There’s a quiet revolution happening in medicine right now—and middle-aged and senior women are leading the charge!
I’m talking about women who are sick of the hot flashes, fatigue, irritability, and bone loss that come with menopause—but who don’t think they should have to turn to Big Pharma’s risky synthetic hormones to get relief.
New research shows that the market for safe, natural bioidentical hormones has been exploding over the past decade—and sales for the synthetic stuff the drug companies put out (like Premarin) have been plummeting in the 21st century.1, 2, 3
Women in the U.S. age 40 and up are now choosing hormones that are identical in chemical structure and function to the hormones your body naturally produces on its own, according to a recent study published by Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society.4
But you’d better believe Big Pharma isn’t taking this sitting down. In fact, they’re trying to launch a fear campaign designed to scare you away from the same bioidentical hormones that doctors like me have been using for years to help women reclaim their health.
If you want a reason why women have been avoiding expensive, brand name, synthetic versions of estrogen and progesterone, you don’t have to look too far. In 2002 a Women’s Health Initiative study linked synthetic estrogen and progestin to an increased risk of breast cancer, heart attacks, and strokes.5 A different study published in The Lancet found that 73 women who took Premarin along with synthetic progestin died from lung cancer, as compared to 40 deaths among those who took a placebo.6
I know menopause can be difficult—but it doesn’t hold a candle to lung cancer!
A growing number of American women have caught onto Big Pharma, having figured out that FAKE hormones like Premarin and Provera may not be as safe and healthy as bioidentical hormones, herbal extracts, and nutritional supplements.
Now, the bioidentical versions account for the MAJORITY of hormone therapy prescriptions (as much as 68 percent of them).7 And from my perspective as a holistic doctor, women converting from synthetic to bioidentical hormones is a good trend. The cells in your body are designed to interact with those specific chemical structures, so your body recognizes and uses bioidentical hormones in the same way as God intended.
Of course, as I told you, Big Pharma isn’t going down without a fight—and they’re not above terrifying you into switching back to synthetics.
In fact, a new study might as well have been written by the pharmaceutical companies themselves. It contains lots of handwringing over the number of women who were “unaware” that their bioidentical hormone products were not FDA-approved.
As if FDA approval says anything about how safe a drug is!
Something just doesn’t add up here—and you can start with the lead author of the study, JoAnn V. Pinkerton, MD.
It’s hard to believe that her “study” is entirely objective when she also happens to be the Executive Director of the the North American Menopause Society.8
What’s in it for this “expert”? How about those stock options she’s got in the biotech company MenogeniX,9 which is developing a prescription drug to replace hormone therapy altogether?10 And through her employment at the University of Virginia, she’s also consulted for Pfizer, the parent company of Wyeth, the producer of the brand name synthetic hormone drug Premarin.11
She’s as invested in the sabotage of bioidentical hormones as an arsonist buying fire insurance.
You’ve probably have seen the recent onslaught of television ads for Premarin, a non-bioidentical estrogen that comes in the form of vaginal cream. Do you know where they get the “estrogen” in their drug?
From a horse16—not a human! The commercials fail to mention that sickening fact. (“Premarin” = “Pregnant Mare Urine”)17
And you have to read the very tiny fine print to find out about its risks of uterine cancer, vaginal bleeding, strokes or blood clots, and even dementia. Using Premarin may also increase your chances of getting heart attacks, strokes, breast cancer, or blood clots when combined with progestins. And when used with or without progestins, it may increase your chance of getting dementia.18
Now THAT’s the kind of drug the FDA approves.
The Pfizer website also lists frightening side effects for Provera, one of those progestin hormones, including:19
Here’s the dirty truth that nobody’s talking about: Big Pharma companies don’t support bioidentical hormones because they can’t be patented and sold at an exorbitant upcharge.
And the price difference can be huge. Often a brand name hormone can cost more than a $100 per month MORE than a compounded bioidentical hormone of the same strength and quantity, if one does not have excellent prescription insurance coverage. And with the way healthcare insurance has spiraled out of control the last few years, it is not uncommon for many people to have to pay a sizeable amount out of pocket for their brand name drugs.
So when it comes to bioidentical hormones, Big Pharma is pushing yet another lie on the American public—for the sake of their own financial gain.
So let’s look at how safe—and regulated—bioidentical hormones really are in the United States.
While certain types of bioidentical hormones are available through your regular pharmacy down the street, generally they’re dispensed through a special kind of pharmacy called “compounding pharmacies.” They’re a type of pharmacy that’s been preparing personalized medications for patients in this country for over a century.
They get their bioidentical hormone ingredients from a supplier that is registered and inspected by the FDA. And all their pharmacists are licensed and strictly regulated by the Boards of Pharmacy in each state, and they follow standards set by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP).12
Undermining the standards of compounding pharmacies just doesn’t make any sense. Are there some substandard compounding pharmacies in the U.S.? Sure, but the same can be said of any industry, including regular pharmacies.
And it’s not as though they’re not regulated by the government at all, because they are. The FDA has even introduced new guidelines in their regulation of compounding pharmacies, which they are enforcing.13, 14
Attacking the compounding pharmacies and bioidentical hormones seems like a really silly attempt by Big Pharma to villainize something that has been PROVEN to help pre- and post-menopausal women all over this country cope with the dreaded “change of life.”
Besides, as the authors of the study interestingly noted, the majority of women who were using these supposedly “scary” and “unregulated” bioidentical hormones had gotten them based on the recommendations of their own doctors.
Isn’t that the way it should be—a decision between you and your doctor?
Way too many doctors have swallowed Big Pharma’s propaganda and are still clinging to the outdated idea that bioidentical hormones are somehow inferior to these dangerous synthetic ones. And countless women (and men!) have suffered as the result.
Contrary to what Big Pharma is saying (partially by using this a Big Pharma-funded author as their own personal mouthpiece), there are plenty of studies that demonstrate how safe these bioidentical hormones really are.15
You have a right to a safer and more effective alternative to synthetic drugs. Dietary changes, nutritional supplements, and other natural therapies—including bioidentical hormones—can help maintain a natural hormone balance without the need for risky synthetic hormones.
(Reprinted with permission from Health Revelations www.healthrevelations.com)
