Study revisits HRT heart attack risk

It should be no surprise that the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) results continue to be defended even in the face of mounting evidence from around the world that the study was flawed. I wrote this same opinion over a year and a half ago to the Wall Street Journal, who chose not to respond because of the toxic nature of this topic. Why? Simply put, far too many physicians and researchers jumped on the bandwagon to oppose HRT for women and trumpet the dangers related to increased heart attack risk to cancer. Yet, as we continue to discover, these risks, if any, are minimal. Few bothered to explain how flawed the WHI was in the first place. Using synthetic hormones, measuring only individual hormone levels when any endocrinologist can tell you that both progesterone and estrogen should be supplemented, as only one will throw off the delicate balance of the "hormone net". Rather, the researchers were more apt to scream, "stop taking your premarin!" among other treatments and scare millions of women into abandoning their HRT which effectively treated myriad symptoms of their menopause and other indications. All to tout their brilliance, stewardship and vigilance on behalf of the consuming public. Poppycock to the WHI. Tell it like it is. A multi-year, multi-million dollar waste of taxpayer money in support of FDA and DEA desires to raise the ire of the population against hormones and support their own witch hunts of physicians and individuals who use HRT efficaciously and in support of their conditions. The message here is once again; "let the patient make the decision how effective or not a therapy is in concert with her physician and health care practitioner. Keep out of diagnosis and treatment at the patient level when therapies work with minimal side effects and don't create a panacea where none exists." No doubt we will hear many more reports of the failure of the WHI in the near future.