could afford regular medical care and would be likely to have lower rates of all illnesses (British Medical
Journal, May 1994).
Being in a low risk group for illness, however, is no guarantee for preventing the side effects of HRT.
The extensive 1991 Nurses' Health Study showed a 46 percent increase in ischemic stroke risk among
nurses using HRT, despite the fact that this group is comprised of women with less diabetes, less cigarette
smoking, and less adiposity than those not using estrogen. Six years earlier, the Framingham,
Massachusetts study suggested that the risk of heart disease actually increased with the use of HRT.
Similar results were reported by the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1995. One of the
first placebo-controlled trials studying the relationship between HRT and heart disease showed more
cases of heart disease among those taking HRT than those given a placebo. In 2004, one of several
Women's Health Initiative (WHI) studies on HRT was shut down because using these hormones
endangered the lives of too many women. This eight-year study of 11,000 women was stopped in its 7th
year when it was determined that estrogen therapy may increase the risk of stroke.
Claims that HRT can prevent Alzheimer’s disease are also unfounded. There is not a shred of evidence
that indicates HRT can keep the brain clear and sharp. A 15-year study published in 1993 by the Journal
of the American Medical Association has shown that estrogen intake does not slow any reduction in
cognitive functions among women. Furthermore, a 2003 study showed that combined HRT actually
increased the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. The FDA now requires
a warning about this on all HRT drug labeling.
Furthermore, a University of Rochester study reported that women who took HRT suffered from
impaired hearing. If all of this does not deter a woman from using HRT, a recent study from Brigham and
Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, showed a sharply increased risk of asthma for women taking
either estrogen alone or combined HRT. Arguably, none of these health problems is as significant as the
2002 revelation that HRT increases the risk of heart disease, the one disease that kills more women than
any other.
As I have shown, this risk was known years before 2002, but was purposely concealed from millions
of unsuspecting women who are now suffering the long-term consequences of a treatment program that
was pushed by relentlessly greedy drug producers. Their policies are calculating and manipulative. Drug
makers conduct trials in preparation for an FDA review and then withhold the studies that could be
damaging – submitting only the research that encourages regulatory approval. Obviously, by withholding
the negative studies' results, doctor are encouraged to prescribe a drug without knowing about some of the
associated problems. Fortunately, the scandalous practices surrounding HRT research were discovered
and announced by the mass media.
Menopause—Not A Disease
There exists only a correlation, not a causal relationship, between low female hormones and frequent
headaches, heavy bloating, hot flashes, and depression that some women experience as they enter
menopause. If a woman’s body were genetically programmed to develop a true hormone deficiency,
which would affect her vital functions, every woman in the world reaching a certain age should be
suffering from these or similar symptoms. Yet, only a fraction of women worldwide encounter
menopausal symptoms. Most of those who do live in developed countries. To understand menopause and
the unpleasant and, often, unbearable symptoms that sometimes accompany this change in a woman’s life,
we need to separate these two issues and see them for what they truly are.