one development is already in the works: the customization of dosage and the compounding of pharmacy to create an even more personalized, more accurate, and more effective kind of HRT. With this happening, we can look forward to a similar kind of HRT being applied in other kinds of illnesses as well.The field of medicine is always full of changes, progresses, and surprises. And with HRT continuing to change as time goes on, all of us can expect better results from this intervention.
