The Benefits of Estrogen

Excerpt from the book

Estrogen & Alzheimer's Disease
Sue:
Many women taking estrogen report a feeling of well being while taking their estrogen. There is research to suggest a link between hormone use and Alzheimer prevention. In fact perimenopausal women find that in a short time after starting an estrogen product they feel better- emotionally. Can a SERM provide this same kind of relief? How does a SERM like Evista work in a woman's brain?

Dr. Goldstein:
Many women do report a sense of well being while taking their estrogen. I have had a number of patients who report similar sense of well being on Evista. One will never know who one will react to a particular pharmacological agent from a "well being" sense, unless one were to try it. No one really knows exactly how Evista works in a women's brain. In experimental animals it is absorbed into the gray and white matter of the central nervous system just the way estrogen is. Hopefully, clinical studies will bear out a similarity to estrogen. We are all hopeful that estrogen has a positive effect on cognitive function although the data still remains to be collected.

Stephanie Bender author of The Power of Perimenopause says: "Estrogen is the body's natural antidepressant" "I told them that estrogen is the body's natural antidepressant and that progesterone is the body's natural anti-anxiety and anti-inflammatory....In this country there is a tendency to over prescribe drugs like Prozac, valium etc.. instead of giving women what they really need. By using these other drugs many women miss out on half of their lives and have continual hangovers." see the rest of this interview

Sue:
Thank you Dr. Goldstein for your time and your thoughtfulness. You've given a great deal of good information that I know will help women make sound health care decisions.

See an excerpt from the book
"The Estrogen Alternative" (pgs. 61-62)
Are SERMS for you?

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Meet the author
Steven R. Goldstein, MD
(also see interview 1)
Introduction
SERM's: The Estrogen Alternative
Heart Protection & Evista
The Benefits of Estrogen
Estrogen & Alzheimer's Disease
Excerpt from the book
Co-author Laurie Ashner interview

Women's Health Center
Depression

Menopause and the Mind:
The Complete Guide to Coping with Memory Loss, Foggy Thinking, Verbal Confusion, and Other Cognitive Effects of Perimenopause and Menopause
by Claire L., Ph.D. Warga

Menopause and the Mind gives every woman the survival kit she needs to manage the thinking and memory symptoms -- long overlooked by the medical establishment -- that accompany the onset of perimenopause and menopause. Neuropsychologist Claire Warga provides the first scientific explanation for this common "hormonal misconnection" syndrome. Drawing upon recent brain and clinical research, she shows that forgetfulness, malapropisms, and lost concentration are not manifestations of dementia or senility; instead, they result from the depletion of estrogen in the brain cells of women as they enter perimenopause and menopause. Armed with this knowledge, Warga offers women a breakthrough plan for regaining control and confidence in their minds.

newly revised for 2000!
Could It Be...Perimenopause?
by Steven R. Goldstein, Laurie Ashner

see the interview with Dr Goldstein
In clear, supportive prose, Goldstein offers no-baloney advice. "Today's perimenopausal women has neither the time nor the patience to go through four to fifteen years of symptoms without relief," he says. He fully delineates the roles of various hormones, how to determine if you're in perimenopause or not, as well as how to treat the various symptoms to gain control over your life.

The Estrogen Alternative:
What Every Woman Needs to Know About Hormone Replacement Therapy and Serms, the New Estrogen Substitutes
by Steven R. Goldstein, Laurie Ashner

Most women know the benefits of estrogen replacement after menopause: It reduces the risk of osteoporosis, heart disease, even Alzheimer's disease. Many are still reluctant to take it, because it increases the incidence of breast and uterine cancer. Find out more.