I just read this book after it being recommended on here, mainly for the progesterone chapter but found all the oestrogen stuff very interesting, albeit a little research heavy!
It’s very much about challenging the WHI study, particularly for breast cancer sufferers and nice to have a UK book for a change.
They quote bio-identical Estradiol as “not as harmful” but also “not as helpful”. Apparently Premarin contains at least ten molecular forms of oestrogen. Equalin is the form that stimulates the growth of neurons in the cortex and other regions of the brain and is the most protective for the brain. The harm of the animal based oestrogen is a small increase in the risk of strokes but it seems to increase protection over many cancers like uterine, as does the Ethinyl Estradiol in the Pill.
They also say that not all forms of oestrogen have equal benefits on cognitive function and reducing heart disease where the oral form is more beneficial than the patch in preventing cardiovascular disease and stroke.
I have always felt strange and unbalanced when I’ve tried Estradiol, which, even though my own oestrogen levels have been too high, I haven’t felt when taking the pill so I can see that by not taking a compete set of oestrogens, that the single oestrogen could imbalance the others - a bit like Vitamin B.
I’m sure most women prefer transdermals, which is great if they suit them, but I hope they don’t remove Premarin from the market because of the same kind of hype as the WHI study. I honestly believed it was unsafe but have completely changed my mind after reading this book.
