> Siobhan wrote: > > I think the point is that menopause is as natural as puberty. > Neither of these are diseases. Would one take something > to suppress puberty? > Richard sent: > Not the same, not the same. And we are not necessarily talking about > preventing menopause. We are talking about a potential health > benefit from HRT in aging people that can lead to a better life if not > necessarily a longer one. Ardeith writes: IMO, it is exactly the same.....we would not attempt to prevent our children from going thru' puberty....we see it as a normal part of growing up.....and we don't treat it as a disease unless the child has some real medical/physical problem during the change from child to functional fertile adult.......my objection is to treating menopause as a disease.....it is not...it is the other end of the cycle when the female is no longer fertile, but is still a healthy functional adult........... There is some thought in anthropological circles that human females go through menopause (no other mammal does this) and have several more years - if not decades - when their energies can be focussed on helping younger females raise their babies....helping by continuing to gather food, or watch over the babies while mothers do their work.... thereby helping assure the continuation of the species.... Richard sent: > Aging is natural, yes. But that doesn't mean we should not employ > devices that make our aging bodies feel better. Ardeith writes: Right, no argument there.....and the Ancients used many herbal remedies to do so......but they did not use synthetic hormones, or hormones derived from mares' urine....... Talk about "foreign" proteins!!! And they did not have to deal with balancing the potential of getting breast, ovarian, or endometrial cancer with feeling better..... Richard sent: > I get an occasional headache. If it's bad, I take a pill and feel > better. I first try magnesium, but if that doesn't work, it's Ibuprofen for > me. I can't see how an occasional Ibuprofen is going to cause me undue > harm, and it does improve how I feel, rather dramatically. Ardeith writes: And I take Celebrex for my Rheumatoid Arthritis..... which has its own drawbacks, but I choose to take the risk of the side-effects in order to be able to walk.........I don't choose to risk breast, ovarian, or endometrial cancer in order to have fewer wrinkles. It's real easy for male doctors and other men to support the use of HRT by women........they don't have breast, ovaries, or endometriums......but if you could turn all this around, and tell men they should be taking some sort of HRT to remain young and sexy - but that same HRT might make them get testicular cancer, or penis cancer - you would see a big change in the way HRT is presented to all of us........... Many women choose to use HRT - more power to you - just be sure you are making an informed choice rather than being stampeded into it by fear of a few wrinkles........... [log in to unmask] Walk The Path With Practical Feet! ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.