Support for hormone replacement therapy - Assignment Example

ormone replacement therapy is beneficial in the treatment of urogenital atrophy by decreasing vaginal epithelial pH and inducing the maturation of urethral mucosal and vaginal cells. Urogenital atrophy brings psychological trauma and as such, hormone replacement therapy is by extension beneficial in treating such psychological effects. Hormone replacement therapy is helpful in preventing and treating oral bone loss. This is a common problem in postmenopausal women and is associated with estrogen deficiency.

There is evidence that hormone replacement therapy can help treat vision problems in elderly persons. Evidence suggests that hormone replacement therapy is important in reducing the occurrence of coronary heart disease (Hodis, 2008). One of the limitations of hormone replacement therapy is that it increases susceptibility to venous and pulmonary thromboembolism. However, this varies with the timing so that the risk of contracting venous thromboembolism is higher in the first year of treatment.

Another limitation with hormone replacement therapy is that it increases the risk of developing breast cancer. The therapy also increases susceptibility to stroke especially ischaemic stroke. Evidence suggests that the use of estrogen-only hormone replacement therapy increases the risk of endometrial cancer. Hormone replacement therapy has a limitation of increasing the risk of ovarian cancer. The therapy causes bleeding in its users especially for the first three to six months (Billecia et. al., 2008). In light of the above benefits and limitations of hormone replacement therapy, I would support hormone therapy.

I would support this therapy because it is a good treatment option for many medical conditions some of which may not have a better treatment option. Another reason why I would support this therapy is that continued research is increasingly discovering ways of improving its effectiveness and reduces its side effects. I would support the use of hormone replacement