Breast cancer and HRT
I suffered from breast cancer 10 years ago and although I now enjoy good health, I am wary of using conventional HRT remedies. Can you recommend any alternatives to combat the miserable effects of the menopause?
Some complementary health experts will swear by the use of natural progesterone, which they claim can deter tumour formation and rebuild porotic bone. Others will warn you off it, arguing that there is no long-term evidence of any benefits during the menopause and that there may even be a higher risk of triggering cancer. In your shoes, I would make an informed choice only after carefully considering both sides of the debate.
Dr Peter Mansfield, a GP and founder of Good HealthKeeping, an organisation committed to making complementary health choices more affordable, is one practitioner who supports the use of natural progesterone. He suggests, though, that you get it from your doctor and not from one of the network marketing companies which now dispatch their progesterone products out of Jersey. This is because progesterone is a prescription-only medicine in the UK. The best natural source is yams which contains a substance the body then converts to progesterone - but you take pot luck that it will do this and with the amount you will end up with.
Dr Mansfield says it makes more sense to ask your GP for progesterone suppositories which are available on the NHS and which you should then dilute by adding the active ingredients to a carrier base such as E45 cream. If you do choose this route, you then rub the progesterone cream into any soft skin, say the inside of the arms, thighs, stomach or even breasts. It can, he says, take up to three months for the body to accumulate enough of the hormone to kick in and confer any benefits.
Dr Marilyn Glenville, author of Natural Alternatives to HRT, (Kyle Cathie, £10.99), argues that with no longer-term research, the jury is still out over the use of natural progesterone. She points out that using progesterone is still a form of hormone replacement therapy and suggests, instead, you would be better to consider using food and herbs to naturally rebalance your hormones.
Lots of foods, for example, contain helpful substances called isoflavones. These are phytochemicals which can have the same protective action in the body as tamoxifen, the drug prescribed to prevent a recurrence of breast cancer. These foods include soya products, tofu, chickpeas and lentils which all have a weak oestrogenic action in the body. With your history of breast cancer, Glenville also recommends you take the liver-supporting herb, milk thistle, and the hormone-balancing herb, agnus castus - both of which will alleviate the menopausal symptoms you want to avoid.
You can contact Good HealthKeeping on 01507-601655. Family membership costs £52 a year which entitles you to free telephone consultations, discount vitamins and supplements, newsletters and information packs. This organisation can provide natural progesterone from as little as £2 a month. Dr Marilyn Glenville has clinics in London and Kent. For details call 0990-329244.