Prempro

I'm not doing so poorly," Bissell laughed.

Lippman said women need to make choices based on family history and needs for their individual lives.

Dr.

Ronald Dorn, also of Mountain States Tumor Institute in Boise, discussed the phases of breast cancer.

"It evolves over many years.

In the first stage the cells are in the ducts.

In the second stage it's not yet cancer but is visible on a slide and is called atypical hyperplasia.

"It is at this stage the cycle can be halted with Tamoxifen," he said.

Phases are important in the trail phases as well.

Initially a compound is tested for its use as a drug and in combinations.

The next phase is to determine safety.

Finally it may be accepted in trial and compared to standards for use as a new treatment.

This can take anywhere from five to 15 years, Lippman said.

"Hopefully at the end we have a new drug.

Typically people can get into trails through health centers and universities.

Or check on the National Cancer Institute site for trials in your area." Someone in the audience asked about Bone Marrow transplants for breast cancer.

"The simple answer is we don't do bone marrow for breast cancer," Lippman said.

The dialogue returned to growth factors and how to stop cells from communicating with each other through small m...

When I began to have difficulty swallowing, he switched me to Actonel, which I recently stopped taking because of heartburn.

Currently, I take 1,000 mg of Viactiv daily plus a multivitamin with 200 mg of calcium.

I also exercise, drink milk and eat yogurt and lots of vegetables.

My question is, now what?

Would a lower dose of hormone therapy be the less risky route?

It's very hard for a layperson to know what to do given all the information (and misinformation) out there.

Maybe other postmenopausal women would be interested in your response.

A You can bet a legion of other women share your place.

The osteopenia in your hip (indicating loss of bone mass) might be thought of as "pre-osteoporosis." Fosamax and Actonel, called bisphosphonates, gradually increase bone mass and reduce fracture risk.

The downside is that these drugs can damage the food tube (esophagus) unless they're taken exactly as directed.

They are poorly tolerated in people with gastroesophageal reflux disease, which causes acidic stomach contents to back up into the food tube.

GERD is fairly common in elderly people.

You might be more likely to tolerate the once-weekly version of Fosamax or Actonel.

Or, if you'd rather try estrogen again, you could ask your doctor about low...