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Live From...
Interview With Dr. Susan Love
Aired July 17, 2002 - 14:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Listen up, ladies. A week after a major study on hormone replacement therapy was halted, new findings are raising concerns about the safety of estrogen therapy alone, specifically its effect on the ovaries.
Joining from now from L.A. with details on this study is Dr. Susan Love -- Dr. Love, good to see you.
DR. SUSAN LOVE, AUTHOR, "DR. SUSAN LOVE'S HORMONE BOOK": Good morning.
PHILLIPS: All right. So let's talk about this and hormone replacement. Are the risks just too high?
LOVE: Well, what they are really talking about, both in last week's study and this week's study, are long-term use of hormones, not short-term for symptoms, but really using them for 10, 20 years with the hope that they are going to prevent a lot of diseases. That's what's really not panning out, and the risk is turning out to be higher than the benefit.
PHILLIPS: All right. So let's talk about alternatives. I mean, this report came out last week. My mother and I engaged in this huge conversation. We were talking about soy. She said, "OK, that's it, no more drugs, I am making the switch." So a week, later, mom, how are you feeling? Well, I'm feeling fine. Is she doing the right thing?
LOVE: Yes, she is actually doing the right thing. And whether it's soy, it's food, whether it's -- there are things like Black Cohosh, Remifemin, that's been good. These are all good to help you over the hump of symptoms.
But you know, the symptoms of menopause are transient. They're really puberty in reverse. And just like puberty, they can be -- it can be very uncomfortable, but it only lasts a couple of years. So once you get over that hump, you really don't have those symptoms any more.
PHILLIPS: So does there come a point, or maybe you just shouldn't try to reverse menopause; is that right? Because...
LOVE: Exactly.
PHILLIPS: OK. All right.
LOVE: You know, menopause...
PHILLIPS: It's all coming together, Dr. Love.
LOVE: Menopause is normal. It's natural. It's programmed in. We are supposed to go through it. So we don't have to -- in fact, having high levels of hormone our whole life is turning out to be a bad thing. So there is -- you know, there is a reason that we go through menopause, and we make enough hormones just on our own to get us through. We don't need -- quote -- "replacement."
PHILLIPS: All right. So a woman taking right now just seeing this, has been taking these drugs for years, what do they need to do? Call up their doctor? Go see their doctor? What would be your advice if they were coming to you?
LOVE: Well, it's always -- it's always good to talk to your doctor. However, you can stop hormones without any bad consequence to your body. It's not like some drugs where stopping is dangerous. And about -- if you stop cold turkey, about 50 percent of women will feel fine and just go on with their lives. Another half will have symptoms, hot flashes, again, that are caused by the change in hormones. So those women should go back on and taper off gradually over a couple of months, and they ought to be fine.
PHILLIPS: Wow, it's that simple!
LOVE: It really is.
PHILLIPS: And so what do you think of all these herbal remedies that are coming up? We talked about soy, but did we -- let's talk about the herbal stuff that's being sold.
LOVE: Well, you know, the herbal stuff is mostly aimed at symptom relief, and some of it has data and some of it doesn't. The soy, I think it's OK to eat it as food, but I'm a little bit nervous about these Isoflavone pills, because we don't know what is safe and what the right dosage is for Isoflavones.
Other things, Black Cohosh has actually been well-studied, and you can buy that as Remifemin in the stores, and that's good for menopausal symptoms. And you know, some of the other things are a little -- have a little less data, and of course, you are never quite sure of the quality. So you have to be as careful about alternatives as you are about these hormone drugs.
PHILLIPS: Final question. Can it be as simple as just exercise and diet?
LOVE: Well, certainly, prevention should be based on exercise, diet and not smoking. You know, those three are the foundation. And then if you need drugs on top of that because you have high cholesterol or really low bone density or something, then you might want to take some drugs on top of that, but not hormones. We have got more specific drugs that are proven to be beneficial, and that don't have the bad side effects.
PHILLIPS: All right. Dr. Susan Love, and the book is, "Dr. Susan Love's Hormone Book," plain and simple, there you have it.
LOVE: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Dr. Love.
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