Searcher: HRT Treatment

Since we are on the topic of cancer this week and especially focusing on breast cancer I felt as if it was important to find an article that would be resourceful in evolutionary medicine. During the beginning of the semester we covered some aspects of women going through menopause and why it happens. Natural selection has altered women’s reproductive system for the purpose of survival and energy conservation.  I thought it may be important to reevaluate the HRT treatment as a negative therapy treatment.  The article Hormone therapy may raise risk of aggressive breast cancer talks about HRT (hormone replacement theory) to treat the symptoms of menopause are increasing risk of developing aggressive breast cancer. This seems to be an issue because breast cancer is predominantly seen in older women and those older women are around the age at which menopause occurs. Since there has been some correlation in breast cancer and HRT treatment older women should refrain from doing so.  After all natural selection has lowered certain hormones in a women’s body past a certain age for a reason and adding more is adding to a mismatch in the bodies normal hormone levels. It may be used to caution women about thinking of theraputic ways to think about coping with menopause symptoms.