Menopause hormone therapy (also called hormone replacement therapy or HRT) comprises medications prescribed to treat menopause symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, and vaginal dryness by replenishing hormones like estrogen and progesterone that decline during the transition to menopause.
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definition
General definition of hormone therapy for menopause and its therapeutic goal.
Local estrogen therapy is administered vaginally as creams, rings, or tablets, produces primarily local effects (treating vaginal dryness, itching, urinary symptoms and urgency), and results in only trace systemic hormone absorption, which limits systemic benefit and reduces systemic risk.
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administration
Distinguishes local (vaginal) estrogen treatments from systemic hormone therapies based on route, effects, and systemic absorption.
Systemic hormone therapy is designed to circulate hormones throughout the bloodstream and is administered orally or via transdermal methods such as patches, sprays, or gels; systemic therapy provides whole-body symptom relief but generally carries higher systemic risk than local therapy, and systemic options include estrogen-only, progesterone-only, or combined regimens.
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administration
Describes systemic routes, scope of benefit, relative risk, and regimen types for hormone therapy.
In clinical practice, women who have had a hysterectomy (uterus removed) typically receive estrogen-only systemic therapy, whereas women with an intact uterus are typically prescribed combined estrogen and progesterone systemic therapy to reduce the risk of endometrial cancer.
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clinical
Clinical rationale for adding progesterone to estrogen therapy in women with an intact uterus to protect the endometrium.