Dr Newson speaks with Professor Robert Langer in this episode. Robert Langer is Professor Emeritus in Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of California in San Diego. He was also an investigator of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Study. Together, they discuss how the WHI Study from 2002 turned the world upside down for women and how they have both been trying to right it ever since.
Professor Langer describes in detail what was understood about the benefits of hormone replacement therapy before the WHI study, how the notorious study came about and why it was finished prematurely and so badly misreported in the media. His unique account of how the events unfolded helps listeners to understand the bigger picture of why healthcare professionals and women remain unaware of the benefits of HRT and are often overly cautious of the perceived risks to this day.
Professor Langer's 3 top tips are:
1. All of the evidence shows that for women who are within 10 years of their menopause, or under the age of 60, if she has reason to take HRT, there is absolutely no need to be concerned about HRT. For these women the benefits strongly outweigh the risks.
2. There's no reason to stop taking HRT at any age, if you've been taking it from the time of your perimenopause or within 10 years of your menopause.
3. With a knowledgeable practitioner, there's no reason that a woman who is past her menopause or over 60, can't start taking HRT, as long as the clinician is aware of how to start slowly and get hormone levels to the right point.
253 - Coping with the perimenopause when you’re a carer
252 - Bryony Gordon: mental health, hormones and witchy magic
251 - Kate Muir: everything you need to know about hormones but were afraid to ask
250 - Testosterone: the missing piece of the jigsaw?
249 - Dr Mary Claire Haver: on a mission to demystify menopause
248 - The menopause brain: why it might be feeling strange and what you can do about it
247 - Addiction and menopause
246 - Postnatal depression, PMDD and menopause: Wendy’s hormone journey
245 - How medicine has failed women, with author Elinor Cleghorn
244 - Hot flush drug fezolinetant
243 - Contraception during perimenopause: HRT, the pill and the Mirena coil
242 - Sex, hormones and the menopause
241 - Women, ADHD and hormones
240 - Creating long-lasting food habits for better health
239 - Challenging NICE's draft menopause guidance
238 - New Year, new mindset – why movement matters more than exercise
237 - The juggling act: how to navigate menopause and midlife
236 - Menopause in overlooked communities
235 - Menopause and brain health: what’s the link?
234 - Breast cancer treatment and HRT
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