Timing is everything
Two days after I told you about the FDA's latest attack on bio-identical hormone replacement therapy an e-letter landed in my Inbox bearing the following headline: "Synthetic estrogens could lessen risks associated with hormone replacement therapy, study suggests" Now, I've been accused of being a conspiracy-theorist more than once over the years (usually by my friends and family, most of whom don't necessarily share my enthusiasm for natural medicine). But the timing of these two things seems more than a little odd, doesn't it? Even if it is pure coincidence, it's certainly one that works in mainstream medicine's favor. No sooner had Wyeth and the FDA launched their campaign to restrict our access to bio-identical hormones (not to mention casting doubt and fear over their use along the way), this new study came out, once again extolling the supposed "virtues" of synthetic versions. Granted, the synthetic hormones used in this study weren't the same ones (Premarin and Prempro) that put so many women at risk for cancer, heart attacks, and strokes. Instead, the researchers from USC Davis School of Gernontology looked at two substances called proplylpyrazole triol (PPT) and diarylpropionitrile (DPN), which, according to the article I read "offer women most of the benefit and less of the risk of standard hormone replacement therapy." The benefits this particular article focused on were improvements in Alzheimer's-like symptoms displayed in the mice tested. And the "less risk" conclusion was based on the fact that the researchers didn't observe any changes to the animals' reproductive tracts, which would have indicated an increased risk of cancer. But there's one glaring problem here: "less risk" doesn't mean "no risk." This study looked only at two specific compounds, and, as you read in the December issue of Nutrition & Healing, there's a whole lot more than that involved inside a woman's body naturally (to read the full December 2007 article on bio-identical hormone replacement safety, subscribers can log on to the archives section of the Nutrition & Healing website, www.wrightnewsletter.com, with the username and password listed on page 8 of your most recent issue). Anything less than the exact proportions and the exact chemical structures of ALL the estrogens a woman needs is bound to cause problems at some point. That's why it's so important for us to continue our own campaign against the FDA's attempts to squash our access to the real deal. If you haven't already visited the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists website and used the links they have available to contact Congress, now is the time. Go to www.iacprx.org and click on any of the options to "Take action" or "Oppose" the FDA's attempts to restrict BHRT (there are two such links on the iacprx.org homepage). The links will take you to a page that offers contact information for members of Congress, as well an option to send an email directly to your congressmen and the FDA (all you have to do is fill in some blanks). Source:
"Synthetic estrogens could lessen risks associated with hormone replacement therapy, study suggests," Science Daily (www.sciencedaily.com), 2/6/08 | 
