When should you start HRT?
Dr. Zuleikha Tyebjee, MD, a board-certified family medicine physician, answers this in her recorded menopause masterclass. Every quote below is her exact wording, marked with where it appears in the recording.
Who is HRT generally recommended for?
“a general criteria is that the benefits of systemic HRT, meaning HRT or hormonal replacement therapy that gets into the blood outweighs the risks in symptomatic women less than 60 years old or within 10 years of menopause onset.”
“That age is important for a cutoff and 60-65, most of the societies say 60, but there are some that say 65. And again, it depends on the severity of hot flashes.”
Why does the timing matter?
“we see after a certain age with estrogen an increased risk of cardiovascular disease including heart attacks and stroke and dementia.”
What do studies show about starting early?
“I want to emphasize, HRT is not approved for any of these things. That is not the FDA approval for them. But the studies are very, very convincing that when women start on HRT earlier, they have a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. … They have an improved health of their bones, decreased risk of osteoporosis.”
Is the decision the same for everyone?
“But again, that is a individual decision.”
“HRT is not one size fits all. It is very different per person and there's often no predicting why or what's gonna work or what's not gonna work.”
Quotes are taken from the masterclass transcript; “…” marks where words were left out, and nothing was reworded. These pages provide general education, not an individual diagnosis or treatment plan.
Where education becomes individual
HRT is not one size fits all.
Dr. Ty considers your symptoms, medical history, goals, risks, and how your body responds. A visit is where that individual decision happens.
“My patients are my teammates.”
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