Many people have been asking me about the recent report claiming hormone replacement therapy increases breast cancer growth. This report (results from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI)) is not really telling us anything new. We know that premarin (estrogen derived from pregnant horses) and provera (a progestin- or synthetic progesterone) cause increased rates of breast cancer, heart disease and stroke.  This is why the WHI, which started in 1993 and initially planned to continue until 2005, was terminated in 2002. This recent follow-up analysis further supports the evidence that taking synthetic hormones are not good for women.  More specifically, the recent data show that women who take synthetic estrogen (premarin) plus a progestin have an increase risk of developing invasive breast cancer and an increase risk of dying from breast cancer. These synthetic hormones, (premarin and provera) do not look, or act, like our body’s natural hormones.  I am not at all surprised about these recent findings. I prescribe bioidentical hormones (BHRT) for balancing hormones and alleviating symptoms of menopause. Bioidentical hormones biochemically mimic our body’s natural hormones and our body recognizes them as the same hormones we produce naturally.

It is important to reiterate to all my patients and readers that there is a lot of research documenting the benefits of our own natural hormones on our hearts, breasts, brains and bones. In fact, prior to the WHI, scientists speculated that hormone therapy reduced heart disease risk. These scientists were not wrong. Bioidentical hormone therapy (hormones like estrogen, progesterone, testosterone) given transdermally do protect against heart disease. The error is in the assumption that synthetic hormones would have the same benefits.  Synthetic hormones bear very little resemblance to any hormone our body makes naturally.