Starting with Barbara Seaman's two books, The Doctors' Case Against the Pill , and The Controversy in Women's Hormones , and persisting now with the publication of Dr. Susan Love's Hormone Book , women have been told that estrogen is the major reason for the increased incidence and prevalence of breast cancer in the past 25 years. Women ages 40 to 60 years are far more fearful of disfigurement and disability than death. Breast cancer, the leading cause of cancer deaths in this age group, provokes images of a long, lingering death, full of pain and suffering which is prolonged by surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. While breast cancer is viewed with fear, heart disease seems relatively quick and easy. By starting HRT, a woman commits to the medical management of menopause.
Women worry about being hooked on estrogen and about becoming overly dependent on doctors.
The growth of alternative therapies has become a popular alternative because women want to retain some control in the face of the uncontrollable ageing process. The effects listed on package inserts should be carefully observed. Most side effects can lead to other health problems. Physicians seem to have only one limited offering - hormones. You should not use the information contained herein for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing any medication.