by drjudy » Sun Nov 30, 2003 8:05 pm
Dr. Nanette Santoro of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine reassures us that this weight gain is more about aging and lifestyle than female hormone troubles. As we age, body fat increases, lean body mass decreases, and we all get more sedentary. She notes, "The relationship between the use of hormone therapy and weight gain appears to be temporal, not causal." Indeed, the PEPI trial, a three year study comparing hundreds of women on various hormone therapies vs. no hormones at all, found that supplemental hormone therapy did not cause weight gain. Better yet, Dr. Haarbo and colleagues at the University of Copenhagen found that combined hormone therapy prevented an increase in abdominal fat after menopause, a dangerous pattern of weight gain associated with increased risk of diabetes and heart disease. The hormones promoted a more "gynecoid" body type (as in hour glass) versus the "android" silhouette, (as in no waistline).