In a society where hormonal fluctuations in women are often misunderstood, the expert Liliana Perez breaks down reality in La Mesa Caliente. It highlights that It is not the hormones that are to blame, but how they are managed. From the menstrual period to menopause, normal oscillations can become imbalances that affect overall well-being.
Demystifying Symptoms
Many women come to consultation due to excess weight, thyroid problems or diabetes, with symptoms that significantly affect their quality of life and that have nothing to do with these pathologies, but with the sudden cessation of estrogen production.
To help them, the doctor Clotilde Vazquezhead of the Endocrinology and Nutrition Service of the Jiménez Díaz Foundation, has written the book “Klimaterio. History of women and hormones.
From a scientific, human and fun perspective, it explains the multiple hormonal, psychological, social and health components of this period.
The absence of estrogen, he explains to EFEsalud, produces very negative effects in the short, medium and long term, but they can be treated with hormonal therapies tailored to each woman, he defends.
The specialist highlights the importance of the medical approach to patients being comprehensive, taking into account aspects such as associated diseases and the personal circumstances of each case.
And it must be based on teamwork between endocrinologists and gynecologists, among other specialties potentially involved.
The sudden cessation of estrogen production causes cognitive problems in many women, such as lack of concentration and memory loss.”
It also produces emotional imbalances: irritability, stress, desire to cry, sleep problems….
Sexual imbalances: loss of libido and vaginal dryness, decalcification of bones, increased risk of heart attacks and/or strokes, and inevitable weight gain.
“It is the descent of a brutal step from one day to the next: your hair falls out, you are irritable, your cholesterol rises, you have hot flashes, you can't sleep… but this is not a fatal destiny,” says the specialist.
“Throughout history, women have been used to enduring, but that is not the philosophy,” claims the author of the book, who explains that she wrote it to help many women beyond the consultation.
“I seek to shed light on a problem, which is none other than a gland that stops working, and to address it we must take into account all the consequences that the cessation of estrogen production brings.”
Because although life expectancy a century ago was 50 or so years, the same as that of the ovary, currently a woman can live 30 or 40 years longer.
“And it is about providing them with the best health, both physical and mental, for as many years as possible.”
Treatment
According to the doctor, “if you have a hormone deficiency, you must be treated with hormones. My bet is that, very clearly.”
In her opinion, the climacteric “has been pigeonholed into incomplete and unfair knowledge for women and we must get out of there.”
About 17 years ago, several epidemiological studies were published that compared menopausal women without treatment and with hormonal treatment, and both concluded that there was a slightly higher risk of breast cancer with the group of women treated with estrogen.
This, explains the endocrinologist from the Jiménez Díaz Foundation, caused the hormone replacement treatment to stop cold.
As time passed, the specialist says, it was found that those studies “only detected a minimal increased risk” and secondly, they were carried out with very old women, with very high doses of estrogens and for a long time.
“And that is not treating a hormonal deficiency, that is hormonal, and this can lead to the development of breast cancer in some,” he concludes.
(With information from EFE)
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