Synopsis: This article reveals how cardiovascular disease kills more women than breast cancer and postmenopausal women’s heart attack risk equals men their age, yet fear from the Women’s Health Initiative study using Premarin (pregnant mare urine—horse hormones, not human hormones) scared an entire generation away from protection. It argues bioidentical hormones—molecularly identical to what women’s bodies produced since puberty—restore the cardiovascular protective factor estrogen loss removes, and emphasizes all women who’ve stopped ovulating need this protection regardless of preexisting cardiac disease, which is not a disqualifier, while hormone optimization creates a cascade of heart-protective benefits including consistent exercise, natural weight loss, and testosterone-driven muscle building that burns calories 24/7.
Top 5 Questions Answered:
- Why does cardiovascular disease kill more women than breast cancer despite receiving far less attention?
- What was fundamentally wrong with the Women’s Health Initiative study that terrified women away from hormone therapy?
- How are bioidentical hormones molecularly different from the Premarin used in flawed studies?
- Why is preexisting cardiac disease not a disqualifier for bioidentical hormone therapy?
- How does hormone optimization create a cascade effect making diet and exercise finally work after years of failure?
Cardiovascular disease kills more women than breast cancer. Most women don’t know this.
When I learned that a postmenopausal woman’s risk of heart attack equals that of a man her age, everything changed in how I approach women’s health. We’re ignoring one of the easiest ways to prevent heart attacks in women.
Give them back their hormones.
The Fear That’s Killing Women
Women walk into my practice terrified of hormone therapy. They’re convinced it will give them breast cancer or cause a stroke.
I understand why. The Women’s Health Initiative study scared an entire generation of women away from hormone replacement. But here’s what most people don’t know about that study.
It didn’t use human hormones.
Let me break down the name Premarin for you: PREgnant MARe urINe. The study used hormones derived from pregnant mare urine. Horse piss, essentially.
Your body doesn’t recognize horse hormones the same way it recognizes its own.
What Bioidentical Actually Means
Bioidentical hormones aren’t “like” human hormones. They are human hormones.
These are the exact same molecular structures your body produced since puberty. Your cells recognize them. Your receptors respond to them. Your cardiovascular system knows what to do with them.
When estrogen levels drop after menopause, your heart loses a critical protective factor. Restoring bioidentical hormones gives your cardiovascular system back what it needs to function optimally.
Who Needs Hormone Protection
If you’ve stopped ovulating, you need hormone protection.
This isn’t for some women in menopause. This is for all women in menopause who want to protect their hearts.
I hear doctors say that women with existing heart disease shouldn’t use hormone therapy. That’s wrong. Preexisting cardiac disease is not a disqualifier.
The main exception? Women with a history of breast cancer need a different conversation.
But if you’re worried about your heart, if cardiovascular disease runs in your family, if you want to reduce your risk of the number one killer of women—bioidentical hormone therapy deserves serious consideration.
The Cascade Effect You’ll Notice
I work with hormone optimization. Your cardiologist or primary care physician monitors your cardiovascular markers.
What I see from the hormone perspective tells me when things are working.
Women on bioidentical hormone therapy start moving more. They have energy again. They begin exercising consistently for the first time in years.
Weight loss follows naturally. And that weight loss? It’s a huge benefit for heart health.
Here’s something most people miss: testosterone (yes, women need testosterone too) helps you build muscle mass. More muscle means your body burns calories 24 hours a day, even while you sleep.
This isn’t about vanity. This is about giving your body the metabolic foundation it needs to support cardiovascular health.
Beyond Hormones
Hormone optimization isn’t the only answer. Diet and exercise play critical roles.
But here’s what I’ve observed: women who try to diet and exercise their way through menopause without addressing their hormones fight an uphill battle. Their bodies work against them.
Once you restore hormones, suddenly the diet and exercise strategies that never seemed to work before start producing results.
You’re not fighting your biology anymore. You’re working with it.
A Different Approach to Women’s Heart Health
We’ve spent decades telling women to fear hormone therapy while cardiovascular disease quietly became their biggest killer.
The research that scared everyone used the wrong hormones. The medical community overcorrected, and women paid the price with their cardiovascular health.
Every woman in menopause deserves to know the truth: bioidentical hormone therapy, when properly prescribed, offers significant cardiovascular protection.
Your body produced these hormones for decades for good reasons. Your heart benefited from them. Your blood vessels relied on them. Your entire cardiovascular system functioned better with them.
Menopause doesn’t mean you have to accept increased heart disease risk as inevitable.
You have options. You deserve to know about them.
At Biltmore Restorative Medicine, we look at each patient as a whole person. Your hormone needs, your cardiovascular risk factors, your health goals—they all matter in creating the right approach for you.
If you’re concerned about your heart health after menopause, let’s talk about what bioidentical hormone optimization can do for you.
George K. Ibrahim, MD, MBA
I am an educator speaking on the dangers of menopause, andropause, and how hormone optimization is the most natural and safest way to lower risks of cardiac disease, Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, and many other ailments.
I work with patients looking for a physician-supported weight loss program by using hormones in a way that optimizes workouts and energy levels. I’ve diagnosed prostate cancer in a number of patients who would have otherwise gone completely undetected or where detection could have been delayed by years. My background allows me to detect signs in men, sending them directly to a practicing urologist who can confirm the diagnosis and take swift measures to treat this devastating cancer before it can cause harm.
We also offer tailored hormone treatment, laser-assisted treatments, and PRP to women with mild to moderate stress urinary incontinence. We perform a procedure in the office, under local anesthesia, using the body’s own growth factors. This procedure has helped patients see significant improvement, if not cessation, of their incontinence. I opened Biltmore Restorative Medicine & Aesthetics in early 2013. My goal was simple; to be the most highly trained, experienced physician practicing hormone optimization—period.
Ten years ago, I was diagnosed with… Read more
