However, it is important to remember that estrogen slows down the loss of bone but does not prevent it. There is growing concern over the possible increased risk of breast cancer in women who are on estrogen replacement. In 1997, the New England Journal of Medicine reported a review of the medical literature. They found that women who were on estrogen replacement for more than 5 years had over a 40 percent increased risk in developing breast cancer when compared to those women who did not take estrogen replacement. This is very concerning to me.
Physicians justify their treatments by saying the good of estrogen replacement outweighs the bad.
Estrogen replacement decreases the risk of heart disease, possibly decreases the risk of Alzheimer's dementia, and decreases the risk of osteoporosis, while at the same time decreases the patient's symptoms of menopause. I believe there are better ways to decrease these risks, while at the same time not increasing the risk of breast cancer. In my office, we not only recommend the use of natural progesterone in either the cream or micronized tablet form but also on occasion will use low levels of natural bi-estrogen which does not contain the most potent cancer causing estrogen. We also encourage the use of natural phytoestrogens. When we combine these recommendations with a high quality nutritional supplement program, we have actually seen an increase in bone density on Dexa scans in several of our patients.