Hormone Replacement Therapy Risks

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association about Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) stated, "Results of a new Women's Health Initiative (WHI) report show that hormone therapy is associated with an increased the risk of death from breast cancer, as well as an increased risk of developing invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women."

The news media immediately raised an alarm with headlines shouting the dangers of HRT, but what the media failed to mention was that the particular hormone replacement therapy being tested was a synthetic drug called Prempro. Bio-identical hormone replacement therapy was not included in this study. The term bio-identical means it's a hormone from Mother Nature. Extracts from soybeans and yams are converted into a treatment that matches your own body's hormones exactly. Synthetic HRT is made from horse urine and therefore, not a natural hormone for humans. Well, now, all of the proponents of bio-identical HRT are shouting louder to be heard above the roar of controversy that this study caused, making things even more confusing than they already were.

I agree with Dr. Christiane Northrup, a leading expert on women's health and wellness when she writes in her Nov 2009 Huffington Post Blog entry. Dr. Northrup posts: "I encourage every woman to learn about the hormone therapy options available today. They are vast, and there are many excellent choices made from bio-identical hormones. I also encourage every woman to look with a critical eye when reading the news about HRT. It's likely that there will continue to be controversial and conflicting information."

While my own personal preference is for all natural remedies, and I would not consider HRT, I do believe that we women deserve to have ALL of the information available to make an informed choice regarding our own health and wellness. Therefore, I am recommending that you ask your doctor for more information on bio-identical hormone replacement and do your research on the latest studies, as well as the many choices for all natural symptom relief like the tips and techniques that can be found here. Then you will have the information without the hype.

Best of Health,

Kathi