Millions of women are needlessly suffering from the effects of menopause: the intrusive hot flashes, night sweats and wet linens; the inability to fall back asleep in the middle of the night; “brain fog”; and depression, as well as the negative impact on one’s love life (loss of interest, dryness and actual pain).
All these symptoms and more could be relieved by replacing lost estrogen. Yet many women – and their doctors – are paralyzed with fear about the safety of hormones.
We are living in the long shadow of negative press that surrounded the initial release of the Women’s Health Initiative study results. Ten years ago, media reports suggested that rates of breast cancer, stroke and heart disease were unacceptably high in hormone users (equine estrogen and synthetic progesterone) compared with those women who were taking the placebo (dummy pill). The study was stopped prematurely after five years.
However, early results of estrogen-alone trials involving women with a hysterectomy, published two years later with little media attention, showed lower rates of heart disease, diabetes in women under 60 and breast cancer in all age groups. Yes, lower rates of breast cancer. Read full article.
