Oestrogen Matters

For years, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was hailed as a miracle. Study after study showed that HRT, undergone at the onset of menopause, could ease symptoms ranging from hot flashes to memory loss; reduce the risk of heart disease, osteoporosis, and some cancers; and even extend a woman's overall life expectancy. But when a large study by the Women's Health Initiative announced results showing an uptick in breast cancer among women taking estrogen replacement, the winds shifted abruptly, and HRT, officially deemed a carcinogen, was abandoned. As it turns out, however, that study was fatally flawed. Now, fifteen years after HRT was left for dead, Dr. Bluming, a clinical oncologist, and Dr. Tavris, a social psychologist and a leading voice at the intersection of gender and medical bias, track its strange history and present a compelling case for its resurrection. They investigate what led the public -- and much of the medical establishment -- to believe in a flawed study. They explore broad questions about how medical research is brought from bench to bedside, and give readers the tools they need to decide if hormone replacement therapy is right for them. A sobering and revelatory read, THE ESTROGEN EVIDENCE sets the record straight on this beneficial treatment, and provides an empowering path to wellness for women everywhere.