Meet the author (Interview 2)
Steven R. Goldstein, MD
hosted by Sue Spataro, RN, BSN

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I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Goldstein about his book The Estrogen Alternative. He talks about SERMs and the future care of women in menopause and how to make life beyond menopause as good as it can get.

Thanks Steve for this doing this interview. Readers enjoyed our interview about your other best seller Could It Be. Perimenopause? that you also wrote with Laurie Ashner.

Dr. Goldstein:
I receive hundreds of questions every week about possible menopause therapies. There is a great interest in SERMs and I thought this would be a terrific way to answer some of the questions. I realize many women are having a tough time deciding what if any kind of therapy they should choose for her menopause and I'm hoping this may help them sort out their options..

The Estrogen Alternative

Sue:
On the face of it SERMs like Evista seem too good to be true- protects bones and prevents breast cancer too?

Dr. Goldstein:
In some respects, SERMs, like Evista, do appear to be too good to be true. There is protection of bone and a large decrease in breast cancer risk, at least in those studies that were performed in women participating for skeletal treatment and surveillance. Clearly, the down side is that this is not estrogen. One of the biggest disservice performed was when the media labeled Evista as "designer estrogen." When women have vaso-motor instability (hotflashes) and other symptoms of the transition, the only thing that will relieve this is estrogen, whether it comes from a pill, a patch, or a health food store. In that transition when women are symptomatic, Evista is not an appropriate option. However, increasingly women are taking medications to extend long term postmenopausal health. Thus women who are not symptomatic any longer or who have never been symptomatic and who increasingly want medication to extend health, will find that Evista is a very promising option.

Heart Protection & Evista
Sue:
I understand Eli- Lily the pharmaceutical company that makes Evista has begun a 10 year study of Evista. At this time what do we know about any heart protection that Evista would give a woman?

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Meet the author
Steven R. Goldstein, MD
(also see interview 1)
Introduction
SERM's: The Estrogen Alternative
Heart Protection & Evista
The Benefits of Estrogen
Estrogen & Alzheimer's Disease
Excerpt from the book
Co-author Laurie Ashner interview

newly revised for 2000!
Could It Be...Perimenopause?
by Steven R. Goldstein, Laurie Ashner

see the interview with Dr Goldstein
In clear, supportive prose, Goldstein offers no-baloney advice. "Today's perimenopausal women has neither the time nor the patience to go through four to fifteen years of symptoms without relief," he says. He fully delineates the roles of various hormones, how to determine if you're in perimenopause or not, as well as how to treat the various symptoms to gain control over your life.

Recommended Reading
The Estrogen Alternative:
What Every Woman Needs to Know About Hormone Replacement Therapy and Serms, the New Estrogen Substitutes
click here to find out more
by Steven R. Goldstein, Laurie Ashner
Most women know the benefits of estrogen replacement after menopause: It reduces the risk of osteoporosis, heart disease, even Alzheimer's disease. Many are still reluctant to take it, because it increases the incidence of breast and uterine cancer. Find out more.