Hormone Replacement's "AHAH" Moment

I was privileged to attend a recent continuing education conference about estrogen replacement at menopause, held at the Yale School of Medicine, organized by my friend and colleague, Dr. Phil Sarrel. Highlights for me included both Dr. Sarrel's important insights, and a very poignant, personal story told by Michelle King Robson, founder of EmpowHER. Michelle had what eventually proved to be diverticulitis. Initially misdiagnosed, her condition was erroneously treated with a hysterectomy. Michelle's overall health plummeted due to a surgically induced menopause, until it was restored with judicious hormone replacement. The conference was a culminating event in a months-long effort, again led by Dr. Sarrel, to provide the field of hormone replacement a much-needed "aha" moment. Having served for 8 years as Oprah's nutrition columnist in O Magazine, that certainly resonates with me. In this case, however, the revelation comes in the form of an "AHAH" moment, standing for: addressing health after hysterectomy. We will return to that shortly. For now, here is the back story. Roughly two years ago, Dr. Sarrel brought to my attention a research study published in JAMA looking at long term health effects in women who did, or did not, receive estrogen replacement after hysterectomy. This sample of women was a subgroup of the larger population enrolled into the well-known Women's Health Initiative, or WHI. That large trial, funded by the NIH, is largely responsible for reversing th...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news