SHOULD EVERY WOMAN TAKE HORMONES?

OK enough is enough, almost every woman over the age of 45 should be offered hormones and many who are younger. There I said it! 

Why is that so hard to hear? Let alone believe?

I am tired of avoiding telling women the truth because people are so afraid of the word ‘hormone’. Hormones are critical for every function in the body but somehow or the other we have been brainwashed into thinking there are good and bad hormones, with the sex hormones like estrogen, progesterone and testosterone being the 'bad' ones.

Women represent the greatest proportion of people aged 65 and over, a total of almost 58%.  And guess what ?  EVERY woman is going to be menopausal at some point. So this is really a topic of epic proportions that is why I cannot understand why it is so ignored.

Millions of women and their partners put up with emotional swings, with paralyzing anxiety and depression. They are a shadow of their former selves because no one will tell them that taking hormones will fix it.

Millions have given up having a satisfying sex life because they have been told that it is part of the normal aging process not to want sex and for intercourse to be uncomfortable.

Millions of women are forgetful and can’t sleep because their hormones are out of whack . They get prescriptions for sleep aids and anti-depressants because no one explains to them that there is another way. One that is safer and way more natural with no side effects.

When women sleep at night they function better in their profession, get along better with their family and colleagues and they can find the motivation to exercise. Exercise leads to a better mood, less weight and less diabetes. Their blood pressure is better, so they have less risk of stroke and disability.

Women who are on hormones feel less pain whether it is from arthritis or a whole host of other issues.

They look better because there is less fat deposition around their mid section, the skin, eyes and everything else is less dry and they seem happier and more calm.

So what’s the down side? None, seriously. If you use bio-identical hormones, there really isn’t one. Yet fear mongering keeps women in a vice so tight they are afraid to allow themselves the benefits of  hormone replacement.

I have written books and given talks to try to get the word out there. Yet still, very few women are aware of the potential life changing benefits of hormone replacement. If men stood to gain as much as women from this therapy I am sure it would be front page news.

Yesterday Harvard ( JoAnn Manson et al JAMA 2017:318(10) 927-938)  after studying the outcomes of 27,000+ women, published a new article saying that hormone therapy is safe and does not shorten a woman’s life. Let's keep our fingers crossed, maybe the news feeds will pick it up and maybe this time women will have the opportunity to hear more about it.

If you find this post informative please do other women and their loved ones a favor and share it.

Yours in health

Dr. Tuakli