For years women have been offered what has been known as ‘hormones’ but are really horse’s urine whereby the molecular structure has been altered to produce a synthetic harmful chemical that has now been proven to have killed many women. So it’s difficult to understand why I am on the receiving end of pharmaceutical attacks. I am simply speaking out on behalf of natural hormones that have never harmed anyone. Natural ‘bioidentical’ hormones allow women and men to feel great, sometimes better than they ever have in their lives and the health benefits are tremendous. So who is off track here?
When a menopausal woman is in hormonal decline, the “menopausal cocktail” she is offered by doctors are: pharmaceutical anti-depressants, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety pills, pain killers and more. Drugs! Expensive drugs …when replacement of real, natural hormones can take away the uncomfortable and unhealthy symptoms.
Think about this… the symptoms arose when the hormones went into decline. Doesn’t it make sense that by putting back “exact replicas,” biologically-identical natural hormones that have been lost through the aging process or through stress, the symptoms would go away? The answer is yes.
Why, then, are the attacks against me so violent and persistent when the hormones I take and write about have never been known to harm anyone even though they have been used by thousands of people? Could it be that if we all figure out how well we can feel by replacing what has been lost by aging we won’t need any of their expensive drugs? Is it all about big business bottom line? You decide.
Being unfairly portrayed as in the case of the most recent Newsweek article, it was not noted that I bombarded writer Pat Wingert (per her request) with dozens of studies showing the efficacy, safety and protective nature of these hormones; but she chose to ignore the data.
Of course, Newsweek should have put a writer on this article who did not have a conflict of interest. I should have been informed that Ms. Wingert and her boss had written a pharmaceutically biased book on hormones and menopause that was in direct conflict with my books and message. Newsweek should also inform their readers that they are heavily funded by pharmaceutical companies; it would then put the right slant on articles such as these.
My information all comes from the doctors I interview. I am, in essence, a filter for those cutting-edge western doctors who cannot be heard.
Ms. Wingert attacked compounding pharmacies and implied that compounded hormone drugs are “unregulated” and somehow unsafe. All compounding pharmacies must be licensed and are strictly regulated by State Pharmacy boards. The Newsweek article states that those prescribed compounded hormone drugs require frequent blood tests and office visits, which is correct. That is how the doctor can monitor the person’s needs. The prescribed synthetic FDA approved hormone drugs also require regular medical tests; so what’s the problem?
I believe the best way for a woman to replace hormones is by getting them at a compounding pharmacy because these bioidentical hormones can be customized perfectly to address the woman or man’s exact needs. FDA approved hormones CANNOT offer this relief. Also, in compounded pharmacies the doctor is able to prescribe Estriol as part of the estrogen component. Estriol is the important component in a woman’s body that, among other things, offers protection from cancer. There are many studies validating this, a fact that the Newsweek writer chose to ignore.
Why then did Wyeth Pharmaceuticals file a lawsuit with the FDA last year to insist that compounding pharmacies stop selling the bioidentical product Estriol? Why would they not want women to have that protection? Could it be because their pharmaceutical hormones do not contain Estriol, and that, in fact, it would then leave women on bioidenticals unprotected? You decide.
The brilliance of the pharmaceutical business template is that they fund just about every media outlet. How then can we laypeople ever get the real truth? Instead, we are convinced by ad after ad that we have “restless legs” and we need a little butterfly to sit on our shoulders to put us to sleep (Lunesta), that we have to have their cholesterol medicine which has serious negative side effects. It goes on and on.
Pharmaceuticals have their place. When you need them, they are a god -send. But the over-pharmaceutical-ization of Americans is our doom. The build-up of chemicals in our bodies is robbing the minds of our elders and sneaking up on the young unsuspecting ones. How tragic.
As a result of my natural hormone replacement, I do not need or require even one pharmaceutical drug. I am not the customer they want. I don’t make money for them. They are hoping that by constantly attacking me and sending their pharmaceutically paid doctors to discredit me, the readers of my books and those who watch me on TV will be frightened to follow my lead.
But I am simply a filter…. all my information is brought to me by western-trained doctors who have become disillusioned with the present standard of care and have no voice. The allopathic approach to health (and I use the word “health” advisedly because what we really practice as health care today is actually disease care) is not working. People are on more and more drugs and not getting better. The courageous doctors I have interviewed in my books, BREAKTHROUGH and AGELESS, are to be admired. They could make a lot more money pushing pharmaceuticals, but they care about true health by using “nature’s tools” as said by Dr. Jonathan Wright of Seattle.
Drugs should be reserved as the last resort in the practitioners back pocket. Drugs are excellent for pain, infection and mental illness and other conditions outside my scope. But at the moment drugs are over-prescribed and the build- up of chemicals is killing our brains. After a while this chemical build-up makes the patients whacky so that they can’t think, and that’s when we send them off to the nursing homes. If we don’t wake up, this is the terrible end that presently awaits all of us. And you can be sure, when the insurance dries up, the patient dies…after they have squeezed every last cent out of the family.
My position is very difficult and I am surprised to find myself in the middle of this controversy. I write books that help people. I never knew I was going to hit a nerve.
So I could go away, but I don’t think you “choose” a cause. I think it chooses you. I just wanted to feel good when I went into menopause and I didn’t want to take drugs. I was appalled at being offered antidepressants, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety drugs, joint and pain killers and on and on. When I found total and complete relief from natural non-drug hormones, when my quality of life returned by simply rubbing on this prescribed cream daily and I began to sleep 8 hours a night, my weight normalized, the depression went away, the sex drive returned, I thought wow, women and men need to know this. And that’s how it began.
Sincerely,
Suzanne Somers
Visit me at SuzanneSomers.com!
While I know many
of you have specific medical questions, only qualified experts can
advise on individual cases. Use my advice to arm yourself with
knowledge to pass along to your doctors. The more informed you are, the
better questions you will ask of your health care providers. This will
help you determine if your doctor is right for you. If you are seeking
professional help, please check the Dr. Resource Guide. If you are interested in bio-identical hormone replacement, click on the Life Extension Hormone Panel to get information on low cost blood work and a referral to a physician who can prescribe natural hormones for you.
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