"You have breast cancer." Many of us either know someone who has received that diagnosis or have heard those scary words ourselves. Although breast cancer is still the second most common cancer among American women (behind skin cancer), rates have been declining by about 2 percent a year since 1999, after having increased for the previous 20 years. That's good news—but it's also a puzzle that researchers have been trying to solve. If we can find out why fewer women are being diagnosed with this terrible disease, maybe we can find ways to make it even less common and perhaps apply those lessons to other forms of cancer as well.

The latest clue comes in a study to be published next month in the American Journal of Public Health. Harvard researchers analyzed data from more than 350,000 women with breast cancer and concluded that the drop is linked to decreased use of menopausal hormone therapy in the wake of the July 2002 release of data from the Women’s Health Initiative, the massive federal study that was halted early because women on a combination of estrogen and progesterone had an increased risk of breast cancer and heart disease. More
 

No benefit of HRT on CHD risk in recently menopausal women
February 15, 2010 | Lisa Nainggolan

Boston, MA - A new analysis of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study has found that, among recently menopausal women, estrogen-plus-progestin hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) slightly increased the risk of coronary heart disease within the first few years of use. But the increase was not statistically significant [1].

Lead author Dr Sengwee Darren Toh (Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, MA) told heartwire the analysis focused on recently menopausal women "because they are the ones most likely to use HRT." This slightly increased but nonsignificant risk, of around 29% during the first two years of use, disappeared after six years of use, and in fact, after that, the researchers identified a possible cardioprotective effect of HRT in this group of women. More
 

Hormone replacement won't prevent physical decline
Tue Jan 5, 2010 
Despite some hopeful hints from earlier research, a new study finds that older women on hormone replacement therapy may not gain any protection from disability as they age. More
 

Class Claims Solvay Pharmaceutical Sold Unapproved Menopause Drug for 45 Years By BARBARA LEONARD 
August 31, 2009
MINNEAPOLIS (CN) - A federal class action claims that Solvay Pharmaceutical deceived doctors and patients for 45 years by selling a menopause drug that the FDA had not approved. Doctors have written 35 million prescriptions for Estratest since 1997, and Solvay made $178 million a year from it, according to the complaint. More.....

Health Advice: Is Low-Dose HRT Safe for Menopause Symptoms? Expert Tracy Gaudet's advice on when to consider low-dose HRT, nonhormonal treatments, By Tracy Gaudet, M.D. for U.S. News & World Report
I'm a 49-year-old woman struggling with menopausal symptoms, including hot flashes, depression, and emotional swings. Is a blood test for estrogen levels worthwhile? (I saw Suzanne Somers talk about this on Oprah.) And is low-dose hormone replacement therapy a valid treatment for these symptoms, or is it too risky?

Tracy Gaudet, M.D.: There are many approaches to menopausal symptoms that can help with this transition. Some of them are hormonal, many are not, and all of these decisions need to be individualized depending on your personal health history, your family history, and the symptoms or issues you are trying to address. In other words, there is no approach that fits all, and having a health provider you trust and who will work with you as you make decisions along this journey is critical. More......

Skin Deep
Seeking Natural Remedies for Hot Flashes by Camille Sweeney
New York Times

June 2 -- AFTER six years on a prescription estrogen patch that alleviated her hot flashes, but did nothing to address her midlife 25-pound weight gain, Martha B. started searching for a natural alternative to treat her menopausal symptoms.

“When I couldn’t button my size 12 jeans, I just told myself ‘Enough’s enough,’ ” said the 57-year-old teacher who lives in Atlanta and requested that her full name not be used. 
--Read complete article

Wyeth’s Menopause Hormones Increase Risk of Lung Cancer Deaths By Lisa Rapaport

May 30 (Bloomberg) -- Wyeth’s hormone replacement therapy, a menopause treatment whose use has declined after being linked to heart attack, stroke and breast cancer, increases the risk of death from lung tumors, a study found. 

After five years on Wyeth’s Prempro, a combination of the hormones estrogen and progestin, 67 women died from non-small cell lung cancer, compared with 39 on placebo, the research showed. Results of the trial, which examined women age 50 to 79 and included current and former smokers, were presented today at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Orlando. 
Read full report

To take hormones or not to take them? That is the question that plagues women suffering from nasty menopausal symptoms—those hot flashes and night sweats and the severe sleep deprivation and crankiness that come with them. Some women still opt for traditional hormone therapy, like Prempro, estrogen combined with progesterone, given to protect against endometrial cancer which can be triggered by using estrogen alone. But they're told to take the lowest dose for the shortest duration of time to minimize the increased risk of breast cancer associated with postmenopausal hormone use. Read entire report....

Mainstream medicine has been given a wake-up call on a matter critical to the health of 65 million women in the U.S. At issue are the options for treatment of menopause symptoms that cause significant health problems for women in mid-life as their bodies produce fewer hormones. It doesn't seem like a complicated problem, given advances in medical science. Yet hormone-replacement therapy has become a textbook example of how special interests, a confused medical establishment, and opportunists can combine to complicate the issue and deny patients access to safe and effective treatments.

Until seven years ago, women going to conventional doctors were prescribed the FDA-approved synthetic hormone Premarin, derived from the urine of pregnant horses; Provera, a synthetic progestin; or Prempro, a combination of the two. Premarin was the bestselling drug in the U.S. in 2001, generating $2 billion a year for Wyeth. Read complete article

The findings come from two new studies, one published in The New England Journal of Medicine and the other in Cancer.

Here's what the researchers want women to take away from the findings:

It's still advisable to have hormone therapy only if needed and at the lowest dose for the shortest time to be effective. And women should weigh the pros and cons of hormone therapy in consultation with their doctors. 
The longest "shortest time" might be as brief as two years, which some of the researchers say may be a "safe" period, though that's not certain. 
Working with their doctors, women may want to take a break from hormone replacement therapy after three to five years to see if they still need it. 
The increased risk of breast cancer is mostly about taking estrogen plus progestin, not estrogen alone. But about two years after quitting hormone therapy, that risk may be gone. Read more........

Nevada AG files suit against hormone therapy drug manufacturers
By Mary Manning

Tue, Nov 18, 2008 (4:42 p.m.)

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto filed suit today against Wyeth and Pfizer, two leading manufacturers of hormone therapy drugs commonly prescribed to women after menopause.

The suit alleges that Wyeth's sale of Premarin, Prempro and Premphase, and Pfizer's sale of Provera, involved deceptive trade practices which misled Nevada consumers and physicians about the safety and efficacy of these drugs.

The suit contends that Wyeth and Pfizer intentionally minimized the risks and exaggerated the benefits of taking their hormone therapy drugs, resulting in over-prescribing and a dramatic increase in hormone-positive breast cancers in women after menopause.

"When drug companies purposefully misrepresent the safety and efficacy of their drugs, or promote their drugs in a deceptive way, everybody loses," Masto said. "We're confident we have the facts necessary to prove this case, and we hope this lawsuit and its outcome will deter improper drug company practices in Nevada."

The lawsuit was filed by the Nevada Attorney General's office with White & Wetherall, LLP, a Nevada law firm, and Littlepage Booth, a Texas law firm. These private firms have been litigating similar cases on behalf of individual Nevada women for more than four years, resulting in numerous settlements and a 2007 verdict in Reno on behalf of three women with breast cancer. The verdict is presently on appeal by Wyeth.

Compounded hormone therapies: unproven, untested — and popular
Compounded ‘bioidentical hormones’ trade on promise of tailored hormone therapy.

As a growing population of women reaches menopause, physicians may be fielding more questions about compounded hormone therapies — or, more commonly, “bioidentical hormones.” 

However, the use of hormone therapies produced by compounding pharmacies is controversial. The controversy centers around the idea that compounded hormone therapies have not been tested and are, therefore, questionable for use. However, the concept of individualized or customized hormone therapy appeals to menopausal or postmenopausal women, and these therapies have caught traction among the public. 

Even the term “bioidentical hormones” has taken on a different meaning. The FDA has approved hormones that are bioidentical, or having the exact structure as those produced in the body. However, marketing of compounded hormone therapies as “bioidentical hormones” may lead to confusion over what the term refers to. 

Alan Garber, MD, PhD, chief medical editor of Endocrine Today, said that “bioidentical hormone replacement is a clever marketing concept devoid of scientific underpinnings, and preys upon the patient’s desire for better hormonal replacement therapies that are both safe and effective, properties totally unproven by the proponents of such agents.” 
Read complete article here: http://www.endocrinetoday.com/view.aspx?rid=27231

Articles do not in any way reflect the opinion of minniepauz.com

POST-MENOPAUSAL STUDY
New cancer risks appear after hormone use ends
By LINDSEY TANNER 
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

CHICAGO — The first follow-up of a landmark study of hormone use after menopause shows heart problems linked with the pills seem to fade after women stop taking them, while surprising new cancer risks appear.

That heart trouble associated with hormones may not be permanent is good news for millions of women who quit taking them after the government study was halted six years ago because of heart risks and breast cancer.

But the new risks for other cancers, particularly lung tumors, in women who'd taken estrogen-progestin pills for about five years puzzled the researchers and outside experts.

The analysis focused on participants' health in the first two to three years after the study's end. During that time, those who'd taken hormones but stopped were 24 percent more likely to develop any kind of cancer than women who'd taken dummy pills during the study.

"There's still a lot of uncertainty about the cause of the increased cancer risk," said analysis co-author Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital.

The cancers included breast tumors, which also occurred more frequently in hormone users during the study.

The researchers noted that the increased risks for all cancers amounted to only three extra cases per year for every 1,000 women on hormone pills, compared with nonusers.

The initial study included 16,608 postmenopausal women The follow-up tracked 15,730 participants through March 2005.

Following is a statement by John A. Gans, PharmD., Executive Vice President and CEO of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), in response to warning letters sent to seven pharmacy operations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The letters state "bio-identical hormone replacement therapy," (BHRT) products, are unsupported by medical evidence and are considered by the Agency false and misleading, and that the use of estriol in these products violates the FDA's compounding compliance policy guide.

"APhA does not support misleading marketing claims of any pharmacy products. Patient safety is our utmost concern. However, APhA believes that limiting compounded medications to those that include bulk drug ingredients of FDA-approved drug products, greatly limits patient access to medications that address their unique needs. While this FDA warning focuses solely on the compounding of menopause hormone replacement therapy drugs, APhA believes that other compounded medications may be at risk for future FDA scrutiny.

FDA says alternative hormone claims unsupported
Wed Jan 9, 2008 6:31pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health officials said on Wednesday they had warned seven pharmacies selling "bio-identical" hormones over the Internet that they were breaking the law with false and misleading claims about the benefits for menopausal women.

The Food and Drug Administration sent letters ordering the pharmacies to stop claiming their hormones were better than approved menopause therapies and could prevent and treat serious conditions such as Alzheimer's, strokes and cancer. Full Story

Audio Report from Deborah Autor, Director, FDA Office of Compliance Center for Drug Evaluation & Research

Patches, pumps, pills, low-dose pills and super-low-dose creams and gels: Ever since the landmark Women’s Health Initiative study found that hormone therapy could be harmful, a dizzying array of new low-dose treatment options have been offered to counter the symptoms of menopause. Read more...

How NIH Misread Hormone Study in 2002
By TARA PARKER-POPE  July 9, 2007

On July 9, 2002, federal government health officials announced that they had halted a major study of menopause hormones, saying the drugs increased a woman's risk of heart attack by 29%.

But in the five years since, it's become clear that some aspects of what was initially reported from the $725 million Women's Health Initiative study were either misleading or just wrong. Although the government initially said the findings applied to all women, regardless of age or health status, additional data published in recent months show that the age of a woman and the timing of hormone use dramatically changes the risk and benefits. WHI data published in April in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that women in their 50s who took a combination of estrogen and progestin or estrogen alone had a 30% lower risk of dying than women who didn't take hormones.
more.....

July 2007--Wyeth's First Non-Hormone Menopause Pill May Be Safer (Update3) By Lisa Rapaport

Wyeth's menopause treatment Prempro July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Wyeth may win U.S. approval for Pristiq, the first non-hormone menopause pill, based on studies suggesting the medicine is safer than the drugmaker's current therapies. 

Sales slowed for Wyeth's hormone-based menopausal treatments, Premarin and Prempro, after U.S. research in 2002 linked them to breast cancer and heart attacks. Pristiq, derived from Wyeth's best-seller, the antidepressant Effexor, curbs hot flashes by acting on brain chemicals. Read more.....

April 19, 2007 - FDA Decision on New Wyeth Drug Postponed
By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Business Writer 
© 2007 The Associated Press 

WASHINGTON — Pharmaceutical maker Wyeth said Thursday regulatory approval of a new drug to treat menopause symptoms won't happen until at least July, several months later than expected.

The Food and Drug Administration was scheduled to make a decision next week on Pristiq, the first non-hormonal drug to treat hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms.

During an earnings teleconference Thursday, Wyeth told investors and analysts the decision had been postponed until the FDA can review additional data Wyeth submitted.
More......
 

April 2007 -- Hormones not always risky, new study says
Timed to menopause Sharon Kirkey, CanWest News Service
A new look at a massive trial that led women to give up hormone therapy in droves has found no increased risk of heart disease in women who start hormones soon after menopause.

The finding suggests guidelines need to be sharpened so that hormones are used shortly after menopause only, researchers say. Read full article

December 2006 -- Breast cancer drop may be due to women quitting menopause hormones, doctors say By MARILYNN MARCHIONE
AP medical writer Sunday, December 17, 2006

SAN ANTONIO -- U.S. breast cancer rates plunged an unprecedented 7 percent in 2003, the year after millions of women stopped taking menopause hormones when a study showed the pills raise the risk of tumors.

The startling new analysis, reported Thursday at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, does not prove a link between hormone therapy and breast cancer, but strongly suggests it, many experts said. Read full article

July 2006 -- Study: Estratest doubles breast cancer risk By CARLA K. JOHNSON  Associated Press Writer
 CHICAGO — Older women who take hormone pills that combine estrogen and testosterone more than double their risk of breast cancer, according to a study of more than 70,000 nurses. 

"This type of hormone therapy may help with mood, libido and bone mineral density, but the possible risk of breast cancer may outweigh these benefits," said study co-author Rulla Tamimi of Harvard Medical School. Read full article

St. John’s wort is widely used to treat mild to moderate depression, while women have traditionally taken black cohosh for menopausal complaints, Dr. Joerg Gruenwald of Analyze & Realize, a Berlin-based botanical consulting company, and colleagues write in the February issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. 

The new findings suggest a possible estrogen benefit for women in their 50s, but experts say it's too early to recommend hormones to help the heart. 

The study also confirmed previous findings that estrogen treatment does not protect older, postmenopausal women against heart disease. 

The same day, a low-fat diet, promoted by everybody from Loblaws to your family doctor, was trumpeted as being little or no help to women's health, according to results of a large-scale study by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. 

NEW YORK JAN 26, 2006 (Reuters Health) - A history of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) appears to decrease survival rates among women diagnosed with lung ... 

December 30, 2005....
NANCY J. WHITE
TORONTO STAR

Hormone prescription dropped to 6 million from 12.6 in 2001 due to fears about breast cancer, strokes and heart disease. Read More

Despite the risks, still on estrogen
THE WASHINGTON POST
September 27, 2005

As president and chief executive of the Society for Women's Health Research, Phyllis Greenberger knows all about the studies showing that women who take hormones after menopause have a greater risk of breast cancer, stroke, heart attack, incontinence and dementia. She is aware that federal health officials recommend that the drugs be taken at the lowest dose for the shortest time possible to treat severe symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes. Read more......

Estrogen Not Effective After Menopause
By LINDSEY TANNER  AP Medical Writer
September 26, 2005, 7:57 PM EDT

CHICAGO -- Estrogen pills have little effect on older women's quality of life, fresh evidence from a landmark study shows in yet another blow to the myth that most women need the hormones to feel better after menopause. 

More than 10,000 women with an average age of 63 were asked about their general health, mental, physical and social functioning, energy level and emotional health before and a year after they started taking either estrogen or dummy pills. Read more

Ordinarily I wouldn't bring something from two years ago to the forefront, but there are STILL so many women who are confused about whether they should take hormone therapy or not that I thought you would still benefit from hearing what some women went through back in 2002. We're STILL getting mixed messages from our healthcare professionals and still having to rely on each other and anecdotal evidence of what works and what doesn't. I keep trying to find one central source of information that will benefit the most women, but at this point in time, there isn't one. I'm very proud to see that minniepauz.com is listed as a menopause resource on PBS!

July 2005 - Hormone replacement therapy safe for women with menopause & cancer survivors
Research shows that short-term hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is appropriate for peri- and postmenopausal women. These and other results from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), the largest, most statistically valid and well analyzed research evaluating the use of HRT, are reviewed in the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer. 

June 2005 - OHSU Researchers Uncover Cause, Possible Treatment For Abdominal Fat In Postmenopausal Women
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Oregon Health & Science University researchers will unveil research results that help explain why middle-aged women develop central body fat. The announcement will take place during the 2005 Society for Endocrinology annual meeting today in San Diego. The OHSU research team has also conducted initial testing of estrogen replacement therapy as a possible method for counteracting the problem. Read more....

June 2005 - New Studies Point to Enhancing Women's Quality of Life in Areas From Post Menopause to Fertility to Breast Cancer Reduction

May 2005 - New HRT patch available to Aussie women

May 2005 - Menopause and African-American Women

March 2005 - HRT: Still a Useful Therapeutic Tool
By Mark Bloom, HealthDay Reporter

February 2005 - Hormone supplements raise another red flag for women -- BY LINDSEY TANNER - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Researchers led by a Wayne State University doctor have found another problem that hormone pills taken at menopause seem to make worse: incontinence.

January 2005 - Women who use postmenopausal  hormone therapy containing estrogen shortly after menopause are less likely to experience cognitive impairment as they age, according to research published in the January/February 2005 issue of Menopause, the official journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS). Read full article....

December 2004 - Drug limits return of breast cancer
New treatment much more effective for women after menopause, doctors say By Marilynn Marchione / AP Medical Writer
SAN ANTONIO -- A newer drug clearly outperforms tamoxifen at preventing breast cancer from returning and should become the first-choice treatment for most women who have had the disease, doctors are reporting.

October 2004 - Women Returning to HT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - About a quarter of U.S. women who stopped taking hormone replacement therapy after it was found to raise the risk of heart disease and some cancers have gone back on it, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) said on Friday. 

August 2004 - Pros & Cons of short term HT
A computer-based simulation model suggests that short-term hormone therapy (HT) is associated with increases in quality of life for women with menopausal symptoms, but may shorten life expectancy, according to an article in the August 9/23 issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. 

June 2004 - Study Finds Menopause Can Be Predicted
By Amanda Gardner; HealthDay Reporter 
The number of eggs left in a woman's ovaries are like the grains of sand in an hourglass, ticking away the hours on her biological clock. 

Researchers now say they may be able to predict when that clock will wind down.

May 2004 - Perimenopause could cause serious first-time depression By Marilyn Elias, USA TODAY
A woman's odds of developing depression for the first time increase greatly during perimenopause, a time of irregular periods and hormonal shifts before menopause, a landmark study reported Wednesday.

Apr 2004 - Study Plans to Retest Use of Hormones
Despite studies in recent years finding that hormone therapy after menopause did women more harm than good, researchers at a group of major medical centers have decided to test the treatment again because they still suspect it may have benefits, particularly for younger women. The researchers hope to find out whether hormones can protect against artery disease if women start treatment early in menopause.

Mar 2004 - Possible Peril Found in Menopause Cream
A popular cream that eases the symptoms of menopause exposes women to higher levels of the hormone progesterone than has been commonly thought, researchers have found.

Pro-Gest, one of more than two dozen creams containing natural progesterone, is a widely used alternative to synthetic hormone therapies that have been linked to a higher risk of breast cancer and heart disease. Millions of tubes of progesterone cream are sold annually.

Mar 2004 - The Menopause Market -- Salon -- by Pamela Paul
"There's been a tremendous increase in new product development and marketing since the WHI study," says Wulf Utian, executive director of the North American Menopause Society. "All sorts of stuff is being pitched to 'the menopause market.' For many of these companies, whether their products work or not is irrelevant. In fact, most of the stuff in the health-food store are just expensive placebos that women think are safe because they've got 'natural' on the label." According to Utian, "They're preying on a vulnerable and gullible population."

Mar 2004- National Hormone Therapy Study Halted -- Nearly 11,000 American women received a letter from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) this past Monday explaining that the estrogen hormone therapy clinical trial they had been involved in was being stopped a year earlier than planned due to the unacceptable health risks associated with the treatment.

Feb 2004 - SWEDEN -- Scandinavian scientists announced Tuesday that they have called off a study of the effects of hormone-replacement therapy for women with a history of breast cancer because early results showed an "unacceptably high" risk of recurrence.

Their findings add to earlier reports that using hormone replacement to control menopausal symptoms carries significant health risks.

Eighteen months ago, U.S. scientists abruptly ended the nation's biggest study of hormone-replacement therapy using the combined hormones estrogen and progestin, saying long-term use significantly increases the risk of breast cancer, strokes and heart attacks.

In the Scandinavian study, half the women were on replacement therapy and the other half on a non-hormonal treatment. In the HRT group, 26 women had a recurrence or a new case of breast cancer compared with seven women among those who took the other treatment.

Jan 2004 The North American Menopause Society Releases Position Statement on the Treatment of Menopause-Related Hot Flashes Treatment of hot flashes, especially those moderate to severe in intensity, has focused primarily on estrogen therapy. However, recent studies questioning the benefit-risk ratio of long-term estrogen use have increased the search for alternative treatments. Read more....

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See Results of Poll
that asked "How are we
handling symptoms?"

Quotes from various Doctors:
 "Women should not conclude they will get breast cancer or have a heart attack if they've taken these drugs.On the other hand, women should not start or continue to use the therapy to prevent heart disease. Diet and exercise, hypertension drugs, a low dose of aspirin and cholesterol-lowering drugs are alternatives."
Dr. Jacques Rossouw, acting director of the Women's Health Initiative