Hormone therapy in menopause: good or bad?

At the onset of menopause, many women experience a complex of symptoms, including hot flashes (a paroxysmal feeling of heat), mood swings and fatigue, but other, imperceptible manifestations of menopause are fraught with great danger. Scientists at the University of Missouri, working under the guidance of Dr. Olga Glinskii, have found that the cessation of the synthesis of the female sex hormone estrogen in the body causes significant changes in the vascular system of the brain. The authors suggest that the currently used post-menopausal hormone replacement therapy may complicate this process and do more harm than good.

Before menopause, women are protected to a certain extent from certain diseases, such as heart disease and stroke. Apparently, vascular changes developing at the same time are to blame for the loss of this protection in the post-menopausal period.

As part of the work, the researchers, in order to artificially create post-menopausal conditions, removed the ovaries of pigs whose reproductive cycle is similar to the human reproductive cycle. Two months later, the animals showed significant changes in the vascular system of the brain, manifested in the disappearance of a large number of microvessels and increased permeability of the vascular wall.

The authors claim that normally, with the onset of menopause, the female body gradually begins to realize the need for the formation of new vessels and adapt to new conditions. Artificial administration of estrogen during this period can disrupt the process of transition from the old blood supply system of the brain to the new one. The changes occurring with the vessels during menopause are very complex and multifaceted, and the authors emphasize that the currently available knowledge is insufficient to determine the best method of hormone replacement therapy.

Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of ScienceDaily

24.06.2008