The WHI did not treat women with respect

Reading the most recent headlines about menopause you would think older women should not use HRT. New evaluations of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) are saying that using HRT does not raise a woman's risk for disease until about age 60-65 or after about 10 years on HRT.

There are so many problems with this statement it is hard to know where to begin.

First of all, hormone replacement therapy wasn't even used in the WHI. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) knew it. That is why they didn't even bother to test the levels of any of the over 200 hormones in the pill that they gave the women. The WHI cost over 1/2 billion dollars and no hormone testing of any kind was done. What did they do with all of that money if they weren't keeping track of hormone levels in a clinical trial that was supposed to be testing hormone replacement?

Second, calling Premarin HRT, knowing full well that it is not replacement for ovarian failure, (this causes menopause) leaves the incorrect impression that effective and healthy treatment for profound hypogonadism in women is not possible. We expect integrity from the NIH, which makes it impossible to understand why Premarin would be allowed to be called HRT.

Third, if they weren't really testing hormone replacement for profound hypogonadism (menopause), which is what these older women had, how can they say hormone replacement that is based on ovarian function, which is very different from Premarin, is not effective? How can they say older women wouldn't benefit from treatment based on ovarian function?

Older women deserve to be treated like adults and should be informed of their illnesses and their options. There is no age limit to treat diabetes, low thyroid or any other ailment. Older women deserve an opportunity to either accept or to reject treatment. Older women deserve honesty and integrity from clinical trials and when offered HRT for their menopause they should be given HRT for profound hypogonadism. After all, men benefit greatly from treatment of their profound hypogonadism. Women deserve the same respect.

Integrity, honesty and actual HRT for profound hypogonadism should apply equally to men and women.

So call menopause by its real name, profound hypogonadism, and ask your doctors for treatment. If they are unfamiliar please go to my website for more information.
http://www.diamondrf.org

Here's to a better and healthier future for all women!