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The Premarin (PMU) Industry (part 5 of 5)

THE GOOD NEWS IS...

There are numerous alternatives to Premarin, including synthetic estrogens and changes in diet and lifestyle which can be at least equally effective in treating menopausal symptoms without involving cruelty.

• ALTERNATIVE ESTROGENS: Vegetable-derived Estrace is the second most prescribed estrogen therapy drug. There are others including Orthoest, Ogen, Estradiol, Estriol, Estrone, Estrovis, Estropipate, and the Estraderm and Climara patches, and others, all of which are considered to be effective for hormone replacement therapy. Ask your doctor to go over the choices with you.

• OTHER HORMONES: Estrogen is not the only hormone produced by pre-menopausal women's bodies, and therapies including progesterone and other naturally occurring hormones in addition to estrogens appear, in some cases, to offer better mitigation of symptoms with less risk than estrogen-only therapy.

• RALOXIFENE: Produced by Eli Lilly, this new drug increases bone density and, unlike Premarin, involves no risk of breast cancer or cancer of the womb (uterine cancer). It also appears to protect the heart.

• DIET: "There is no Japanese word for hot flashes," writes physician and author Dr. Neal Barnard. In his book Eat Right, Live Longer, he says, "Diet is a great contributor [to hot flashes]. It has long been known that menopause is much easier for Asian women than for most Westerners," referring to the low-fat, tofu and rice-based diets of many Asian women.

• PHYTOESTROGENS: Foods including flaxseed, soy milk, and tofu contain naturally occurring estrogens known as "phytoestrogens." Books like Estrogen: The Natural Way by Nina Shandler and Dr. Susan Love's Hormone Book, encourage diets high in phytoestrogens. Shandler's book also includes recipes for adding foods with phytoestrogens to meals.

For more information, you can subscribe to Health Wisdom for Women (800/804-0935), the first newsletter for women edited by the renowned physician Christiane Northrup. Dr. Northrup is also the author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom. You can also purchase a copy of HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) Advisory (800/705-5559), where you can read about alternative estrogen therapy drugs.

All questions of a medical nature should be taken up with your doctor.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

• Call Wyeth-Ayerst in the United States (800) 666-7248 to protest how Premarin is produced. (For Canada, call 215 971-5823). Write to Robert Essner, President of Wyeth-Ayerst, at P.O. Box 8299, Philadelphia, PA 19101 and let him know how you feel.

• Spread the word about Premarin and the cruel way it's produced! Ask your doctor to offer and prescribe alternative hormone replacement therapy medications.

• Write to Dr. Janet Woodcock at the FDA and express your demand for that agency's prompt approval of one or more synthetic/generic forms of Premarin to make them available to those who wish to use them. Write to her at: FDA, 5600 Fisher's Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857.

(PLEASE act immediately on this last suggestion as the approval of a synthetic/generic form of Premarin would virtually stop the cruelty and use of horses in the PMU industry.)

[end article]

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Equine Advocates, Inc. Permission to reprint MUST be requested - that includes for the Internet!