Hormone therapy replaces the estrogen (and often progesterone) your ovaries reduce producing during perimenopause and menopause. Here's what it does in your body:
- Hot flashes and night sweats: Estrogen calms the hypothalamus's hypersensitivity to temperature changes, typically reducing hot flashes by 75–90%.
- Sleep: Estrogen and progesterone both regulate sleep. Progesterone has a calming, sedative effect. Restoring both improves sleep quality.
- Mood and brain fog: Estrogen affects serotonin and dopamine — neurotransmitters that regulate mood, motivation, and focus. Therapy often reverses anxiety, low mood, and difficulty concentrating.
- Vaginal health: Estrogen maintains vaginal tissue elasticity, lubrication, and thickness. Therapy reverses dryness, atrophy, and discomfort.
- Bones: Estrogen inhibits bone-breakdown cells. Hormone therapy maintains bone density and prevents osteoporosis.
- Heart: Early hormone therapy (within 10 years of menopause onset) appears to support cardiovascular health.