HRT or not?

First of all you hear that HRT will alleviate those annoying side effects of menopause.

Then you hear that HRT may harm you, possibly harm you seriously.

Then you hear that HRT could harm you a little but will still make life easier here and now.

What are you going to do?

As if life isn’t troublesome enough at the moment without the worry of deciding if you need Hormone Replacement Therapy.

I know some women who are happy with HRT, they decided that the benefits to them well outweighed the risks involved. It’s a personal choice and we’re all old enough to make up our own minds now.

Have your say – To HRT or Not to HRT

Are you For or Against? What do you think?

Why take HRT to treat hot flushes – hot flashes? We can expect to get these! They’re uncomfortable, irritating and can sometimes be scary, but they won’t kill us!

The chances of being killed by taking hormones to alleviate a hot flush is just far too high.

Please, avoid HRT.  Women run twice their normal risk of breast cancer while taking the combined form of estrogen and progestagen. Estrogen alone is not so risky. Both forms of HRT increase the risk of ovarian cancer, although not by as much as they do breast cancer. Estrogen alone increases the risk of endometrial cancer, which affects the lining of the womb.

Why am I so against HRT? I’ve already lost friends from breast cancer and from ovarian cancer.  I’m selfish. I don’t want to lose any more friends.  And I don’t want to see any more women risking their health, their very life, by taking a quick fix to alleviate menopausal symptoms which are, after all, expected and natural.

Read some facts ……

The Million Women Study
The Million Women Study in UK is a national study of womens’ health, involving more than one million women aged 50 and over to study factors affecting womens’ health in this age group. The main focus of the study relates to the effects of hormone replacement therapy use. More than one in four women in the UK in the target age group are now participating in the study. It’s the largest study of its kind in the world.

The important findings from this study are:

• The risk of breast cancer increases with duration of use of HRT
• Ceasing HRT reverses the risk over time
• There was an excess of breast cancer deaths in women who received HRT

And here’s some more facts :

“Four randomised trials including over 20000 women followed up for 4.9 years, on average, have now reported on the effect of HRT for major, potentially fatal, conditions. Overall, HRT users had a significantly increased incidence of breast cancer, stroke, and pulmonary embolism; a significantly reduced incidence of colorectal cancer and fractured neck of femur; but no significant change in endometrial cancer or coronary heart disease”

Evidence from randomised trials on the long-term effects of hormone replacement therapy

“Use of HRT by women aged 50-64 years in the UK over the past decade has resulted in an estimated 20000 extra breast cancers, 15000 associated with oestrogen-progestagen; the extra deaths cannot yet be reliably estimated. INTERPRETATION: Current use of HRT is associated with an increased risk of incident and fatal breast cancer; the effect is substantially greater for oestrogen-progestagen combinations than for other types of HRT.”

Breast cancer and hormone-replacement therapy in the Million Women Study

If you are taking HRT please read the advice from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists : Consumer Medication Information

Important Warning:

In a large study, women who took estrogen with progestins had a higher risk of heart attacks, strokes, blood clots in the lungs or legs, breast cancer, and dementia (loss of ability to think, learn, and understand). Women who take estrogen alone may also have a higher risk of developing these conditions. Tell your doctor if you smoke or use tobacco, if you have had a heart attack or a stroke in the past year, and if you or anyone in your family has or has ever had blood clots or breast cancer. Also tell your doctor if you have or have ever had high blood pressure, high blood levels of cholesterol or fats, diabetes, heart disease, lupus (a condition in which the body attacks its own tissues causing damage and swelling), breast lumps, or an abnormal mammogram.

Call your doctor immediately if you experience any of the following symptoms while you are taking estrogen: sudden, severe headache; sudden, severe vomiting; speech problems; dizziness or faintness; sudden complete or partial loss of vision;double vision; weakness or numbness of an arm or a leg; crushing chest pain or chest heaviness; coughing up blood; sudden shortness of breath; difficulty thinking clearly, remembering, or learning new things; breast lumps or other breast changes; discharge from nipples; or pain, tenderness, or redness in one leg.

PHOTO :  Marcia Cross  in a breast cancer-awareness t-shirt during a news conference to raise awareness of the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act.

This is the conclusion and clinical advice of the First Global Summit on Menopause-Related Issues, which was held in Zürich in March this year.

I am not convinced.

International Menopause Society President Professor Amos Pines summed up the findings :

For young healthy women at the onset of menopause, there is very little risk and the benefits outweigh the risks for women with symptoms.

Personally, I am not at all convinced. Not even a little bit. The symptoms of the menopausal experience can be a real drag but only in few women do they stretch you beyond your limit. And I don’t like “the benefits outweigh the risks“. That only tells me that the risks are certainly there.

If, after trying a natural approach to relief, you feel as though life isn’t worth living, by all means try HRT but please, for as short a time as possible.

And when you are taking these drugs please please do not smoke, do not carry more than a few pounds of excess weight, rarely have an alcoholic drink, do not eat processed foods and avoid as much stress as possible in your daily activities.

Of the women in the original Womens Health Initiative study, 36% had hypertension, 49% were current or past smokers, and 34% were clinically obese, all factors which contribute to increased health problems. On top of that they took HRT.

So I repeat the conclusion of the Summit on Menopause-Related Issues .. If you are young and healthy, menopause is just starting — there is very little risk and the benefits outweigh the risks.

It’s up to you. Each woman is an individual. Talk to your doctor.