She\u2019s got the secrets to a timeless home \u2014 and maybe the fountain of youth, too.<\/p>\n
Lifestyle guru Martha Stewart is known for her impeccable taste, domestic know-how and viral thirst traps<\/a> that have sent social media into a frenzy.<\/p>\n Now, the 85-year-old is pulling back the curtain on her health, revealing the medication she\u2019s been taking for more than four decades that she believes has helped keep her body strong.<\/p>\n Martha Stewart recently revealed the medication she credits with keeping her body strong for more than 40 years. Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been on estrogen since I was like 42 years old, I think,\u201d Stewart said at a September event hosted by her skincare brand, Elm Biosciences<\/a>, per The Daily Beast<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s very helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n A form of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), supplemental estrogen is used by many women in midlife as their bodies\u2019 natural production declines during the menopause transition.<\/p>\n The treatment is commonly prescribed to ease symptoms<\/a> of the so-called \u201cchange of life,\u201d including hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal discomfort.<\/p>\n It can also help protect against bone loss<\/a> and fractures by reducing the risk of osteoporosis, which becomes more common after menopause.<\/p>\n But HRT has had a rocky reputation \u2014 and for years, fears about its potential risks kept many women away.<\/p>\n Estrogen patches are commonly used for menopause hormone replacement therapy. Andrey Popov \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n In 2002, a major study<\/a> raised alarms by suggesting HRT could increase the risk of serious health problems, including breast cancer, in postmenopausal women \u2014 spooking patients and making doctors more reluctant to prescribe it.<\/p>\n A year later, the FDA slapped a \u201cblack box warning\u201d on many estrogen pills<\/a>, patches, injections and creams, warning of increased risks of cardiovascular disease, dementia and certain cancers. Afterward, HRT use took a nosedive.<\/p>\n Stewart, however, stayed the course \u2014 and credits the hormone with helping her maintain her strength.<\/p>\n \u201cOther doctors were saying, \u2018Oh no, it causes cancer\u2019 and all that other stuff,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve been on it, and I think that has helped me keep my strong bones and a strong body.\u201d<\/p>\n She may have been onto something. In recent years, the conversation around menopause hormone therapy has done a 180.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the decades since, we\u2019ve reexamined the data and found that, yes, a high risk of developing breast cancer does exist for some people who use menopause hormone therapy (MHT), but not for all,\u201d Dr. Nora Lansen, a board- and Menopause Society-certified family physician and Elektra\u2019s chief medical officer<\/a>, previously told The Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n In fact, she noted, the associated risk of developing breast cancer is actually low.<\/p>\n \u201cWith a better understanding of the research, we\u2019ve begun to realize that MHT is a safe and effective treatment for a broader range of patients than we had previously thought,\u201d Lansen said.<\/p>\n Other research<\/a> has found that women who started HRT during perimenopause had 60% lower rates of breast cancer, along with fewer heart attacks and strokes.<\/p>\n Like many women, Stewart is struggling to get her hands on estrogen patches amid ongoing shortages. WireImage<\/p>\n The shifting medical consensus has also prompted a regulatory rethink. Last year, the FDA announced<\/a> that it would remove \u201cmisleading FDA warnings on hormone replacement therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor more than two decades, bad science and bureaucratic inertia have resulted in women and physicians having an incomplete view of HRT. We are returning to evidence-based medicine and giving women control over their health again,\u201d said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/p>\n But just as interest in the treatment is picking up, women are running into a new obstacle: finding it. Even Stewart has struggled to get her hands on her medication amid widespread shortages.<\/p>\n