Dermatological effects of menopausal hormone therapy: A path to overcoming hormone phobia
https://doi.org/10.21518/ms2026-068
Abstract
The postmenopausal period takes about a third of a woman’s life, which emphasizes the need to maintain health and quality of life against the background of pronounced hormonal changes. In peri- and postmenopausal women, estrogen deficiency and hormonal imbalance lead to systemic disorders, including morphofunctional changes in the skin, its appendages and mucous membranes. The skin, being not only a barrier, but also an endocrine organ, is sensitive to estrogens, androgens and cortisol. The lack of estrogens reduces its turgor, elasticity, slows down regeneration, promotes dryness, itching, the formation of wrinkles, as well as changes in hair structure and the development of androgenic alopecia, etc. These changes often remain underestimated and are difficult to correct with standard dermatological methods. Effective management of patients with menopausal symptoms, including changes in the skin and its appendages, requires an integrated approach. Optimal clinical results are achieved through interdisciplinary collaboration of specialists – a gynecologist and a dermatologist, and, if necessary, an endocrinologist, which ensures individualization of therapy and an improvement in the quality of life of peri- and postmenopausal women. Menopausal hormone therapy (MGT), although it has no direct indications for isolated skin manifestations, has proven to improve the biomechanical properties of the skin. The aesthetic effects of MGT are not the primary goal of therapy, but they significantly affect the quality of life and psychological state of patients. A search for the review was conducted using the following keywords: skin, perimenopause, postmenopause, menopausal hormone therapy, aging. Authors analysed 58 home and foreign research papers on the effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on skin state, its elasticity, hydration, and hair growth, identified the main benefits of various types of combined HRT, and described them in this article.
About the Authors
E. V. Dvoriankova
Center for Theoretical Problems of Physical and Chemical Pharmacology of Russian Academy of Sciences;
Professor Yutskovskaya’s Clinic
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Evgeniya V. Dvoriankova, Dr. Sci. (Med.), Leading Researcher of the Laboratory of Physicochemical and Genetic Problems of Dermatology; Dermatovenereologist
30, Srednyaya Kalitnikovskaya St., Moscow, 109029, Russia
102, Bldg. 26, Mira Ave., Moscow, 129626, Russia
O. Yu. Tkachenko
Inozemtsev
City Clinical Hospital
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Olga Yu. Tkachenko, Cand Sci. (Med.), Head of the Department of Organization of Work in Women’s Clinics, Obstetrician-Gynecologist
1, Fortunatovskaya St., Moscow, 105187, Russia
I. V. Kvach
Professor Yutskovskaya’s Clinic
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Irina V. Kvach, Obstetrician-Gynecologist
102, Bldg. 26, Mira Ave., Moscow, 129626, Russia
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Dvoriankova EV, Tkachenko OY, Kvach IV. Dermatological effects of menopausal hormone therapy: A path to overcoming hormone phobia. Meditsinskiy sovet = Medical Council. 2026;(4):141-150. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.21518/ms2026-068
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