Are there different types of hormone replacement therapy?
A. Yes. There are different types of hormone replacement therapy. One type involves taking estrogen alone, but hormone replacement therapy with estrogen alone can increase the risk of cancer of the uterus (womb) and endometrium (lining of the uterus). Adding progesterone to your treatment seems to keep the risk of these two cancers down. There are the conventional forms of HRT, many of them using synthetic versions of estrogen and progestins, which have been recently studied and scrutinzed by the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Study, the largest study of its kind on women and HRT. The study was abruptly halted in July of 2002 and women on the hormone being used, Prempro (a combination of Premarin, conjugated estrogen made from the urine of pregnant mares, and Provera, a synethic progestin, not nearly as safe and effective as natural forms of progesterone) because it was found “the risks outweighed the benefits.” There was an increase in heart episodes, attacks, breast cancer, blood cl
