To HRT or not to HRT? That is the question for so many menopausal and post-menopausal women. It can be confusing at best, terrifying at worst to consider hormone replacement. If only someone could demystify all the conflicting information and provide clear evidence so that we might make up our own minds.
At long last, someone has collected the body of studies that explore estrogen and its role in areas such as heart disease, breast cancer, brain function, and bone health. Avrum Bluming, MD and Carol Tavris, PHD share their research, knowledge, and stories from patients in this groundbreaking book: Estrogen Matters.
This book doesn’t tell you whether or not you personally should take HRT, but it lays out all the information you might want in order to make an informed decision. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – we must educate ourselves. It is not up to our health care practitioner alone – we must know our own bodies and be responsible for our health care decisions. And if we don’t feel comfortable with our present practitioner, we must search for one who will be our trusted partner in decision making.
Ideally, you will read this book BEFORE you reach menopause – because the symptoms can be overwhelming and just reading seems like a lot. Yet even if you procrastinate or are too busy until menopause slaps you in the face as it did to us, you owe it to yourself. if you have brain fog already? Read it in small bits – digest it slowly.
One caveat: this book is not an oversimplified or perky treatise on menopause. It truly does dive into all the research and ramifications of estrogen supplementation. Full disclosure: it can be a little weighty. Because the topic is weighty. And we deserve all the information it offers.
I remember when I first availed myself of bioidentical estrogen and progesterone – HRT. My holistic MD told me that the media and many of the reports that circulated regarding the WHI – Women’s Health Initiative – the study that scared us all spitless and made us eschew HRT until we were desperate – were incomplete and inaccurate. He actually spoke to one of the main researchers for the WHI who confirmed this.
This book explains in greater detail and with clarity those misconceptions. I wish we’d had this sooner. But we have it now.
I highly recommend reading this book whether or not you are considering HRT – the more informed we are, the more we understand our bodies and our health concerns, the better informed our choices will be. We deserve to live healthy, vibrant, active lives for our Second Act.
Buy it here: Amazon
