My cholesterol level dangles in the danger zone, despite two mile daily walks, a high fibre diet and regular doses of hormones.
When I recently read about a new menopause study that showed a different hormone concoction would improve my cholesterol level more dramatically, I faxed the details to my doctor and asked for a prescription change.
My doctor, a menopause symptoms specialist, was more than happy to change my tablets. More important, she welcomes the clinical data just released from one of the best U.S. studies of hormone replacement.
My doctor said she didn't feel comfortable to convince somebody to take hormone replacement drugs. "It's my place to share the [spin]knowledge|information|research
results[/spin], to do it accurately, to reassure my patients and to encourage them to stay healthy," she told me.
The new Postmenopausal Estrogen/Progestin Interventions study - called PEPI - will help doctors offer better support for dealing with signs and symptoms of menopause. It doesn't answer all the concerns, particularly about links between long-term HRT use and breast cancer. But it does eliminate a major doubt about whether the estrogen-progesterone combinations taken by most women offer protection for heart disease. And it clarifies the best ways to take the hormones.
Women already are wanting to know more about the PEPI study. It was presented recently at an American Heart Association meeting and is expected to be published in the next few months in a leading health journal.
The trial is important for other reasons: Doctors and women's groups are highly focused than ever on whether artificial hormone therapy is necessary. There's less debate about using hormone replacement short-term to relieve signs of menopause, such as hot flashes. The bigger question is whether women going through menopause should take them for decades to lower their risk of heart disease and osteoporosis, two major causes of death and disability in older women.
Many nay sayers, including a raft of new authors on the subject, urge caution. They ask: Didn't our grandmothers get along OK without taking {spin]hormones|HRT|estrogen therapy[/spin]? Couldn't they cause cancer? Aren't there ways to feel better and protect health without taking {spin]pills|drugs|artificial substances[/spin]? And who wants to take a drug that causes menstrual periods for a year – or even longer?
