October has become synonymous with all things pink and avid awareness of the impact breast cancer has on the lives of millions of women across the globe. The widespread awareness has achieved great things in the fight against breast cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, there are now more
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July 13, 2012
Does Estrogen Cause Breast Cancer?
This is a topic that causes a great deal of confusion. I wish I could answer this question with a simple yes or no, but like many things in medicine, the answer is much more complex than this. Unfortunately, the medical community often wants the answer to be easy, so you get
June 13, 2012
Dr. Jen Featured on HealthTalk on FoxNews.com
The hormonal decline that occurs with menopause causes uncomfortable symptoms that lead many women to seek relief. Relief is rumored to exist with a steady soy diet or acupuncture, but hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is known as the most effective. Many women, however, live in fear of hormone therapy, questioning its safety
April 13, 2012
On Breast Health and Broccoli
Much as many of you hate to admit it, broccoli IS actually good for you. A study recently presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, looked at 4886 Chinese women with a history of breast cancer and their intake of cruciferous vegetables. The study found that cruciferous
The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) issued the following revised position statement, which is in favor of hormone therapy for women in menopause: http://www.menopause.org/psht12.pdf This may seem like an earth shattering statement based on new information, but I feel this is a long overdue statement. The practice of Hormone Therapy was essentially
December 4, 2011
What Does Progesterone Do? (part 1)
Progesterone is a steroid hormone that has many biological functions. It is one of the major sex hormones in women and is usually the first sex hormone to decline as a woman enters menopause. It’s also found in men, but at lower levels than in women. When I was in medical school,
November 22, 2011
How You Can Reduce Your Risk Of Breast Cancer
One of the concerns associated with hormone replacement therapy is Breast Cancer. Unfortunately, the message often delivered by the media and many physicians is that hormones cause cancer and being on hormone replacement therapy increases one’s risk for breast cancer. Breast Cancer risk has many influences and it’s more complicated than whether
November 21, 2011
Progesterone–who needs it? (who doesn’t need it?)
Progesterone is a critical ovarian produced steroid hormone that plays specific roles throughout a woman’s life. For women who are premenopausal, progesterone production begins around mid-cycle, rises to a peak @ day 21 of the typical cycle, and then plummets in the absence of pregnancy, triggering a period @ 2-5 days later.
November 13, 2011
The Mystery Hormone and why everyone needs it.
What is 1,25 hydroxycholecalciferol? Drum roll please!………………..you may know it as “Vitamin D” “Vitamin” D is not a vitamin; it is a critical hormone! It is produced largely by your body in response to direct sunlit to large areas of exposed skin (meaning with no protective sun block). In the middle of
November 7, 2011
5 things you can do right now to avoid breast cancer
I was at a conference last weekend where prevention of breast cancer was discussed at length. Although breast cancer awareness month is over, we need to prevent breast cancer all year long. Here are some tips. 1. Stop eating sugar and simple carbs- sugar feeds cancer. Simple carbs are “white” foods
October 20, 2011
Do bioidentical hormones cause breast cancer?
Does bioidentical hormone therapy cause breast cancer? Hormone replacement therapy got a lot of bad press since publication of the Women’s Health Initiative. This study looked at over 16,000 women whose average age was 64. The women in this study took the synthetic hormones: Premarin and Provera. This study sought to answer the question,
October 18, 2011
Breast Cancer
I just saw a patient in my surgical practice with her second primary breast cancer. I took care of her with her first one 11 years ago, and this time she needed a mastectomy. She had been on premarin for about 20 years before her first diagnosis. She is likely to do
I just posted an article this week that criticized the media and some physicians for generating a lot of confusion regarding hormone therapy (see Progesterone and Progestins). In particular, I mentioned how the data presented in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) has not been represented accurately to the public. It has caused
September 24, 2011
Progesterone and Progestins
One of the biggest fears associated with bio-identical hormone therapy is the risk of breast cancer. Unfortunately, a lot of confusing and often, incorrect information regarding this issue is offered to the public, through the media, internet, and even by many physicians. Some of this misinformation stems from The Women’s Health Initiative
October 20, 2010
Is Bioidentical Hormone Therapy Safe?
There have been nearly 200 studies that have compared treatment with conventional HRT to treatment using natural bioidentical hormones and it turns out that not only were bioidenticals found to be more effective in relieving menopausal symptoms, but also helped to reduce the risk of breast cancer and heart disease.