Oprah Winfrey Show and BHRT

All of the daily talk shows are in summer hiatus, but I am sure are working on topics for next season. It's no secret that Newsweek did a cover story article several weeks ago slamming Oprah Winfrey for what was termed "celebrity medicine". Prominently featured were her two shows on bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, and most of the links to the the story showed her featured with Suzanne Somers. I think much of Ms. Winfrey's shows on BHRT could have been done differently (this very important topic was used essentially an infomercial for Suzanne Somers and Robin McGraw's books). That being said, at least Oprah's show is getting the word out to millions of women that there are alternatives to synthetic hormones, antidepressants (I'm not against antidepressants when they are truly needed, however, a lot of doctors are prescribing them just to shut patients up), or just suffering through peri menpause and menopause.

I hope that Oprah, Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz (his show starts in September) will devote additional shows to the subject of menopause and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Ideally, the shows would not portray BHRT as something only wealthy women can afford. The shows need to discuss the financial aspect of BHRT (doctors cost and the cost of the hormones themselves), why so many of the good BHRT doctors will not take insurance, and most importantly, HOW TO FIND A DOCTOR OR COMPOUNDING PHARMACY in your area. I cannot tell you how many women I have sent my list of resources to because the shows left them with the impression that the only BHRT doctors are all in California, and more specifically at the Hall Center. Not true! I also know that many women who are either pre-menopausal and very post menopausal think that BHRT is not for them.....again, not true, a woman's hormones can be way off at any stage of her life.


Your assignment this week, ladies, is to drop an email to the Oprah Winfrey Show and let them know you want to see more shows dedicated to this crucial health issue. You will be limited to 2000 characters, which is tough to do, but it can be done. A copy of my email to the show is below, no, it is not my best piece of writing by a long shot, but I think I got my point across! Oh, before I forget, here is the link to send a message to the Dr. Phil Show also. There is no website yet for the Dr. Oz Show, but I will also share that link as soon as it comes up. Have a great week, everyone!

Message to Oprah Winfrey Show:
Do another show on BHRT, and this time address issues like cost, how to find a compounding pharmacy and/or doctor, insurance coverage (and why doctors won't take insurance in many instances), and feature doctors who specialize in BHRT instead of Suzanne Somers and Robin McGraw. There ARE other places than the Hall Center in LA. The last two shows were poorly done and created more questions and confusion than answers---I have tried to help as many people as I could on your message boards who had REAL, LEGITIMATE questions that the show did not answer. This is too important an issue--please do a better job next time.