LONGEVITY

Hormone replacement therapy and the use of all synthetic hormones place women at risk for a number of side effects – many of which are life threatening. Physicians continue to prescribe HRT even though safe, bio-identical alternatives are available. Since bio-identical hormones have the same molecular structure as the hormones our bodies produce, they cannot be patented - so drug companies cannot earn billions of dollars in profits by producing them.

However, by altering the molecular structure of the bio-identical hormones, drug companies have been able to obtain patents – thus creating a billion-dollar industry that puts a nation of women at risk.

The Dangers of Synthetic and Conjugated Equine Estrogen and Synthetic Progesterone

Although most women fear cancer more than any other disease, women over 60 years of age are at greater risk for heart disease than any other degenerative condition. Cancer is, however, the leading cause of death for women between the ages of 40 and 60. In my latest book, “Hormonal Imbalance: The Madness and the Message,” I discuss the health problems associated with synthetic estrogen and synthetic progesterone.

All of us need to understand

The dangers associated with estrogen replacement therapy (ERT)

The dangers associated with hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

The dietary habits and nutritional supplements that enable women to walk in wellness

Synthetic hormones increase the need for developing an optimal dietary and fitness regimen.

In a recent study, researchers put 2,000 women with heart disease on the drug Prempro. They released the results in 1998:

Prempro increased heart attacks the first year

The group taking Prempro suffered a three times greater increase in blood clotting

The group taking Prempro suffered an increase in gall bladder disease

Prempro is a combination of Premarin and synthetic progesterone (medroxyprogesterone acetate). Premarin is the leading brand of synthetic estrogen and is known as “conjugated equine estrogen.” It is made from horse urine.

Makers of other synthetic estrogens, including plant-derived synthetics, hope for better results. However, physicians who continue to educate themselves, rather than submitting to the continuing education provided by the pharmaceutical companies, are not looking to plant-derived synthetics.

All we need to do is read the package insert before deciding whether or not to take synthetic progesterone or synthetic estrogen. The makers of Premarin claim that it is natural and, of course, it is - for horses.

Even before the 1998 study was released, researchers speculated that increasing HDL (the good cholesterol) - with the use of synthetic hormones - would prevent death from heart disease. The usefulness of these hormones in raising HDL is one of the key findings of the PEPI Trial, celebrated in 1994 by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

However prior to the PEPI Trial, researchers already knew the startling facts contained in the consumer information material inserted in the packages of products containing synthetic estrogen and synthetic progesterone (progestin) combinations. The following adverse reactions have been observed in patients receiving estrogen-progestin combination drugs:

Rise in blood pressure in susceptible individuals

Premenstrual-like syndrome

Changes in libido

Changes in appetite

Cystitis-like syndrome

Fatigue

Headache

Loss of scalp hair

Erythema multiforme

Erythema nodosum

Hemorrhagic eruption

Itching

Dizziness

Nervousness

Backache

In “Hormonal Imbalance: The Madness and the Message” the research speaks for itself. Safe, natural, effective alternatives to ERT and HRT are available. Business interests dominate the print and electronic media to such an extent that most consumers have little or no knowledge about bio-identical hormones. Bio-identical hormones (e.g., bio-identical estrogens, testosterone and progesterone) have the same molecular structure as the hormones our bodies produce. They cannot be patented and therefore cannot earn billions of dollars in profits for the pharmaceutical industry.

The following is an excerpt from “A Natural Approach to Menopause” by Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine:

Altered forms of progesterone, called progestins (e.g., Provera), are heavily promoted by drug companies and are commonly prescribed by doctors. But these unnatural chemicals do not quite fit into the body’s systems for using and eliminating progesterone. They are the biological equivalent of using the wrong replacement part in your car’s engine. While the pharmaceutical companies’ financial machinery hums along just fine, your biological machinery can have a multitude of side effects, ranging from facial hair growth and depression to heart disease, liver problems and even breast cancer. The body was meant to use natural progesterone, not inexact copies.

For more information about the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, see www.pcrm.org

The madness in some segments of the medical community is characterized by the following:

The widespread acceptance of life-threatening prescription drugs and synthetic hormones as treatments for the symptoms of degeneration

An unwillingness to seek and understand the causes of physical degeneration

A maniacal indifference to the safe, healthy and available solutions to hormonal imbalance.

Dr. Dorian - author, radio and television personality and authority on the use of whole foods in the prevention and cure of degenerative disease - has been an investigative researcher in the field of health and nutrition for over twenty-five years. Her books – addressing critical issues concerning health, education, marriage and family – include “Health Begins in Him;” “Anyone Can Homeschool;” “The Cookbook” and “Hormonal Imbalance: the Madness and the Message.” For more articles by Dr. Terry Dorian, go to the Health Channel.