Tamara Adams of Revival Hormone Health, Is HRT Safe?
Photographing Tamara Adams at her beautiful Juniper Creek Farm turned into the best kind of session – we hit it off immediately, and there was just as much chatting as there was photography. As someone recently navigating HRT myself, I couldn’t wait to pick her brain, and I can’t wait to connect other Raleigh women to her new business, Revival Hormone Health. I know from personal experience how difficult it is to find providers that will listen to you, hear what you need, and stay on top of research that seems to be changing daily. So, meet Tamara and read on to tackle the question on everyone’s mind!
Is HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) Safe?
Well, October is a big month! Not only is it the last somewhat normal month we have until 2026 (yep – Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming quickly), but it is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month & Menopause Awareness Month. Everyone is probably talking to you about breast cancer screening and prevention, but as a certified bioidentical hormone replacement (BHRT) provider, I get asked all of the time about estrogen and breast cancer risk. Women always ask, “Is it safe?” So let’s talk about it!
There are risks and benefits to everything in life, especially with medical decision making. We certainly want the benefits and not the risks and side effects of hormone therapy. One of the best ways to avoid some of the risk is to put hormones into the healthiest body possible!
Let’s go back in time – 25 years ago – when the ipod was first released, the first Harry Potter movie hit theaters, and Nelly’s “Hot in Here” was topping the charts (and no, the song was not about perimenopause, but it’s a pretty darn good midlife anthem). The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), released in 2002, was a study that was stopped early due to claims that estrogen causes cancer. It was breaking news on all of the news shows! Almost everyone stopped their hormones immediately, but – they got it wrong.
In the years since, many researchers have re-examined the data, and have found that estrogen, in fact, decreased the risk of cancer. It did show that women on a synthetic form of progesterone had a slight increase in breast cancer risk. It’s a very small risk, but a risk, nonetheless. At the time this study was done, we were telling every woman in America that she needed HRT for her own good. It was a very paternalistic approach to midlife care, and every woman got the same dose and most were given synthetic versions of estrogen and progesterone.
What we know now is if we use the natural form of progesterone, it does not have the same risk. Giving women estrogen does not increase the risk for break cancer – it was the synthetic progesterone that did that. So, if we use bioidentical hormones, we should not be increasing one’s risk for breast cancer.
Instead, by using estrogen, you’ll be decreasing your risk of osteoporosis, colon cancer, lung cancer, hip fractures, aging skin, urinary incontinence, painful sex, and possibly dementia. Many studies done in the last 25 years, including data from the WHI, strongly show all of these benefits to hormone replacement therapy. So benefits outweigh the risk for most women!
Next, we need to look at the specific woman. For women in perimenopause – the 4-10 years leading up to cessation of periods – hormone replacement therapy can help control symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats, brain fog, decreased libido and more. For women in menopause – no periods for a year or more – hormone replacement therapy can also be used for symptom control and prevention of osteoporosis, colon and lung cancer, aging skin and vaginal tissues, urinary symptoms, and more. Women falling into these categories should absolutely be offered hormone replacement therapy!
For women 10 years beyond their last menstrual period, we use a bit more discernment. For these women that haven’t had estrogen in their bodies from their ovaries or from the pharmacy for a long period, they may be at a slight increase of blood clots that can cause a heart attack because lack of estrogen causes stiffening of our blood vessels. Fortunately, this increased risk of blood clots disappears after being on estrogen for one year. Most providers will want to make sure a woman beyond 10 years past menopause has no baseline cardiovascular disease before starting estrogen therapy. And, while that’s being done, they can still benefit from progesterone and testosterone!
Now, let’s get back to the breast cancer discussion. Several studies have confirmed that estrogen decreases cancer risk, especially when used with bioidentical progesterone and not a synthetic progesterone, and that those who were on hormone replacement therapy at the time of breast cancer diagnosis had a significant increase in their survival rates (40%!!!) over women who weren’t on HRT.
So, where does that leave you? If you have questions about hormone replacement therapy, it’s uses, risks and benefits, I’d love to chat with you! I’m a certified BHRT provider serving women and men throughout North Carolina virtually with in-person appointment options in the Triangle area. Please follow Revival Hormone Health on Instagram or Facebook and visit my website at www.revivalhormonehealth.com. I’d love to help you FEEL LIKE YOURSELF AGAIN!