Hormonious Heart: Reviews and Resources

Editor’s Note: These resources are possible sources for more information; they should not be taken as “recommendations” from either Michael Castleman or the MoJo Wire. There’s a lot of misleading and false medical information out there, so use your judgment and consult a trusted doctor when in doubt.

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


I N P R I N T

Hormone Replacement Therapy may be relatively risk free, but there are some who would say it’s also unnecessary — including Margaret Morganroth Gullette, the author of Declining to Decline: Cultural Combat and the Politics of Midlife (Charlottesville, Va.: University Press of Virginia, 1997). Gullette challenges the popular notion that we should fight aging every step of the way and advocates a dismissal of the technologies that keeps us artifically young — including HRT.

“If the mainstream had a menoboom-resistant strain of writers,” she argues, “Journalists could write articles as long as they like about ‘Better Sex after Menopause,’ and ‘Carefree after Fifty.'”

Gullette’s personal discomforts about aging are notable, making it hard to read the book as an unbiased study of middle age. But she does have a point — the most natural way to resist aging is not to resist at all.

A R O U N D T H E N E T

COLUMBIA/HCA HEALTHCARE CORP.: THE PROS AND CONS OF HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY
The self-proclaimed “Premier Healthcare Information Site” weighs the risks and rewards of HRT. Roy C. Saguiguit, M.D., Columbia doctor, never does say why HRT works, but gives a good overview of what signs mean danger.

NEW ENGLAND RESEARCH INSTUTUTES: WHAT IS HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY?
This NERI page includes a brief history of HRT, and points out why studies aren’t the truest indicator of danger. The site also has handy graphics with anatomically correct stick figures, and hit-and-miss anchor tags (some work, some don’t, so be ready to scroll).

NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE’S FACT SHEET ON MENOPAUSAL HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY
Starting with a thorough description of what menopause actually is, the NCI’s fact sheet covers all the bases, including some predictions for HRT’s future, and a list of contact numbers for more information.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate