Social Media Pressure Contributes to Increased Use of HRT
Women experience “a huge amount of pressure” from social media to seek medical treatment to manage menopausal symptoms, according to a leading expert
Dr. Paula Briggs, chair of the British Menopause Society (BMS) and sexual and reproductive health consultant at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, told The Epoch Times that while HRT is the “most logical and effective method to manage common symptoms” in many menopausal women, it’s ” very simplistic” to say the treatment would reverse all changes post-menopause and neglect lifestyle intervention such as exercises.
HRT is a treatment to raise the level of female hormones using tablets, patches, implants, gel, or spray.
It’s mostly used to relieve menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes and night sweats, with other applications including treatment of cancer-related hormone deficiency or a boosting of oestrogen levels in transgender women.
According to data from the National Health Service, the number of HRT items prescribed in England in the 2021/2022 financial year has almost doubled the number in 2015/2016.
The number of identified patients increased by more than a third (37.24 percent) during the same period. A small part of the increase may be owing to changes in the population size, as the total number of patients per 1,000 estimated population only increased by 33.13 percent.
Number of Prescribed HRT Items in England by Financial Year. Data Source: NHSBSA (The Epoch Times)
More items are expected to be prescribed in the future as the UK government last month launched a new scheme, allowing annual prescriptions of HRT instead of shorter-term prescriptions. According to the BBC, the measure can cut prescription costs by between £90 to £200 per patient per year.
Social Media Pressure
Asked if more women are suffering from menopausal symptoms, Briggs said she believes pressure from social media has played a part in the increase.
“Women are now being exposed to quite anxiety-provoking information on social media, there are suggestions that their marriage will break down, they’ll lose their job, and I think previously women just got on with it a little bit more than it’s happening now,” she said.
Briggs said she is “very pro-HRT,” but believes there’s “a huge amount of pressure for all women to take the treatment.
“It’s there as a choice and women should be supported with the right information to make the right decision for them. They shouldn’t feel obliged to take something that they don’t necessarily want to take,” she said.
Among the number of identified patients, the biggest surge (73.25 percent) in HRT prescriptions was for patients around menopausal and perimenopausal ages (45–59).
HRT prescriptions for older patients (60–90+) have also increased by 42.52 percent, while 26 percent fewer children and young patients (0–44) were using the treatment in 2021/2022 compared to six years prior.
‘Multifactorial’ Considerations
According to Briggs, it’s “fine” for more menopausal-aged women with no comorbidity to use HRT, as the benefits outweigh the risks for women under 60, but there’s little benefit for older women to begin or continue the treatment.
“As you get older, the chances are that your comorbidities increase. And therefore women should have at least an annual reassessment to see whether they’re suitable to continue with HRT,” she said.
Brigg said she’s now seeing “women who are well past their menopause coming asking for HRT” because “the increased awareness and publicity” led them to believe the treatment will improve their quality of life or change their risk profile.
“All of these things are multifactorial. So osteoporosis is not just caused by lack of estrogen. It’s things like smoking, drinking, family history, lack of exercise.
So a really important part of managing postmenopausal health is lifestyle interventions.
And it’s very simplistic to see that HRT will reverse all changes post menopause,” she said.
See more here theepochtimes
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Howdy
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If unsocial media is destroying you life, then drop out. Other than overall brainwashing, indoctrination and control, It exists for the users purely to set a hierarchy of who is better than who. Do you really need to follow? Why be followed, it just creates tension about pecking order.
Start a group using your own means and share information. While forums need a hierarchy of ‘staff’, that shouldn’t detract from the base reasoning, which is to help and share.
Free forums are just that, while giving wide control over abusers for free. Remove anybody who is there for kicks at your groups expense. It could get big, but don’t neglect the roots.
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Anapat
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Hormone therapy kills. My mother hormone therapy. She died of breast cancer.
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Roo63
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Hi,
There’s a family history of breast cancer, right back through my Wife’s family tree, so HRT was always a no-go area for her.
Around a month back though, she decided to give it a try despite the risks, because Menopause was ripping her life to shreads and since on the 1st day of treatment, she says she feels whole again.
Seems a Woman has no option, by design, but to suffer and in light of the situation and from what I saw her go through, I respect her decision to try HRT anyway. We can’t keep ourselves bubble-wrapped on the off-chance that things will go wrong, despite the odds being stacked against us.
As an aside: Despite losing a breast or two, it wasn’t actually breast cancer that killed any of them, at least to the best of my knowledge, eitherway, I feel for your loss. x
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Tom
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You are already headed to disaster if stupid social media is your health expert.
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Nigel
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So called “Social Media” is dangerous, like quicksand. Just look at who funded it, and that tells you everything you need to know. It is data mining, and narrative control. The use of “likes” stimulates dopamine and keep users hooked like a drug. Disconnect from ALL social media. If those “friends” are indeed real, then they will still be around after you kick the habit.
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