Word: estrogen
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What puts women at risk after menopause? The leading theory holds that they lose their protection against heart attacks because of a drastic reduction in the female hormone estrogen. That might result in the rapid buildup of plaque on artery walls where, until menopause, very little existed. "When estrogen levels drop, you've just lost your best friend," says Dr. William Castelli, director of the long-running Framingham Heart Study...
That point was driven home dramatically to Cindy Nelson, a Texas bookkeeper. At age 29 she had a total hysterectomy, which prematurely deprived her of estrogen. Ten years later, she suffered two heart attacks within a month. Says she: "I never thought it would happen...
...year study of 140,000 postmenopausal women. The study will explore the effects of diet, smoking and other factors on women's risk of developing heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, and breast and colon cancers. The study will also evaluate the effects of hormone replacement therapy: providing women with supplemental estrogen or with estrogen plus progestin after menopause...
...cardiologists and their patients sometimes shy away from them; larger doses, like those used in early birth-control pills, are known to increase the risk of endometrial and breast cancer. Still, many doctors, considering the even greater risk of coronary- artery disease in the absence of estrogen, now endorse the supplementary therapy. One strong advocate is Framingham's Castelli, who calls the evidence of its efficacy in protecting against both heart disease and osteoporosis "overwhelming...
Meanwhile, a study in the Lancet appears to strengthen another suspected breast-cancer link. Women whose mothers had toxemia during pregnancy (a form of high blood pressure that can also lower estrogen levels) are 75% less likely to get breast cancer as adults. High estrogen levels, in other words, are still a danger signal...