New Study Offers Help For Menopause Symptoms
My cholesterol level dangles in the unhealthy zone, despite several mile daily walks, a low-fat diet and frequent doses of hormones.
When I recently discovered a new menopause study that showed a different estrogen mix would improve my cholesterol level more dramatically, I faxed the report to my doctor and asked for a new prescription.
My doctor, a menopause symptoms professor, was more than happy to offer me the alternative. More important, she welcomes the clinical data just released from one of the best U.S. studies of hormone replacement.
My doctor said she wasn't prepared to convince somebody to take HRT. "It's my place to share the [spin]knowledge|information|research results[/spin], to do it accurately, to address people's concerns and to coach them to stay healthy," she told me.
The new Postmenopausal Estrogen/Progestin Interventions study - called PEPI - will help doctors provide meaningful counseling for dealing with signs and symptoms of menopause. It doesn't answer all the questions, particularly about links between long-term hormone use and breast cancer. But it does eliminate a major doubt about whether the hormone therapy combinations taken by most women help guard against heart disease. And it clarifies the best ways to take the drugs.
Women already are wanting to know more about the PEPI study. It was presented not long ago at an American Heart Association meeting and is expected to be published in the next few months in a leading health journal.
The study is important for other reasons: Doctors and women's groups are highly focused than ever on whether HRT is necessary. There's less debate about using hormone replacement short-term to relieve symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes. The bigger question is whether menopausal women should take them for decades to lower their risk of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis, two major causes of death and disability in older women.
Many skeptics, including a raft of fresh researchers on the subject, urge caution. They ask: Didn't our grandmothers manage perfectly well without taking {spin]hormones|HRT|estrogen therapy[/spin]? Couldn't they cause cancer? Aren't there ways to keep in good health without taking {spin]pills|drugs|artificial substances[/spin]? And who wants to take a drug that extends periods for a year – or even longer?