Joseph F. McWherter, MD FACOG

Here are some additional estrogen stocking stuffers based on my experience as an OB/GYN specializing in women’s health issues, including hormone replacement therapy:

Did you know that estrogen can have a chemotherapy effect?

• Observation: Estrogen, both bio-identical and synthetic, has been shown to kill breast cancer cells after the tumor has been deprived of estrogen stimulus (similar to estrogen levels found in menopausal and postmenopausal women). In my resident training, which took place years before breast cancer drugs such as Tamoxifen were used, we administered the potent synthetic estrogen diethylstilbesterol (DES) to postmenopausal women with metastatic breast cancer. The remission rates were comparable to that of Tamoxifen use.
• Another example of estrogen’s chemotherapy effect on breast cancer can be found in the 2001 Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study. The study showed that women who took the synthetic hormone Premarin had lower breast cancer rates than those taking no hormones at all.
  • Ooops! We just shot a hole in the balloon carrying the “estrogen causes breast cancer” alarmists. Ask them to explain the medical conundrum: How does estrogen both kill – while at the same time cause – breast cancer?
  • Speaking of the WHI, 10 years after all women were told to completely stop hormone replacement therapy, the North American Menopause Society announced that it was okay to take hormones under certain conditions, especially for younger menopausal women. Unfortunately, the diseases of aging attributable to chronic inflammation are irreversible after 10 years of hormone deprivation. It’s too late for women who listened to WHI epidemiologists (number crunchers). No estrogen replacement translates into biologic overheating, which after 10 years results in irreversible changes leading to premature aging. (As an aside, did you know that there were no OB/GYN physicians on the WHI committee? I have always wondered why there were no women’s health specialists overseeing a study designed to access the effect of synthetic hormones on women.)
•  The widely publicized BRCA (breast cancer) mutated gene carries a 50%-80% lifetime risk of developing into breast cancer. There are two types of genetic mutations: BRCA1 and BRCA2.
  • BRCA2 breast cancer estrogen sensitivity differs from predominantly estrogen receptor negative BRCA1 cancer. Women who are carry the BRCA2 mutation and take oral contraception (birth control pills containing synthetic estrogens and progestins) are NOT predisposed to higher breast cancer rates.
  • Studies of BRCA1 carriers who are on menopausal hormone replacement therapy have shown NO increased risk of breast cancer.

Read on for more information in my next post.

JMcW, MD