Thursday, August 20, 2009

New Problems with Hormone Replacement Therapy

A presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology by Dr. Rowan Chlebowski reported that the notorious combination of synthetic hormones, Prempro, not only increases the risk of breast and uterine cancer, but also increases the death rate from lung cancer if you happen to get that as well. A second study showed that women with breast cancer who take common anti-depressants, such as Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil at the same time as tamoxaphen will have most of the benefit of the tamoxaphen cancelled out. These anti-depressant drugs are commonly used to treat the hot flashes that are made worse by the hormone blocker. About 500,000 women are taking tamoxaphen at this time. Celexa and Lexapro are safer to take. At the same time, the FDA has forbid physicians from prescribing the natural hormone Estriol from compounding pharmacies, even though it appears to be much safer than the synthetics. It is important that women get good advice from Integrative Physicians to look at ways to get relief from menopausal symptoms safely.

To locate a knowledgeable physician on bio-identical hormone replacement International College of Integrative Medicine (click here) or American Association of Environmental Medicine (click here)
See Associated press articles, May 31, 2009.

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