My cholesterol level swings in the hot zone, despite three-mile daily walks, a very healthy diet and daily 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 newspaper story to my doctor and asked for a prescription change.
My doctor, a menopause symptoms researcher, 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 it's her place to convince somebody to take artificial hormones. "It's my place to share the [spin]knowledge|information|research
results[/spin], to do it accurately, to reassure my patients 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 concerns, particularly about links between long-term hormone 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 last month 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 many reasons: Doctors and women's groups are more interested than ever on whether the drugs are necessary. There's less concern about using estrogen therapy short-term to relieve menopause symptoms, such as hot flashes. The bigger question is whether menopausal women should take them for decades to lower their risk of heart problems and osteoporosis, two major causes of death and disability in women past menopause.
Many nay sayers, including a raft of new authors on the subject, urge caution. They ask: Didn't our grandmothers live happily 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 extends periods for a year – or even longer?