My cholesterol level hovers in the hot zone, despite two mile daily walks, a high fibre diet and frequent doses of hormones.
When I recently heard of 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 change of prescription.
My doctor, a menopause symptoms professor, was more than happy to change my tablets. More important, she welcomes the new research just released from one of the best U.S. studies of hormone therapy.
My doctor said she didn't feel it's her place 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 answer people's questions and to coach them to stay healthy," she told me.
The new Postmenopausal Estrogen/Progestin Interventions study - called PEPI - will help doctors give better advice for dealing with signs and symptoms of menopause. It doesn't answer all the questions, particularly about links between long-term artificial hormone use and breast cancer. But it does override a major doubt about whether the HRT combinations taken by most women protect them from 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 recently at an American Heart Association meeting and is expected to be published very soon in a leading health journal.
The research 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 discussion about using estrogen therapy short-term to relieve signs of menopause, such as hot flashes. The bigger question is whether menopausal women should take them for several years to lower their risk of heart disease and osteoporosis, two major causes of death and disability in women past menopause.
Many skeptics, 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 keep in good health without taking {spin]pills|drugs|artificial substances[/spin]? And who wants to take a drug that stretches out the menstrual period for a year – or even longer?