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[Kathleen]

Hello ladies

BeaR - excellent post, thank you.

Katy60 - wishing you well and keep us updated.

Take care ladies.

K.

[Katy60]

Thanks Kathleen and stellajane

Dr Currie has posted the joint response from BMS and RCOG on home page.
Anyone worried please read!

KatyX

[bear]

I guess time will be the answer. As many more women take hrt now, they will start to see over the next decade, what will be the outcome. Hopefully by then they will have a clearer picture, but it's good they carry on with all this research in the meantime. 👍

Hi Jari,

Agree. Well-balanced view. Sums it up brilliantly.

BeaR.

[Ladybt28]

Hear Hear Stellajane - but I am not convinced...just when I thought we were actually getting somewhere with all the press about meno and drugs and work and Diane's petition which would counteract all the nonsense we encounter as menopausal womenmalong comes basically a rehash of an old research paper that is full of if's and buts and maybe's which we have only just got rid of, following the last discedited paper.  I am normally a rational positive minded person all for progress...well I thought we were progressing but from what I have learned on this issue, there are enough uneducated medical professionals out there without them having more ammunition, that they don't really understand to spout when we present in a total state of anxety.
It is such a controversial issue that I am surprised that it has been given the airtime and Lancet space when none of what has been printed is conclusive in any way.  You need facts to make choices not "maybe's".
My mum used to say "unless you have something really useful to say, say nothing".  I wish this had applied in this case.

Is a bit like the shortages....put it all over the papers and panic people and the shortages get worse...big surprise!  How to make worried people more worried...this is another prime example.  Sorry if I sound cross but in my book printing "maybe's and we will have to wait and see" smacks of carelessness towards menopausal women!

[Bobidy]

We are really lucky as we know how to access the best info to get a balanced view of this headline. I think most of us will just ignore it and carry on.

Can you imagine the poor ladies (and gps to be fair) who have only read the newspapers and take it as gospel. There will be so many now who are either too scared to start hrt or will just stop taking it altogether. I find it incredibly sad that we will inevitably get another generation of women who suffer for the rest of their lives because of this.

[bear]

It seems that many ladies are really upset and worried with possible repercussions, if GPs/NHS change their view/policy on the prescription of HRT, based on this study (not the headlines, please).

Even it if happens, it's unlikely that GPs will ask you to stop HRT. These are general guidelines for public health policy, but there are also specific guidelines for individuals, that NICE and Menopause Societies are probably revising as we speak,  and they will address the many cases when HRT is necessary (premature ovarian insufficiency, surgical menopause, familial history of osteoporosis). For those women who have debilitating symptoms that are not regarded as specific medical conditions related to hormone deficiency, i.e. natural menopause, HRT will still be recommended when other approaches have failed. Each woman, as an individual, has a different medical history, and considering that menopause can affect underlying conditions, in the end, there are many other factors that will be taken into account when deciding for the use of HRT.

I personally don't think there will be a significant change for individual cases.

Another paper (also analysing data from an Oxford study) have hit the headlines this week, ‘Vegans and vegetarians may have higher stroke risks' https://www.bbc.com/news/health-49579820 . If you read the actual study https://www.bmj.com/content/366/bmj.l4897 and the commissioned article ‘Report of an increased stroke risk should be explored by researchers and kept under review for guidelines' https://www.bmj.com/content/366/bmj.l5272' you won't notice anything out of the ordinary. There are no vegans and veggies feeling outraged by the study. I'm vegetarian and I won't start eating meat because of this study. Being vegetarian must have risks, the same goes for taking HRT, but both have benefits, lower rates of ischaemic heart disease for vegetarians, better quality of life for HRT users. Everything in life comes in packages, full of good and bad things. Nothing is perfect.

I honestly think that GPs are not going to crucify HRT as it happened after the WHI trial, for the simple reason that there's a lot more information available and more importantly, accessible, now. Not only for GPs but for patients as well.

BeaR.

[Rhiner]

Some good posts and links on the feed.

One of the other potential risks for BC that I believe is severely underestimated is under arm deodorant usage, especially sprays (and to a lesser extent body lotions if applied to the breast and fabric conditioners from washing clothes), especially if they contain methyl/propyl parabens as a preservative which is a known carcinogen.

This is one area that never gets scrutinised, no doubt cos of the financial interests involved within the cosmetics etc industries.

Where does it stop!!!!

Rhiner

[orrla]

Hey, but men get BC too. Where's theirs coming from?..!

[Perinowpost]

Good point Rhiner, I use a crystal deodorant. It's a tip my friend with breast cancer gave me, never to use aerosol which are full of chemicals x

[bear]

Hey, but men get BC too. Where's theirs coming from?..!

Hi orrla,

https://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/types/male_bc

Risk factors https://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/types/male_bc/risk

Hope this helps,

BeaR.

[Ladybt28]

Interesting point orrla, personally I think the increase in gynaecomastia and mens breast cancer is due to the hormones in our water that can never be fully eradicated and in plastics which also are in our water.  Plus there is the alcohol factor.
By the way I started posting before Bear put down mens risk factors..ooops!

[orrla]

Age! ..and obesity, again. But I did not know that obesity increases production of estrogen..

Interesting.

Thanks!

[bear]

You're welcome.

I did know that obesity increases the production of oestrogen, but I didn't know that 'being heavy users of alcohol, which can limit the liver's ability to regulate blood estrogen levels'

Always learning!

BeaR.

[dahliagirl]

I remember learning the large amount of alcohol/liver function/man boob connection at school.  There are probably similar repercussions for women, but at lower intake.

I suppose one needs to look after ones liver, which brings us back to healthy diet and exercise 

[bear]

I remember learning the large amount of alcohol/liver function/man boob connection at school.  There are probably similar repercussions for women, but at lower intake.

I suppose one needs to look after ones liver, which brings us back to healthy diet and exercise 

Yes, what I didn't know was that alcohol is involved in regulating blood oestrogen levels. Of course a bad liver won't be able to metabolise anything at the same rate as a healthier liver, but I understood that alcohol can directly affect oestrogen metabolism. Must investigate it.

BeaR.