Courtesy
of Brand X Photospin |
|
| |
More
NurseWeek Features |
|
|
Smoke-Free Zone |
|
| |
Nurses and patients tackle nicotine addiction
|
|
 |
Bloodless Survival |
|
| |
Surgical techniques to use when transfusion drops out of the equation |
|
|
|
|
| The
National Institutes of Health halted the use of
Prempro in the Women's Health Initiative, a study
that set out to determine whether the combination
of estrogen plus progestin did prevent heart disease
and fractures. When the WHI data and safety monitoring
board discovered that women using Prempro in the
study had a higher risk of heart attack, stroke,
blood clots and breast cancer, the board recommended
stopping the trial. |
Mary Koithan never expected her trek through the maze
of midlife hormones to be humiliating, or for that matter,
public.
The assistant professor of nursing at the University
of Arizona found herself standing in front of dozens
of students when she started to forget the names of
authors she was quoting. As if her brain had mysteriously
shorted out, she struggled for minutes on end to grasp
questions the students asked in class.
The symptoms also plagued the professor outside of
work. The grocery store was like a foreign country filled
with foods she couldn't identify. There were severe
panic attacks, then hot flashes. Koithan, Ph.D., RN,
felt as though she was on the edge of Alzheimer's disease
at age 45.
"I felt like I would have to retire because I
couldn't think, couldn't make words come out of my mouth,"
she said. "My job depends on my ability to think
and speak clearly. It was horrible."
Koithan soon discovered that her crippling mental and
emotional crises were linked to two simple-yet amazingly
complex-hormones: estrogen and progesterone. It wasn't
until she started hormone replacement therapy that she
began to recover her sanity.
Like many middle-aged women, Koithan relies on HRT
to pump her body with hormones that stave off everything
from hot flashes to poor concentration to panic attacks.
But this summer, the safety of these hormone drugs was
called into question when the National Institutes of
Health abruptly halted the use of Prempro in the Women's
Health Initiative (WHI), a study that set out to determine
whether the combination of estrogen plus progestin-a
synthetic form of progesterone-did prevent heart disease
and hip fractures.
When the WHI data and safety monitoring board discovered
that women using Prempro in the study had a higher risk
of heart attack, stroke, blood clots and breast cancer,
the board recommended stopping the trial.
The news left as many as 6 million American women in
a wake of fear and confusion as they were compelled
to re-evaluate their decisions about using HRT. Although
the study's results give menopausal women ammunition
to make more informed decisions, nurse practitioners
and doctors interviewed by NURSEWEEK agreed that women
should avoid the temptation to overlook the advantages
of taking hormones. These health professionals are adamant
that each woman needs to consider both quality-of-life
benefits from HRT and the potential risks-and her personal
values will greatly influence that final decision.
Before people can make these choices, though, nurses
such as Martha Drohobyczer, MSN, RN, believe that women
need to take the time to understand the study's results.
"The statistics were not that alarming, but there's
enough that we need to do further research," said
Drohobyczer, a certified nurse-midwife at Alternatives
for Women in Las Vegas.
Next Page
|
Reply
to Article