The WISDOM study waiting for spring!

Hi welcome back.
Got the winter blues? Let's talk about the symptoms of menopause.

This week I want to mention a study that many in this country are not aware of regarding HRT. Most people know about the Women's health Initiative study (WHI) which was stopped at the NIH after the results of women taking Prempro and Premarin did not look good.
However it seems that when some positive studies come out there is not as much publicity.

The most recent large scale Hormone Replacement study published is the WISDOM study taken from a trial of 5000 women in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
WISDOM stands for Women's International Studyof long Duration on Oestrogen after Menopause.
This study was actually going on at the same time as the WHI but the investigators decided not to stop it when the WHI study stopped.
You can read the full study in the British Medical Journal, part of it was discussed in May 2008
and part in the August 21 2008 edition (BMJ 2008:337 a 1190).

The May edition discusses the fact that there is much less risk of venous thrombosis (blood clots in the veins) especially in the first year when it is usually higher if the (O)estrogen is not taken by mouth.
The August article dwells on quality of life issues, something which is, to my mind at least, just as important as keeping people physically healthy.

The study essentially shows that hormone replacement improves the physical and emotional well being of menopausal women (big surprise!).

There was SIGNIFICANT improvement in 'vasomotor' symptoms (i.e hot flashes, night sweats etc), sexual functioning, sleep problems and aching joints and muscles (now that IS a surprise!).

I have to admit that does pretty much sum up my clinical experience over the past 2 decades.
The VAST majority of women who come in for hormone replacement are complaining of:
Hot flashes, zero sex drive, anxiety/depression, sleep disturbances and general malaise.
The unfortunate thing about the study is that they used the Premarin (yep, the horses urine) and Provera (yes, the one that can increase the incidence of breast cancer).

So what's the bottom line?

You CAN treat Menopause and feel better, you just have to do it safely. Every woman should choose what's RIGHT for her, no two women are the same. Stay away from things that are not natural to the HUMAN female and keep reading and educating yourself about your choices.
Remember:YOU CAN FEEL BETTER!!!! Yeah!

Have a good week, add years to your life and life to your years!

Dr Tuakli