Hormonious Heart: Reviews and Resources
Editor's Note: These resources are possible sources for more information; they should not be taken as "recommendations" from either Michael Castleman or the MoJo Wire. There's a lot of misleading and false medical information out there, so use your judgment and consult a trusted doctor when in doubt.
Hormone Replacement Therapy may be relatively risk free, but there are some who would say it's also unnecessary -- including Margaret Morganroth Gullette, the author of Declining to Decline: Cultural Combat and the Politics of Midlife (Charlottesville, Va.: University Press of Virginia, 1997). Gullette challenges the popular notion that we should fight aging every step of the way and advocates a dismissal of the technologies that keeps us artifically young -- including HRT. "If the mainstream had a menoboom-resistant strain of writers," she argues, "Journalists could write articles as long as they like about 'Better Sex after Menopause,' and 'Carefree after Fifty.'" |
Gullette's personal discomforts about aging are notable, making it hard to read the book as an unbiased study of middle age. But she does have a point -- the most natural way to resist aging is not to resist at all.
A R O U N D T H E N E T
COLUMBIA/HCA HEALTHCARE CORP.: THE PROS AND CONS OF HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY
The self-proclaimed "Premier Healthcare Information Site" weighs the risks and rewards of HRT. Roy C. Saguiguit, M.D., Columbia doctor, never does say why HRT works, but gives a good overview of what signs mean danger.
NEW ENGLAND RESEARCH INSTUTUTES: WHAT IS HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY?
This NERI page includes a brief history of HRT, and points out why studies aren't the truest indicator of danger. The site also has handy graphics with anatomically correct stick figures, and hit-and-miss anchor tags (some work, some don't, so be ready to scroll).
NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE'S FACT SHEET ON MENOPAUSAL HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY
Starting with a thorough description of what menopause actually is, the NCI's fact sheet covers all the bases, including some predictions for HRT's future, and a list of contact numbers for more information.
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