Linda and a stuffed something
Despite my somewhat ambiguous first name (Myrl), I am male
and consequently know about such things as hot flashes, night sweats and sleeplessness
(post-menopausal symptoms, apparently) only at second hand. They seem to be serious enough, however, that
hormone therapy – estrogen, progestin – have been prescribed to ease them. In 1993 a massive study was undertaken to test
the safety and efficacy of this drug regimen.
It was terminated prematurely in 2002 because, as I read it, taking
estrogen in combination with progestin caused a statistically-significant increase in the incidence if stroke, breast cancer, and blood clots. On the basis of this result I have advised
against hormone therapy multiple times (eg., http://ljb-quiltcutie.blogspot.com/2013/09/free-medical-advice-and-worth-every.html). So maybe I was wrong.
The massive study referred to above (the Women’s Health
Initiative) was continued (after withdrawing the drugs) in the sense that the
subsequent histories of the participants were studied. Big surprise: the placebo group and the group
that received the drugs had statistically-significant identical rates of
mortality. I probably know less about
statistics than I know about cancer biology, if that is possible, but this
sounds weird to me; if the drug-getters had more life-threatening side effects
than the placebo group, how come they didn’t die more? I have to assume that all the stats were done
correctly – so what gives? Did they mix
a little Atropa belladonna into the
placebo? Or maybe GMO-enhanced polyunsaturated
fructose sugar? None of these is
possible, of course, leaving me baffled.
There are some other important statistics in the
article: http://www.fredhutch.org/en/news/center-news/2017/09/death-risk-menopausal-hormone-replacement.html. Some of them suggest to me that the culprit
here is progestin, and that estrogen alone may be safe and beneficial under
certain circumstances. As always,
consult someone who knows. Maybe
several.
Damn, the Roooskies are at it again! After several weeks of no activity, suddenly I have 105 Russian “hits” in two days! That compares with 40 from the U.S. For all time Myrl;sBlog has been visited3576 times from Russia – second only to the U.S. If the Russians are actually reading these blogs (vanishingly unlikely), then I expect to be elected to their Academy of Sciences any day now.
ReplyDeleteFred Hutch publishes a Newsletter every three or so months. If you have given them some money you probably are on their mailing (email) list. If not, you can access articles from the deep reaches of time by clicking on:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.fredhutch.org/en/news/Fred-Hutch-News.html
There is some good stuff in there to be had, aimed for us lay folks. Worth a visit.
Now the mad Rooskies are up to 188 hits! Maybe they still are searching for Hilary’s lost emails?
ReplyDeleteAnd even more info (on hormones)
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/hormones?cid=eb_govdel