Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Dr. Marty Makary will be calling a panel together this Thursday. They’ll delve into the current landscape of menopause treatments, particularly with regard to hormone therapy. This convening responds directly to increasing fears of disinformation. Our goal is to better understand the benefits and risks of these new treatments for women.
As an unbiased physician, Dr. Makary wants us to reconsider how we approach evaluating hormone therapy. He points to a growing body of evidence showing that it may be the most important thing to keep women from cognitive decline, heart disease, and some cancers. He contends that countless women, not just Angelina Jolie, have avoided these life-saving procedures. This is mostly because of persistent, unfounded fears about adolescent use of hormone therapy.
The FDA has already come under fire over how it handled the 2002 guidelines on hormone therapy. This criticism has historically centered around worries regarding breast cancer. Dr. Makary has dismissed previous findings indicating an increased risk of breast cancer for women undergoing combined estrogen and progestin therapy. He derided the public reaction as a “breast cancer scare.” He thinks this has led too many women to delay when they don’t need to when looking for effective menopause treatments.
He is convinced that the risks of hormone therapy have been blown out of proportion. Consequently, a majority of women are giving these worthwhile procedures a miss completely. Dr. Makary is convening a broad range of experts and stakeholders for a Smart on Crime panel discussion. His aim is to give the public clearer information on the benefits and risks of hormone therapy, allowing women going through menopause to make better informed choices.
Our next virtual panel will include a multidisciplinary group of healthcare providers. Their team of WHNPs and CNMs offers clinical expertise in women’s health and menopause management. Join us as we assess these new research discoveries throughout our conversations. We’ll look at the effects of these findings and how they can inform new recommendations for hormone therapy use.
Dr. Makary’s initiative is part of a larger movement within the medical community to recognize that menopause treatments are underutilized. He hopes that rethinking the current evidence base will better equip women to make empowered choices. This will motivate them to get the care they deserve while experiencing this important period of life.
