WSJ Health Mailbox -- HRT

The Wall Street Journal's Health Mailbox includes a Q and A about HRT. The WSJ take is that it's all about timing -- starting HRT during perimenopause or early menopause poses fewer risks according to their interpretations of health studies. It's an informative read but the answer doesn't step out of the "HRT: good or bad?" box to examine non-pharmaceutical methods of hormonal balance. See womentowomen.com for a holistic take on relieving menopause symptoms.

Here's the questions that was posed and a link to the WSJ:

Q: Your article on estrogen and memory loss states that there are many unanswered questions about hormone replacement. Presumably one of the biggest is what are the risks of staying on HRT indefinitely.

I'm one of those women who tried to get off estrogen following the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study in 2004. I found myself very disoriented. I quickly went back to hormone replacement and the symptoms disappeared.

I started HRT when I was 46 years old. I'm now 61 and my doctor wants me to stop because she says the risk of breast cancer, heart attacks and strokes increase substantially for women taking HRT after age 60. If a woman started HRT during menopause or peri-menopause, how long it is safe to stay on?