WELLNESSSTARS

SIMPLE STEPS TO BETTER HEALTH
[Please note that none of this refers to plant-based phystoestrogens ... natural plant based nutrient support supplements!]

ALL Premarin currently is derived from estrogens extracted from Pregnant Mares' Urine.

If you ever doubt where organic Premarin comes from, just break open a pill and smell it!

Premarin has been used in almost 75% of the combination therapies.
If it has 'Prem' in the name, this is a 'Clue' ! [PremPro, PremPhase, PremPac, etc.]

SOME OF THE POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF PREMARIN:
increased risk of breast or uterine cancer,
gallbladder disease,
stroke and abnormal blood clotting, (which could lead to death),
increase in blood pressure,
excess calcium in the blood,
depression,
dizziness,
migraine headaches,
swollen breasts, feet or ankles,
gastrointestinal problems,
nausea,
irregular bleeding or spotting,
hair loss or development of facial hair,
weight gain,
vaginal infection with candida,
cystitis,
bloating,
retention of water,
jaundice,
skin rashes,
loss of libido,
depletes folic acid and Vitamin B,
causes forgetfulness,
intolerance to contact lenses.
ALL forms of Premarin Based hormone replacement therapy had bad news in July 2002 with major reports indicating that increased risk negated benefits:

[July 9, 2002]BOMBSHELL: HRT COMBINATION STUDY HALTED 3 YEARS EARLY DUE TO INCREASED RISKS


Five years into the trial the results show that taking the combination therapy
INCREASED A WOMAN'S RISK OF:
BREAST CANCER BY 26 PERCENT,
HEART ATTACK BY 29 PERCENT,
STROKES BY 41 PERCENT,
AND BLOOD CLOTS BY 100 PERCENT.

Investigators Now Recommend Many Women Stop Use of Once-Valued Drugs,

To the surprise and disappointment of researchers and women all over the world, new data reveals that the hormones may actually cause more harm than good.

"We now know that the overall risks clearly outweigh the benefits," says Marcia Stefanick, PhD, chair of the study's steering committee and associate professor of medicine at Stanford University.

Lead investigators recommend that "clinicians stop prescribing this combination for long-term use," and it is expected that these new findings will cause a dramatic change in the treatment of menopause, having significant consequences for all women.

While the increased breast cancer risk did not appear until four years into the study, the hormone group experienced more heart attacks, strokes and blood clots almost from the start. "It's very hard to pin down what is a safe period" of time to take hormones, Rossouw says [WHI acting director Jacques Rossouw]

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute stopped the study of estrogen plus progestin more than three years earlier than planned. [The trial, which was to last for 8.5 years, was halted to continue till 2005 because of a significant increase in the risk].

More than 6 million women in the US currently take estrogen and progestin (Prempro) combination therapy for a variety of reasons, including relief of hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms.

The study was part of the ongoing Women's Health Initiative (WHI).

The report published in the July 17, 2002, issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association

Now the recent news on Estrogen ONLY Hormone Therapy Study [Premarin, etc]

WOMEN ON 'STRAIGHT' PREMARIN ..... THOSE WHO HAVE HAD HYSTERECTOMIES:

Typically, only women who have had their uterus removed take estrogen alone because the hormone is known to increase the risk of cancer of the uterine lining.

[1] Estrogen and Ovarian Cancer
Researchers now report that women who take estrogen-only hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for a long period of time have a higher-than-average risk of developing ovarian cancer.

Women who took estrogen for longer periods of time had a higher risk of the disease, and the researchers noted a 7% increase in risk associated with every extra year of estrogen use.

Those who took estrogen for at least 10 years were twice as likely to develop ovarian cancer and those who used the drugs for 20 or more years were three times as likely to develop ovarian cancer as those who did not take the hormone, the report indicates.

JAMA July 17, 2002;288:334-341, 368-369

[2] Estrogen and Heart Disease
Interestingly this study comes right on the heels of another full text article that was published the week earlier in JAMA, which showed the similar negative findings regarding estrogen and heart disease

3] Estrogen and Gall Bladder Disease
Hormone therapy was also associated with a higher risk of gallbladder disease surgery in the study.

Together, the findings argue that hormone replacement therapy should not be recommended for postmenopausal women with heart disease.

JAMA July 17, 2002;288:321-333 (Free Full Text Article)


Other Information:
Premarin contains equine estrogens.
[estrone sulfate (53-61%), equilin sulfate (23-30%) equilenin, 17 a-dihydroequilin, 17 a-estradiol, 17 a-dihydroequilenin and numerous other horse estrogens].
NOT ONE OF THESE INGREDIENTS ARE EVER FOUND NATURALLY IN A WOMAN.

Premarin also contains numerous unidentified substances which also have
unknown side-effects. Premarin has more of an effect on the liver than
non-horse estrogens do. Equine estrogens are many times more potent than
a woman's estrogen and may be the cause of many unpleasant and sometimes
life-threatening side effects some women have experienced such as: blood
clots, breast and uterine cancer, and growth of uterine tumors.

John Lee, MD, a California endocrine researcher, explains: HRT's synthetic progesterone is completely altered after going through the digestive system, when it gets to the liver. The liver changes it into three other metabolites. Any benefits are thus cancelled.

A Johns Hopkins study of 1000 women showed that progesterone deficient
women had a tenfold increased chance of dying from cancer compared with
women who have normal levels of progesterone. (Cowan)

Premarin is the single most prescribed drug in the U.S. (and the third most prescribed drug in Canada), holds 85% of the estrogen market worldwide, and is Canada's most lucrative pharmaceutical export to date.

Premarin is also expensive -- a typical regimen usually costs more than $400 per year to maintain, including physicians fees (1998). It ranks at number eight in Medicaid subsidized prescription drugs (subsidized by U.S. taxpayer dollars).

Approximately nine million American women are currently taking some form of Premarin (about a third of the approxamtly thirty-five million post menopausal women in the United States are on estrogen replacement therapy/ERT, or hormone replacement therapy/HRT, and of them, about 78% use Premarin based products .

WHAT CAN I DO?

Introduced in 1942, long before synthetic alternatives existed. Premarine was one of the first drugs available when hormonal therapy for menopause was introduced. Premarin, like the hormone replacement insulin before it, can now be 100% synthesized.

If you are one of the 9 million women currently taking Premarin, won't you please ask your doctor to prescribe a synthetic (which reportedly have less side-effects than PMU-based ones anyhow) substitute in its place. [ FDA-approved alternatives include Ogen, Estrace, Estradiol Transdermal System, Estradiol tablets, Estropipate, Estrone, and Meneste, and Cenestin, to name a few].

Many women have also been successful in using "natural" estrogen and progesterone replacement approaches to hormonal shifts. [ EMAIL SHARLENE and ask her to send you information about an ALL NATURAL FEMALE HORMONE SUPPLEMENT .... safe, natural herbs and most effective!]

(check with your medical doctor or health practitioner before starting or changing any estrogen replacement therapy and ask them to monitor your decision to move to natural hormone supplements and preventative health)

'Simple Steps to Better Health'

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