For premenopausal and menopausal women Testosterone is necessary to keep your heart healthy.
In the last 6 months the FDA has reversed its stance on women and estrogen replacement (ERT and HRT). I have been waiting for the FDA to SEE THE LIGHT for 23 years since the WHI study was publicized and misinterpreted. The WHI study stated that women who took estrogen had a higher rate of breast cancer and heart disease. That lie has been brought into the light and we now know that estradiol is required for health, including a healthy heart after menopause!
The WHI caused more than 20 years of menopausal women were told to avoid estrogen replacement for many reasons, but in fact were lied to and they increased their risk of heart disease and breast cancer by NOT TAKING estrogen!
Today we are going to talk about Estradiol and preventing heart disease. For the record I want to state the truth about ERT protecting women from heart disease. The studies I base my discussion on were conducted before, during, and after the 2002 (WHI) study. However, the FDA published that one study that damned estradiol and cost millions of American women’s lives by banning women from receiving the comfort that ERT provides from treating hot flashes, night sweats, and painful intercourse. Last of ERT set women up for collecting plaque on their arteries that causes heart disease. Now the FDA admits its mistake but only after millions of women have been damaged by getting heart disease that was preventable with ERT.
I have been replacing estradiol in multiple delivery systems for 40 years, since 1985, and my patients rate of heart disease is very low! I have delivered Estradiol in pellet form and watched cholesterol and inflammation (the 2 key risk factors for heart disease) fall after starting treatment for 3 months.
But estradiol is not the only path to a healthy heart. Lifestyle changes are the most effective method with the poorest compliance of all heart disease preventive measures! So what is the secret? Exercise 3x a week for an hour each time, to daily is recommended. Eating a low carb (NOT LOW FAT) diet with plenty of fresh fruit and veggies, lean meat, fatty fish and no processed food. Watch your alcohol intake! 4 oz of wine daily is the max for alcohol consumption that will not cause your heart risk to increase. Supplement your diet with medical grade supplements specifically for lapses in your dietary intake. Achieve ideal weight for your height!
For premenopausal and menopausal women Testosterone is necessary to keep your heart healthy. Your heart is a muscle somewhat like your other muscles and it needs testosterone to pump effectively. After menopause, we have NO TESTOSTERONE and we need it replaced when we replace our estradiol!
Achieve your ideal weight by cutting out all sweets! Heart disease and cancer LOVE SUGAR!
Now what not to do! Statins like Rosuvastatin, and anything ending in -statin, HAVE NEVER BEEN TESTED ON WOMEN BY THE FDA! Before 2014 any drug that passed the FDA and is currently available was only tested on men! Statins have many side effects in men, but they cause severe body aches, joint aches, muscle wasting as the primary side effects in most women. It is over prescribed! Women should ask for something else if they have familial high LDL cholesterol (not just Total Cholesterol), had a heart attack, or have a high plaque load on Cardiac Calcium Scan. If an LDL in women is less than 130, it is normal and safe. Women usually have high HDL cholesterol which is protective, so the same rules don’t apply to women as men with high LDL cholesterol.
Let me tell you what the indications for taking a statin include: 1. Familial high cholesterol with multiple family members dying of heart attacks, 2. Previous heart attack or cholesterol blockage 3. Severe diabetes which increases plaque that causes blockage of the arteries.
Statins are not for asymptomatic people who don’t have plaque on their Cardiac. Calcium Scan!
Statins should not be used to prevent heart disease that has not already started accumulating plaque. The risks outweigh the benefits in that situation. If you have a Cardiac Calcium Scan and have a score of zero then you should not be taking a statin!
Do you know how statins work? They go directly to your MITOCHONDRIA inside your cells and impair the activity of the intracellular powerhouse you have in each cell! We spend a lot of money on stimulating our mitochondria because it reverses aging and improves our health. Why would we use a drug that blocks the function of the mitochondria????? Because the FDA tells us to? They have consistently lied to us in the past. Why would we listen to them about this very important disease and the risky drug they put us on?
So what is your take-away message?
- If you are menopausal, it is not too late to start estradiol…the age limit on starting estradiol is fiction! Don’t let it stop you!
- Get a $99 Cardiac Calcium scan to see if you have plaque!
- Change your lifestyle as I have suggested above.
- Achieve your ideal weight…we have meds that can now help you do that successfully. They may change your life!
- Supplement the voids in your diet with supplements that are specific to you.
- Have your blood tested for everything once a year including you estradiol, free testosterone level, Estrone, Lipid panel, Metabolic panel, HS-CRP, Homocysteine, ferritin by an integrative medicine or preventive medicine doctor who will help you prevent disease before you must treat it!
This Health cast was written and presented by Dr. Kathy Maupin, M.D., Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Expert and Author. www.BioBalanceHealth.com • (314) 993-0963. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel and please check “ Like “. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram at BioBalanceHealth.
