"5 good reasons for going on hormones."
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/condi...apy/index.html
Where do I begin?
It points out that "Before 2002, it was practically standard
operating procedure to put women on synthetic hormones as soon as
they reached menopause."
But then came the WHI results, that blew out many of the
misconceptions about the benefits of HT.
And now, we have "Since 2002, a consensus has developed among the
experts about legitimate and not-so-legitimate reasons for
considering HRT." [Oops, that sneaky little R has crept back
into the parlance.]
First of all, why should we believe THIS consensus among experts,
if the consensus among experts before 2002 was so far wrong????
I don't want to mess with my body based on _consensus_ (BTDT, got
the scars to show for it) - I want _evidence_.
Some things leave my jaw just flapping: "'Some women say, 'I
can't live my life like this [night sweats].' That's the woman
who should not be denied the hormones," says Marcia Stefanick,
[who] is co-author of a new study...showing that women who took a
type of HRT called combined therapy (estrogen and progestin
together) had a higher risk for breast cancer even three years
after they quit taking the hormones." Boggle - that _this_
researcher would argue for prescribing hormones; there are plenty
of other voices to do that.
And this: "'A younger woman in early menopause who has
osteoporosis -- or risk factors for osteoporosis -- might benefit
from HRT,' ... Women are at high risk for osteoporosis if they're
thin, have a family history of osteoporosis, are lactose
intolerant or smoke."
'Scuse me, but doesn't HT increase the risk factor for blood
clots _especially_ among women who smoke?
"It's important, however, that women who go on hormones for this
reason [to make them feel better] -- or any reason -- understand
the risks of hormones. "I tell women, 'I'll give you the
prescription as long as you understand the risks and the
responsibilities and come in for regular checkups to see to it
that all is going well,'" Utian says."
Fine. No mention that going on HT often only delays the symptoms
of menopause, it doesn't necessarily eliminate them. And I think
it's a pretty hefty assumption to think that the average patient
will understand the risks of HT when it seems that much of the
medical profession doesn't.
Cheezenrice, I wish there were a solution for women who undergo a
miserable menopause. I wish there were more data on the
risks/benefits of other forms of HT - not
Premarin, not oral.
But Big Pharm's Premarin Solution is not it, and from the sounds
of articles like these, they are back to pushing the pills they
have rather than looking for better solutions.
FurPaw
--
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched,
every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense
a theft from those who hunger and are not fed,
those who are cold and are not clothed."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
To reply, unleash the dogs.
There are so many things wrong with this article... 
Linear Mode
