Hormone replacement therapy is done when a persons body is lacking necessary hormones to have proper body function. One example is a women going through menopause. Her doctor may put her on a hormone replacement therapy program and outline a guidline that she should follow. This is believed to aid in making the transition into menopause an easier one, and it lessons the symptoms that a suffer might be dealing with. For example, hormone replacement therapy can aid in the extreme mood swings that are associated with menopause.

Another use for hormone replacement therapy is for women that under go a hysterectomy. Once this done the women will be place on hormone therapy to replace the functions of her ovaries. Some women find that the hormone replacement therapy brings unwanted body hair, and or hair loss. The right adjustment of hormones is necessary to provide proper benefit.

With the good you are sure to find the bad, and hormone replacement therapy has not escaped the negative publicity in the news. For years women that were going through the change were put on an aggressive program of hormone replacement therapy. It provided both relief of mood swings, but all but made hot flashes disappear completely. Thousands of women went on this treatment plan, and remained on it for years. It was a ten year study that showed the use of hormone replacement therapy was directly linked to an increase number of heart disease and breast cancer in users of the treatment plan. Women on the plan were told to cease immediately and have their doctor check them and watch the result carefully. Law suits followed and to date none are on record as being won.

Although hormone replacement therapy is not recommended to be taken for long periods of time it suggested shorter treatment plans are more beneficial and they have no studies showing the effects of a shorter program, but doctors now believe the length of taking hormone replacement therapy play a large part in the side effects.