Remember when the gurus said if you ate one egg a heart attack was right around the corner? Well now they’ve found that the cholesterol in eggs is a good kind, not so good we can eat a dozen a day, but not the artery clogging stuff they originally pronounced it to be. There’s a lot of those flip flopping experts who find cure-alls that turn out to be junk or who tell us things like vitamin E and C are magic prevention potions. Nothing wrong with vitamins, but turns out they are just vitamins, not magic . (The latest vitamin craze is vitamin D, I’m suspicious.)
Well the flip floppers are back. Estrogen got a bad rap for several years. Premarin the synthetic estrogen has been around for decades to relieve menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, insomnia, memory loss and all the rest of menopausal miseries. I have 3 female cousins who are 10 to 15 years older than I am and they have all taken estrogen for 30+ years (yes 30 years) with no ill effects. I don’t know where I’d be without it – nothing contributed more to my re-invention than estrogen. (If you are one of the women with no problems at menopause then be happy for your many sisters who are not so lucky.)
Then the famous Nurses Health Study started by Dr. Frank Speiger began reporting that estrogen was bad for women. Birth control pills and estrogen for menopausal symptoms were causing problems.
Well, guess what – those findings are being refuted. The latest findings I’ve seen was an article in the April 6, 2011 issue of the Los Angeles Times by Shari Roan entitled, Estrogen Therapy is Found to Be Less Risky, shari.roan@latimes.com The article reported that, “New analysis shows dangers fade. This study is very good news for women without a uterus.” (If a woman has had a hysterectomy the dangers of taking estrogen are minimal. If a women still has her uterus she should take progesterone to protect the uterus.)
Over the last 2 or 3 years I’ve read many similar articles addressing the fallacies of that infamous Nurses’ Study. Good news for all of us that have suffered for years with no help from our doctors. Well there’s help now and there’s the bio-identical estrogen which is a manufactured estrogen formulated to be an exact replica of the estrogen we make. That way we don’t have to take synthetic estrogen. Good news all around!
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