[AKA2D '91]

Patti LaBelle No Longer Endorses Hormone-Replacement Drug
Sat May 10,12:00 AM ET

LAUNCH Radio Networks

R&B's Patti LaBelle has revealed that she's no longer using the controversial hormone-replacement drug for menopausal women that she used to endorse in television commercials.



LaBelle said: "I felt really, really bad when I heard the news that it was dangerous so I haven't used my hormone replacement therapy, my Prempro, for about maybe a year since that controversy happened."


Prempro is prescribed to women with moderate to severe menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats and for the prevention of osteoporosis.


The most common side effects include post-menopausal bleeding, hair loss and breast pain. However the potential--and controversial--increased risks include heart attack, stroke, breast cancer (news - web sites) and blood clots.


LaBelle said she didn't know that taking the medication carried such risks when she made commercials for the drug she once took regularly.


LaBelle said: "I hope the folk don't think that I knew that it wasn't credible because the reason I did the commercials is because I used it. I'd been using it forever."


LaBelle also said that she's presently not using any medication to deal with her "private summers," the singer's phrase for hot flashes related to menopause.


LaBelle's natural approach to good health also includes eating better to deal with her recently-diagnosed diabetes as she further explains in her latest cookbook, Patti LaBelle (news)'s Lite Cuisine