Hot Flashes + Discomfort = Hormone Replacement Therapy? Not for me.

Those of us in the throes of menopause and those poor souls who have to live with us are aware of the incredible hot flashes that women can have.  I am experiencing menopause the natural way, with no hormone replacement therapy.  I deal with hot flashes by breathing deeply, exercising, drinking lots of cold water, and ripping off clothing at inappropriate moments.  :-)


Bobbie Mullins wrote a piece featured on The Lawton Constitution's editorial page (1 Nov 2010) entitled "Think twice about hormone replacement therapy."   We already know about the 2002 findings of the Women's Health Initiative which stated that combining estrogen and progestin increased the risk for breast cancer in women.  Later studies found that "estrogen only" treatments did not have the same effect.


However, did you know that some of the estrogen replacement drugs being now prescribed to women are made of the urine of pregnant horses?  That urine is rich in estrogen.  These horses must wear rubber urine collection bags to collect the necessary urine. They are kept in confining stalls. The horses' fluid intake is carefully monitored -- the less fluid, the richer and more concentrated the urine is in estrogen.  


Think about that.  A horse pees in a cup so that women's symptoms of menopause will not be so overwhelming.  Really.  There are better ways to handle the discomforts of menopause.