On Feb. 13, 1963, a new patient strode into the office of New York City gynecologist Robert A. Wilson. To Wilson, she was nothing less than a revelation or, to be more precise, a walking, talking confirmation of his most deeply held medical convictions. Wilson was a leading proponent of treating menopausal women with the female hormone estrogen. He was convinced that, given early enough and continued throughout life, hormone treatment could actually prevent what he called the "staggering catastrophe" of menopause and the "fast and painful aging process" that attended it.
Wilson's new patient, "Mrs. P.G.," as he later called...