Women’s Running: Could Hormone Therapy Be the Right Solution for Menopausal Masters Runners?
Women’s Running recently interviewed reproductive endocrinologist Jessica Chan, MD, associate professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Cedars-Sinai, about using menopause hormone therapy—also known as hormone replacement therapy—to help relieve symptoms associated with menopause.
Fluctuating estrogen levels can cause hot flashes, mood swings, insomnia and irregular periods in women who are experiencing perimenopause—the years leading up to menopause. After menopause, which is defined as 12 months without a period, the symptoms can continue because the body is producing less estrogen.
Chan told Women’s Running that hormone therapy—medication that contains estrogen—is safe and effective for many women, including masters runners (those who are 40 and over) and people who are physically active.
“A vast majority of my patients experience an immediate relief of their menopausal symptoms once they start their hormone therapies,” Chan said. “I’m a huge proponent of using hormone therapy to treat menopausal symptoms on the appropriate patients experiencing poor quality of life.”
A widely publicized study in 2002 indicated that hormone therapy increased the risk of breast cancer, stroke and other serious conditions, but the study’s findings were later disproven.
“For my healthy and active patients who don’t have underlying cardiovascular diseases, their risks of blood clotting, stroke, and cancer are even lower,” Chan told Women’s Running. “Even among women with a family history of breast cancer, I think they can still make great candidates.”
Chan encouraged patients who have questions about hormone therapy to speak with their physician.
“For highly active athletes, continue doing what you’ve been doing, see your OBGYN or an endocrinologist if you are curious about MHT [menopause hormone therapy],” Chan told Women’s Running. “Have a conversation.”
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