My cholesterol level hovers in the hot zone, despite several 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 estrogen mix 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 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 encourage 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 issues, 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 protect them from heart disease. And it clarifies the best ways to take the drugs.
Women already are contacting their doctors 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 many reasons: Doctors and women's groups are more polarized than ever on whether HRT is necessary. There's less concern about using estrogen therapy short-term to relieve menopause symptoms, 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 post menopausal women.
Many skeptics, including a raft of new blood 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 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?