WP/AP: Hormone Therapy Reclassified as Carcinogenic

[DeepModem Mom]

Hormone Therapy Reclassified as Carcinogenic
U.N. Research Agency Determines Regimen Slightly Raises Risk of Cancer
Associated Press
Saturday, July 30, 2005; Page A06


LONDON, July 29 -- The United Nations cancer agency has concluded that hormone-replacement therapy, taken by millions of women around the world, causes cancer, but it said that does not mean women should automatically stop the treatment.

In a monograph published Friday, the International Agency for Research on Cancer declared that, based on consistent evidence emerging from studies over the past few years, it has reclassified hormonal menopause therapy from "possibly carcinogenic to humans" to "carcinogenic to humans."

Studies have convincingly shown that the treatment slightly increases the risk of breast and endometrial cancers, the agency determined.

It also concluded that the combined contraceptive pill, taken by about 10 percent of women of reproductive age, causes more types of cancer than previously thought.

The pill had been identified as causing liver cancer. Further research has demonstrated that it also slightly increases the risk of breast and cervical cancer, the agency said. The investigation also confirmed, however, that the pill decreases the risk of endometrial and ovarian cancers....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/29/AR2005072901750.html

[KittyWampus]

1. Taking Western Medicine AS PRESCRIBED Is A Leading Cause Of Death

and that doesn't count permanent damage.

[goclark]

3. I agree with you

I am allergic to medications.

I am afraid of the reactions that I always seem to get.

I know that the doctors are oh so willing to give them out left and right.

THAT scares me and so do the constant commercials on TV.

If the MEDS are so damn good, why do they have to be in my face with them night and day.

The Television has become a Pharmacy.

[barb162]

6. Oh the TV certainly has become a pharmacy

so that we can all go in to the docs and ask for all those wonder drugs we see on tv. It is crazy

[Lindacooks]

18. Well, no.

Human life span has increased only because of modern medicine. At the beginning of the 20th century the life span was about 44 years. Now it's 76 years. Medicine, science, and drugs are the reason.

[havocmom]

20. Better and more plentiful foods should get some credit too!

Nations where food is in short supply do not see our life span! Nutrution has something to do with things.

Then, there is safe water. That has a lot to do with the fact that many live past childhood. Too many kids in third world nations do not have safe drinking water or even enough water to clean themselves with.

Medicines and science are not the only reasons for our longer lives. Food, water and a decent dristubation system (highways, roads, trains) to deliver the goods has a lot to do with our longevity.

And if Americans were more picky about what they eat, they probably wouldn't be in the doctors' offices as often getting perscriptions.

[Lindacooks]

24. Sure, those things are important.

But antibiotics and other drugs that cure diseases are still the main reason for our increased lifespan. Third world nations, in addition to having poor food supplies and little clean drinking water, usually have little or no access to medicine.

[OzarkDem]

26. When doing genealogy research

it always saddens me to visit the cemeteries or see death records of so many young children and adults who died in the 18th & 19th centuries. The advent of medicines like aspirin to control fever and antibiotics have saved many, many lives.

[Lindacooks]

35. I agree. When my family visited an old cemetery

where some of my ancestors were buried, my dad was startled to find a grave of an infant: one of his uncles. His father had never mentioned that he had a brother who died in infancy.

[Kraklen]

41. You're right. Alternative medicine is far superior.

It's all a conspiracy.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. Some informed women do other things.... such as....

http://www.menopause-online.com/wildyam.htm

[hecate77]

4. The problem is they are using horse piss and some other

god awful thing instead of natural human hormones. Prempro, the nasty drug they foist on women is a combination of premarin, which stands for PREgnant MARes urINe, and provera, a really nasty drug that eventually causes nasty mental problems in lots of women. I know. I used to take the stuff. All provera does is block the progesterone uptake sites and make it seem like the body has enough progesterone, but it doesn't really act like it for the reasons you would want to take it. As for the Premarin, well, it is a horse thing and only does the same thing as the provera. It fits into the estrogen sites, but doesn't really do anything useful other than block the hot flashes and such.

I use natural human hormones now, and those do not have the side effects of the crap they give out to most women.

The problem is, there are good hormone therapies, as long as they stick to real hormones. I also have found the herbal solutions to be pretty good and several of my sisters use those. The reason I use actual estrogen is because I have marginal osteo, and I don't want to take a chance on it getting worse. If not for the osteo, I would take the herbal things and be done with it.

By the way, yam is not the only useful natural thing by a long shot. There are many, many more. A lot of the yam stuff is also pure hype. You have to spend some time finding out what works for you, and not just read some hype somewhere and assume they would be telling the whole truth and not just simply trying to sell you some other product....

[bunny planet]

5. Women's International Pharmacy is a great formulary pharmacy that

offers a wide range of natural therapies for women in perimenopause and menopause. They will mix up something bioidentical for what ails you.

[hecate77]

7. I used to get my hormones there until my local pharmacy started carrying

Prometrium and Estrace, both of which I used to have to get from WIP.

At the time, Prometrium (human progesterone) was not available at most drug stores, but it now is. Estrace (human estrogen) has been around longer and was not usually a problem.

You have to tell your doctor, though, that you want only natural human hormones. If they try to shove provera on you, tell them it makes you depressive and suicidal. That's what it did to me and many other women.

[barb162]

8. Are you talking about sweet potatoes or something else

I have the marginal osteo too and am just taking calcium, vitamin D and magnesium. My doc told me to read the brochures on the estrogen stuff and by the time I read the side effects, I thought I'd just deal with broken bones instead and hope the vitamins work.

"...good hormone therapies, as long as they stick to real hormones. I also have found the herbal solutions"

Could you clue me in here on what they are?

PS the horse piss thing gave me a laugh, thanks.

[Technowitch]

11. Wild Yam is a good source of natural estrogenic compounds

And is usually tolerated well. The main downsides to herbal substitutions are that they may have unwanted side-effects and/or do not provide a sufficiently high level of medication.

The horse urine thing seems like a joke, but unfortunately it's true. They collect the urine from pregnant mares, then extract the "conjugated estrogen" from it -- only equine estrogen is slightly different from human estrogen. Premarin really has to be somebody's idea of a joke, derived from PREgnant MARe urINe.

(on edit: I should add that I also take issue with the treatment of the horses used in the production of Premarin. There've been a number of allegations they're being mistreated, by being kept pregnant almost continuously. Here's a Humane Society story describing how it's done:
http://www.hsus.org/pets/issues_affecting_our_pets/equine_protection/the_facts_about_premarin.html

Not good.)

-Technowitch

[Technowitch]

9. That is indeed the flaw in this and so many other studies

Without exception, every time in the last couple of years I've seen some headline reporting some study or other that claims that hormone therapy either causes cancer or is otherwise unnecessary, it's always Premarin or Prempro (Premarin + Provera).

Neither of those are actual human hormones, they just mimic part of the function.

When I see a study that uses estradiol (Estrace, estrogen) and/or in combination with Prometrium (natural human progesterone), then I might pay attention.

[havocmom]

23. Yam and chaste tree berry work wonders for me

and I am out so this is hell week! Gotta get an online order made to my herbal supplier!

[KittyWampus]

27. I didn't know about wild yam & chaste tree berry- thanks for contributing

to this thread everybody!!!

[Horse with no Name]

10. If you ladies have NOT read the Women's Health Initiative

it would be a good time to do it.
Protect your bodies.

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/whi/

[Technowitch]

12. Those are exactly the studies I referred to above

Every one of them was based on a regimen of Premarin, sometimes with Provera.

From the 2002 study:
**********************
Approximately 38% of postmenopausal women in the United States use hormone replacement therapy.1 In 2000, 46 million prescriptions were written for Premarin (conjugated estrogens), making it the second most frequently prescribed medication in the United States and accounting for more than $1 billion in sales, and 22.3 million prescriptions were written for Prempro (conjugated estrogens plus medroxyprogesterone acetate).
********************

These studies NEVER test Estrace (estradiol) alone or in combination with Prometrium (progesterone). I'll believe in the cancer link when they actually test the same stuff most women have in their bloodstreams for the duration of their fertile years.

I mean, jeez, are they going to claim next that women should take hormone suppressing drugs because our own estrogen and progesterone is a danger to us? What's next--neutering?

-Technowitch

[Horse with no Name]

13. Just the messenger here

I don't think we will digress to that. I think the studies are legitimate.
Of course...my worries stem from my physician putting me on HIGH doses of Premarin a few years ago to stop some bleeding.
I was on it for quite some time...doses that were 4-5 times the norm.
Personally, I will not take hormones again. If I luck out and don't get some type of cancer from previous usage, I will consider myself lucky.I certainly don't want to press my luck.:shrug:

[Technowitch]

14. No no no -- not blaming you, HwnN

People should indeed be well-informed -- because as those studies do point out, there's one heck of a lot of women taking Premarin, Provera or Prempro.

I just get frustrated with the blanket characterization made in these studies and the news stories they generate. "HRT Linked To Cancer!" And then one reads down and finds out it's yet another Prempro study. (I actually think a more accurate term would be Hormone Substitution Therapy, because the estrogen and progesterone in question aren't being actually being replaced with duplicate compounds.)

I'm in my early 40s, but am on HRT -- but estradiol and prometrium. Reasons being that my family has a history both of heart disease and osteoporosis. What we don't have is a history of breast, ovarian, or cervical cancer. It seems to make sense in my case to continue for the next 10-15 years or so.

As with any medical decision of this magnitude, whether to take hormones or not, I think it's best when done with full knowledge and working with one's doctor. When these studies came out, I read them, did some research -- and then made an appointment to talk it over with my physician. Our mutual decision was to keep me on the meds.

Nice chattin' with ya.

Cheers,
-Technowitch

[OzarkDem]

28. HRT doesn't help much

to reduce heart disease or osteoporosis. There are other, safer therapies that work better.

[skepticalndnc]

30. I agree with you!

My doctor did not want to put me on HRT when I went through menopause but I was MISERABLE. All the studies I have seen such as the WHI used Premarin and synthetic progesterone. After a great deal of research and soul searching, I decided on the bio identical hormone replacement. Since my mother had both osteoporosis and a history of breast cancer, I looked at the positive and the negative. I could not tolerate the side effects of Fosamax and sorry, calcium, magnesium and excercise helps but it doesn't take care of osteoporsis completely. I finally decided that quality of life would be the answer. I had a 3 year old daughter at the time and I could not keep up with her. The tiredness and lethargy were affecting my work, my social life, and my family. After starting on bioidentical HRT, I felt like my old self. I watch carefully for any sign of cancer or heart disease. I would rather feel great for the next twenty years than to feel rotten for the next thirty. JMO I don't advocate for anyone else. each person has to make their own decisions. I chose quality of life. Not everyone feels that badly and choose differently.

[OzarkDem]

33. No evidence bioidentical or hormone patches are better or safer

From Dr. Susan Love's web site:

What About Skin Patches and Bioidentical Hormones?

Some women and physicians have questioned whether other types of hormone replacement, such as bioidentical compounds and skin patches, might deliver estrogen in a way that is less dangerous than the drugs tested in the large HRT studies.

Right now, we have no reason to believe that the delivery method - pill or patch - or the type of drug used would make a difference. This is supported by the findings from the Million Women Study, a British study on breast cancer and hormone therapy in women between the ages of 50 and 64. This study was based on questionnaires given to women coming in for routine mammography screening. The women were asked not only whether they had or currently were using hormones, but also what type of hormones they had taken.

The researchers found that half the women had used HRT, and that current users were more likely than those women who had never used HRT to develop breast cancer. This was true regardless of whether women were taking the medication orally, had a skin patch, or had an estrogen implant. It also didn't matter whether women were taking an equine estrogen like Premarin or Prempro, or estradiol, which is promoted as a bioidentical hormone.

It is certainly worth doing further studies to evaluate skin patches or so-called bioidentical hormones. But it would be misguided to continue to believe that these products are different and will not have the same side effects seen in the WHI or HERS studies.


http://susanlovemd.com/community/flashes/hrt_update040708.htm

[DeepModem Mom]

38. Thanks for posting your personal experience, skepticalndnc --

and welcome to DU!

[Caria]

15. Dr Susan Love

has been saying for years that women who DO use HRT should use it for as short a time as possible, maybe 5 years at the most.
http://www.susanlovemd.org

[OzarkDem]

22. Highly recommended reading

for all women is Dr. Love's book on hormones and menopause. Evidence based medicine, baby.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0609809962/ref=ase_susanlovemdcom/002-5821358-7500860?v=glance&s=books

[gademocrat7]

16. I use the Vivelle dot patch

0.05mg of estradiol trasdermal system. I am at a risk for osteoporosis.Small boned,thin and 54. No problems and my bone density is stable. Been on the patch for 4 years. Had hysterectomy 15 years ago,but still have ovaries.

[pilgrimsoul]

17. I am also on the Vivelle Dot Patch

and it has been wonderful for me. Had a hysterectomy 2 years ago (they took everything but the cervix) at the age of 40. I'm also at risk for osteo, but I make it a priority to take good bone and joint supplements regularly, so my bones won't weaken. This has worked great for me so far. I figure skate 6 days a week and have survived some pretty bad falls with no broken bones. If anything, I think my bones are stronger now than before I had the hysterectomy - mainly because I pay special attention to bone health now.

[BlueIris]

19. Holy shit. There IS some good news to brighten my day.

It's so nice, and yet so sickening, to see people forced to admit the truth about the issues. I'm ALL about respecting every woman's choice to utilize whatever medicine has to offer her and her health, but women need to be given facts. And to have their decisions respected, even or especially when it comes to not wanting to use hormones for anything. Get it, misogynist fuckwads?

[OzarkDem]

21. HRT was pushed on women with no scientific evidence

Years later the Women's Health Initiative is showing that many of these therapies actually do more harm than good.

For post-menopausal women, there is no benefit to taking HRT that makes it worth the risk of other serious diseases.

Women should demand they be treated like patients, not consumers.

[Lindacooks]

25. These things happen when natural body functions are classified

as diseases. Menopause is not a disease, but medicine has treated it as such.

[fshrink]

29. Anything that

makes the liver work more increases the odds of a problem.

[skepticalndnc]

31. FYI, bioidentical

hormones are in a cream base. That way they do not go through the liver at all but dirrectly to the blood stream.

[fshrink]

32. FYI, everything goes through the liver.

[havocmom]

34. That's why there's milk thistle

:)

[Stinky The Clown]

36. A message to the men .........

....... if you love the woman in your life, and if you have had your kids ....... vasectomy.

[Conservativesux]

37. Vasectomies: A great way to make sure a man gets prostate cancer.

and dies and early death.

Take your pick.

Man or women, no treatment is 100% safe.

[BlueIris]

39. Kick.

Sick, lying bastards.

[BlueIris]

40. No one cares? Right. Just as long as the women are still

doing all the work to prevent pregnancy is your relationships everything is aaaaa-okay.