HRT, or hormone replacement therapy, is one of the most commonly prescribed medications today, and is often recommended to post-menopausal women as a way of preventing urinary incontinence.
However, studies have shown that HRT may actually be making the problem worse…
HRT and Incontinence
As you’ll know if you are a Kegel8 follower, incontinence is an extremely common problem, with more than 40% of menopausal or post-menopausal women suffering some degree of incontinence[1]. Doctors commonly prescribe HRT to prevent urinary incontinence[2], as well as help to treat some of the other symptoms associated with the menopause.
As part of the research that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association[3], researchers from the Women’s Health Initiative studied more than 27000 women aged between 50-79. At the start of the study, just over 23000 of these women had some symptoms of urinary incontinence, and the women were put into 3 groups, to receive either oestrogen-only HRT, oestrogen plus progestin HRT or a placebo.
Research showed that HRT was found to cause urinary incontinence
The study found that among the women that were continent at the start of the trial, stress incontinence more than doubled for women who were given oestrogen-only HRT, compared with the women that took the placebo.
HRT was also found to make incontinence symptoms worse in women already suffering
Women in both the oestrogen-only and the oestrogen plus progestin groups reported that their incontinence symptoms were worse when asked a year after starting the medication.
The study concluded that HRT should not be prescribed for urinary incontinence, as it not only made the symptoms of urinary incontinence worse among women already suffering, but it also increased the risk of incontinence among continent women.
HRT can be a very effective therapy for uncomfortable and inconvenient menopause symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats, vaginal dryness and loss of libido, but it’s worth thinking twice about taking it for incontinence symptoms.
If leaks and incontinence are your main concern, why not try a 12-week course of Kegel8 exercise first? No pills, creams or side-effects, just stronger, healthier muscles from the inside out.
Sources
[1] http://www.34-menopause-symptoms.com/incontinence.htm
[2] http://seniorliving.about.com/od/healthnutrition/a/hrtincontinence.htm
[3] Hendrix SL, Cochrane BB, Nygaard IE, et al. Effects of Estrogen With and Without Progestin on Urinary Incontinence. JAMA. 2005;293(8):935-948. doi:10.1001/jama.293.8.935