Past Newsletters:

Summer 2007 (pdf)
Spring 2007 (pdf)
Fall 2006 Issue (pdf)
Summer Edition (pdf)
Inaugural Issue (pdf)

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WINTER 2007 What's in it for YOU? - The National Healthcare Debate
In this Issue - news, research and information in your journey to wellness:

• Bringing the Health Care Debate Back to YOU
• The Facts on the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI): Straight Talk from Dr. Alan Altman, MD
• Op Ed in CLIMACTERIC, says Initial Conclusions Drawn by the WHI Investigators were in Part Misleading. Calls on Government to Reissue Findings
• Beating Hormonal Weight Gain, by Louann Brizendine, MD
• Progesterone Cuts Brain Injury in Half
• What Do You Get When You Combine Friends, Vacation and Women in Balance?
• Thank You to Our Professional Members
  
  
• Download Newsletter (pdf) >>

Bringing the Health Care Debate Back to YOU

The 2008 Presidential elections are heating up.  Candidates on both sides of the aisle have unveiled their plans for healthcare solutions focusing on either gaps for the uninsured, or private vs. public insurance.  With all the talk, we want to make sure that YOU matter.  So in this issue, we’re focused on quality healthcare for YOU, and what you can do to help you get it.  

Ten Questions You Should Ask Your Doctor  

The Tests and Exams Each Woman Needs

This helpful chart on WebMD compares the Presidential candidates
on their health issues and plans

Balance Step: Quality and Consistent Health Care
Read on for more tips….
Why this is important. 

Perimenopausal and menopausal women have unique health care needs. One of those is being able to spend adequate time with your health care provider.  Whether it is a gynecologist, family practice doctor, internal medicine doctor, nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant, naturopathic physician, chiropractor or acupuncturist, don’t be afraid to inquire about their experience and expertise in women's health, hormone balance and menopause issues.    

The optimal midlife provider will take a thorough history and physical, know what testing is appropriate, be able to recommend appropriate screenings for disease risk such osteoporosis, heart disease, and breast cancer.  Additionally, your provider should be familiar with the spectrum of treatment options for perimenopause and menopause management such as:

- Diet, exercise and stress;
- Nutritional supplementation;
- Botanical therapies;
- Compounded bio-identical hormones;
- Non compounded bio-identical hormones;
- Synthetic and other non bio-identical hormones;
- Additional pharmaceuticals; and
- Other health care team members that will help you meet your health goals such as physical therapists, massage therapists, fitness experts, and nutritionists.        

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The Facts on the Women’s Health Initiative:
Straight Talk from Dr. Alan Altman, MD

Alan Altman, MD*, clinical professor at Harvard Medical School and an advisor to Women in Balance, has assembled the real facts on the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), a landmark women’s health study that when reported by the government had wide (and detrimental) impact – creating mass fear for women about hormones, and forever changing practitioners prescribing of hormones.  Even though this study has had far reaching impact, less than one-third of women are even aware of the WHI, a recent study by Stanford researchers have found, and many doctors still are unaware of the real findings that have emerged over time and through critical analysis.

So, here are the facts on the WHI from an expert who understood from the beginning what the study showed and did not show.  

What the WHI (erroneously) “concluded." 

- Hormones are BAD for women
- Hormones increased breast cancer risk
- Hormones increased heart attack risk
- Hormones caused dementia
- Hormones should not be used for prevention of heart disease
- Only use hormones for symptom relief at the lowest dose and the shortest time (WIB note: currently there is no research on this recommendation)

What the WHI CAUSED after their “conclusion” 

- Primary Care Providers took their patients off all hormones
- Women stopped taking their hormones
- Media driven hysteria and panic among hormone users
- FDA change language from HRT to HT (hormone therapy)

WHI – Here are the Facts – Straight Talk from Alan Altman, MD 

- The WHI did not study all “hormones."  In fact, the ONLY hormones studied were Prempro© and Premarin© (non-human identical hormones and only pill form)

- The WHI Study was not really about “all women”…average age of the women studied were 12 years after menopause…averaged 64 years old at outset of study

- What WHI actually did show was that a 72-year old woman should not be started on oral Prempro© to protect her heart.

- Also, there appears to be a risk of breast cancer concerned with use of the potent synthetic progestin (or Medroxyprogesterone Acetate - MPA) that was used in the WHI

- Oral estrogens increase the risk of blood clots and of strokes related to blood clots. (We’ve known this for 30+ years, however we see no increase in clots or strokes on non-oral estrogen.)

- Any small increase in dementia was seen only in women ages 75 to 80! (Numerous studies of women starting HT at the appropriate age close to their final menstrual period have demonstrated a 50% to 65% decrease in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.)

- Women saw no quality of life benefits from taking these hormones, because 88% of the women in the study had no menopausal symptoms to begin with.

- There was a slight increase in breast cancer risk when on Prempro© (estrogen and progestin) and slight decrease on Premarin© (estrogen therapy).

Key Facts:

- Non-oral estrogen (specifically estradiol via transdermal patch, gel or transvaginal ring) AND natural micronized progesterone taken orally is presently safer, healthier and more “natural” for use in hormone therapy.

- There is a serious lack of consensus in the data looking at estrogen use and breast cancer risk.

- Testosterone can be useful in the appropriate patients post hysterectomy.

* Alan Altman, MD is Assistant Clinical Professor of OB/GYN and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School.  He is a practicing gynecologist, specializing in peri and post-menopausal health, hormone replacement therapy and female sexuality. 

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Op Ed says Initial Conclusions Drawn by the WHI Investigators were in Part Misleading. Calls on Government to Reissue Findings

The October 2007 issue of CLIMACTERIC, a professional medical journal, says detailed evaluation and analysis of the WHI data showed that the initial conclusions drawn by the WHI investigators were in part misleading. Read here >>

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Beating Hormonal Weight Gain, By Louann Brizendine, MD (article from MORE magazine)

Ever wonder why, no matter how careful you may have been about your diet you can’t seem to explain why your jeans don’t fit, or you’re losing your waistline?  This article helps you get the facts on dealing with and beating hormonal weight gain.  Worth the read >>

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Progesterone Cuts Brain Injury in Half

The female hormone, progesterone, is putting up fight against brain injuries.  A recent study, conducted by Emory University researchers and published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, showed a 50 percent reduction in the mortality rate for the severe traumatic brain injury group that took progesterone. The study also established the safety of progesterone. This article from the Atlanta Journal Constitution talks about the research and the extraordinary recovery of one of the study patients.  The results, say project leader David Wright, were remarkable. Read here >>

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What Do You Get When You Combine Friends, Vacation and Women in Balance? Stay Tuned

In our next e-communications, look for very special prize package: a chance to win a stay with THREE of your gal pals at the luxury sustainable resort Playa Viva in Zihatenajo, Mexico just by making a tax-deductible charitable contribution to Women in Balance and spreading the word about us!

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Thank You to Our Professional Members 

We would like to thank the generous contribution of our most recent donor, Dr. Vanessa Nicholson from Redmond, Washington, who has joined Women in Balance as a professional health member.  Professional members are entitled to special benefits: being listed on our referral directory; access to our primary scientific publications, and; notices about national issues.  

As a nonprofit organization we rely on the continued support of members like Dr. Nicholson to support our work to educate millions of women and health professionals with critical information about the connection to health and hormones, and advocate for access to hormone balancing solutions.  Make a contribution today!

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