What Doctors Don't Tell YouScientists believe they have figured out why hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has caused coronary heart disease. Apparently it’s to do with estrogen that relaxes the blood vessels in a younger woman, and then suddenly does the opposite once the woman reaches menopause.
By replacing the body’s own estrogen, HRT drugs inadvertently increase the woman’s risk of heart disease, as studies have shown.
Well, that’s the theory at least, and it’s one that does not have universal agreement. Some scientists still believe that it’s the lack of estrogen that is the cause of vascular disease.
Still, it was a good enough theory to earn researcher Richard E White a $1.2m research grant to take his work further.
He’s confident that by tinkering with the drug’s chemical compounds, he can produce a safer HRT for the next generation of women.
Oh dear, he goes and spoils it just when we were getting interested.
Maryon Stewart
Daniel Redwood DC
Tom Ferguson MD