How safe is long term HRT for transsexual women?
There are great controversies regarding HRT. I, for one, am not fearful of the stuff. The studies done so far really do not test the ‘best’ HRT, that of a plant-based estradiol type formulation. Most all of the testing (and fear) is regarding Premarin, the HRT gold standard for many years which is conjugated equine estrogen extracted from the urine of chained pregnant mare’s urine. I have always considered this stuff karmically unhealthy (I am also a vegetarian) and have never preferentially prescribed this stuff during my 20+ year career. Because there is no pharmaceutical backing, plant-based estradiol is not studied and is most certainly NOT the same as Premarin. Furthermore the studies that ARE out there still show benefit for Premarin alone but have concerns more when Premarin is combined with Medroxyprogesterone (Provera). Again, natural plant-based Progesterone (Prometrium) is not studied….go figure. As for the length of time that a post-operative woman should take HRT, that i
