Why should I stop taking synthetic hormones?

On July 9, 2002, the National Institutes of Health HALTED a landmark scientific study of synthetic hormone replacement therapy because they found that synthetic estrogen / progestin therapy resulted in: 41% increased risk of stroke, 29% increased risk of heart attack, 26% increased risk of breast cancer and a doubled rate of blood clots in the legs and lungs. This study sent shock waves through the medical community.
JAMA, (Feb 13th, 2002) study of Hormone Replacement Therapy in Relation to Breast Cancer. Results showed the longer use of HRT was associated with increased risk of lobular breast cancer.The incidence of breast cancer, all histologic types combined, was increased by 60% to 85% in recent long-term users of HRT. Long-term HRT use was associated with a 50% increase in non lobular cancer. Their data adds to the growing body of evidence that recent long-term use of HRT is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer and that such use may be related particularly to lobular tumors.
Previously, in 1995, The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology published an article stating that not only long-term, but short-term users of Premarin had a 40% percent risk of acquiring breast cancer!
In the 1995 Nurses’ Health Study, a study was done on the increased risk of breast cancer in women taking various synthetic hormones. It was found that women taking synthetic estrogen alone had a 36% increased risk; those on synthetic estrogen plus progestin had a 50% increase; those on progestins alone had a 240% increased risk of acquiring breast cancer! Women who, at the time of the study, had been taking estrogen and progestin for 5-10 years had a 45% increased risk. This study is one of the largest done to date.
Also in the Nurses’ Health Study, the older a woman was the higher the risk. Women between the ages of 60 and 64 who had been taking synthetic hormones for five years or more had an increased risk of developing breast cancer by 71%. Studies have shown that within 5 years of discontinuing synthetic hormones, a woman’s risk of breast cancer returns to normal.
Mainstream medical doctors use the rationale that elevated cancer risks are balanced by the fact that these estrogens protect against heart disease and osteoporosis. In April, 2000, a federal study of 25,000 women published in the New York Times indicated that conventional hormone replacement therapy may put women at a higher risk of heart attack and stroke. The NIH study confirmed this higher risk beyond a doubt.
The estrogen, “estriol” is completely missing from some forms of conventional hormone replacement therapy. In the female human body, Estriol is the estrogen that is found in the greatest amount compared to estrone and estradiol. Over 80% of this natural tri-estrogen is estriol in females. Studies have shown that estriol protects the body from the more carcinogenic estrone and estradiol and is especially protective against breast cancer!
Premarin is not “natural” to the human body. It is made from pregnant mare’s urine. The generic name for Premarin is conjugated equine estrogen. Also, the percentages of estrone and estradiol found in Premarin are much greater than the levels your body produces naturally. This leads to hormone imbalance.
The “patch” contains 100% estradiol which is the most potent of all the estrogens found in the female body. It contains no estrone and no estriol. If you look in the Physician’s Desk Reference under listing for the patch which is sold under several brand names, you will see, in large print, the following statement: ESTROGENS HAVE BEEN REPORTED TO INCREASE THE RISK OF ENDOMETRIAL CARCINOMA IN POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN.
2003 Physician’s Desk Reference (PDR): Side effects of Premarin: Endometrial cancer, breast cancer, blood clots, uterine bleeding, uterine fibroids, weight gain, mental depression, edema, changes in libido, gallbladder disease. A side effect of synthetic hormones is weight gain, especially around the middle, hips, and thighs (the classic “pear- shaped” weight gain). The average weight gain I saw in women who were placed on synthetic hormones was between 20-30 pounds, sometimes even more!