The Final Word Is Out - HRT Triples Risk Of Breast Cancer In Women

[haidut]

The words in the title are not mine, they are from the actual study. As many of you have heard, the pharma industry has big hopes for estrogen HRT to make a comeback and has sponsored several "independent" studies claiming that estrogen is not dangerous and the results from the Women Health Initiative (WHI) study were wrong and due to bad statistical techniques. I'd say this is pure criminal behavior but unfortunately some doctors have bought into this lie and have started prescribing estrogen to menopausal women again. Hopefully, this study of a large cohort of women will dampen the renewed enthusiasm for estrogen.

The Final Word Is Out: Menopausal HRT Triples the Risk of Breast Cancer

"...Hormone-replacement therapy, commonly called HRT, is used to overcome lifestyle-disrupting symptoms associated with menopause, including hot flushes, migraines, mood changes, depression. However, there’s been a lot of controversy about the safety of HRT, with evidence of increased risk of cancer. Now, a new study in the British Journal of Cancer has confirmed the risk following a 6-year follow up in nearly 40,000 women."

 

[Giraffe]

Hopefully this study of a large cohort of women will dampen the renewed enthusiasm for estrogen.

Hopefully this study will not be misused to argue for estrogen-only treatment or to argue against progesterone.

...

Here is a link to the study: British Journal of Cancer - Menopausal hormone therapy and breast cancer: what is the true size of the increased risk[quest]

When they use the word "progestogen" in the study, they are actually talking about progestins (or they don't discriminate between progesterone and progestins). In the article the word "progesterone" should be replaced by "progestins".

[...] the disparity may be because of differences in progestogen monthly dose. The most frequently used serial regimens in our study were Prempak-C (conjugated oestrogen, 625 μg and 1.25 mg; norgestrel, 150 μg), Elleste Duet (estradiol, 1 and 2 mg; norethisterone, 1 mg), and Climagest (Estradiol, 2 mg; norethisterone, 1 mg), and the most frequently used continuous regimens were Premique (conjugated oestrogen, 625 μg; medroxyprogesterone acetate, 5 mg), Kilovance (estradiol, 1 mg; norethisterone, 500 μg), and Kilofem (estradiol, 2 mg; norethisterone, 1 mg).

...

The most important progestogen in the body is progesterone (P4). [...] Synthetic progestogens are generally referred to as progestins.[2] The terms progesterone, progestogen, and progestin are mistakenly used interchangeably both in the scientific literature and in clinical settings.[1][4][5] While the progestins are structural analogues of the endogenous progestogens, they are not functional analogues.[5]

Progestogen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Suppliers of progesterone sometimes call their product "bio-identical" to make clear that they are selling the real stuff and not a nasty progestin. Now look at how FDA is trying to muddy the waters: Bio-Identicals: Sorting Myths from Facts

...

Related article: The Progesterone Deceptions

 

[haidut]

Hopefully this study will not be misused to argue for estrogen-only treatment or to argue against progesterone.

...

Here is a link to the study: British Journal of Cancer - Menopausal hormone therapy and breast cancer: what is the true size of the increased risk[quest]

When they use the word "progestogen" in the study, they are actually talking about progestins (or they don't discriminate between progesterone and progestins). In the article the word "progesterone" should be replaced by "progestins".



...


Suppliers of progesterone sometimes call their product "bio-identical" to make clear that they are selling the real stuff and not a nasty progestin. Now look at how FDA is trying to muddy the waters: Bio-Identicals: Sorting Myths from Facts

...

Related article: The Progesterone Deceptions

Oh yes, I forgot to mention the important part didn't I? Thanks for the reminding me so that I can expand on that. The study looked at combined use of progestins and estrogen and found that group to have the higher incidence of cancer. Synthetic progestins are NOT even remotely similar to bioidentical progesterone. In fact, they are a weird hybrid of pro-corticol and semi-androgenic. Synthetic progestins reliably cause Cushing disease (high cortisol) in humans while natural progesterone treats Cushing.
Progestogens and Cushing's syndrome. - PubMed - NCBI
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9404305

Peat wrote in one of his articles that testosterone is probably a safer progestin than those poisonous chemicals.
Progesterone Summaries - Progesterone Deceptions - Progesterone Supplementation - Dosage of Progesterone
"...Medroxyprogesterone acetate is considered a progestin (though it is not supportive of gestation), because it modifies the uterus in approximately the wasy progesterone does, but it is luteolytic, and lowers the ovaries' production of progesterone while progesterone itself has a positive effect on the corpus luteum, stimulating progesterone synthesis. Defining “progestin” in a narrow way allows many synthetics to be sold as progestogens, though some of them are strongly estrogenic, allowing them to function as contraceptives--it is odd that contraceptives and agents which suppress progesterone synthesis should be officially called “supported of pregnancy.” It is probably partly the acetate group in the medroxyprogesterone acetate molecule which makes it bind firmly to receptors, yet causes it to block the enzymes which would normally be involved in progesterone metabolism. (I think testosterone, even, might be a safer progestin than medroxyprogesterone acetate.) Pregnenolone acetate similarly blocks the enzymes which normally metabolize pregnenolone. (12) In aspirin, it has been found that it is the acetyl group which (by a free radical action) blocks an enzyme involved in prostaglandin synthesis."

What a sneaky study!! Let's exclude the studies using bioidentical progesterone and call progestins "progesterone" and declare that progesterone is dangerous! Anyways, thanks again for bringing this up.

 

[afinenettle]

Are there any new studies or data regarding the difference between supplementing estradiol alone or combinations, and just the estriol - which has been studied as a protective against hormonal cancers?