Joziel, I fully appreciate that you are not writing purely for my benefit, as this is a public forum.
After menopause, when oestrogen is no longer made in the ovaries, I found out that it can instead, be made in the fatty tissues of the body (when enzymes change other hormones into oestrogen). Obviously the amount of oestrogen produced is far less than pre meno, but it seems that women are left with a tiny bit of oestrogen at least, rather than zero.
Maybe state which "diseases" women may be prone to developing, without HRT? That might encourage more women to instigate a conversation with their GP, re: the benefits of HRT, when requesting a prescription?
I don't think that it is just outdated reports which put women off taking HRT either. We know it can be a challenge to strike the right HRT balance; bleeding and a thickened womb lining for example, can also be alarming and put women off.
it's important to state over and over the benefits of HRT on health and the risks of *not* taking it.
Please state those risks. Yes there are great benefits to taking HRT, but we must also remember, that taking a holistic approach to menopause, is not a bad thing either. For many it is just another useful tool in the box, (and often a very important one).
I would be devastated if that were the case myself (and might even be one of the few women who insist on taking it anyway, since it's about an informed choice).
It is indeed an informed choice, but depending on the reason you couldn't take HRT, you would have to find someone to prescribe it to you. You could not "insist" that you took it.