July/August 1997 Issue

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.

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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.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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