A predominant concern that comes up in women who are peri-menopausal/menopausal women is that they experience unwanted weight gain. In addition to unwanted weight gain, women in this population often notice changes in their body composition, with most of the fat starting to accumulate in the belly and hip region.
Weight gain during this hormonally sensitive time is due to a number of reasons including declining muscle mass and changes in metabolic rate, increases in caloric intake, and reduced caloric expenditure. While changes in body composition (meaning more fat in the belly area) occur because of declining estrogen levels.
To explain this we have to understand that estrogen is a very protective hormone. It protects against fat distribution around the belly area. This is usually why men have belly fat more often then women, as they don't have as much of this hormone. However, as estrogen levels begin to decline during peri-menopause/menopause, this protection starts to wain and belly fat starts to form.
This is one of the reasons why cardiovascular risk goes up for women as they age. As fat starts to build up around the organs, the likelihood of a cardiovascular event goes up.
Hormone therapy (HRT) has shown to be helpful in improving body composition in this group of women. Studies have shown that after 12 months of hormone therapy there are significant changes in the distribution of body fat, with less accumulating in the belly and hip region. In addition, cardiovascular risk reduces with use of HRT with time.
Hormone therapy can be an excellent way to not only manage symptoms of peri-menopause/menopause, but also improve body composition and change cardiovascular risk.
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