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Natural Herbal Estrogen Replacement.

Women's Menopause Health Center reprints an article on Botanical Products and Estrogen presented to the American Association for Cancer Research, Philadelphia, April 11, 1999.

Diosgenin cream ingredients | Benefits diosgenin cream | How to use diosgenin cream.  |  Return to Eden Diosgenin (nicknamed Progesterone) Cream. Do you remember our newsletter last year detailing how Wyeth Pharmaceuticals was attempting to stop compounding pharmacists from prescribing natural progesterone (diosgenin) after their profits fell by more than 57%  from $2.07 billion in 2003 to $800 million in 2004 (after the WHI study had to be stopped)? Well, now they have gone after centers like ours making complaints to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  The FTC's position backed by the big pharmaceutical companies is that Dr. John Lee, M.D.'s studies were not scientific and did not rise to the standard of FDA and National Institutes of Health studies, and that our claims about natural progesterone are false, unfair, deceptive, misleading advertising in violation of the law..  (Please read what Dr. Helen Pensanti M.D. has to say about this. Read on to how the study was conducted.)   This is an attempt to force women into taking unsafe proven cancer causing synthetic hormones using your tax dollar to harass natural hormone suppliers. We here at the Women's Menopause Health Center refuse to take away your choice of a healthy alternative to Premarin, Prempro and the other dangerous drugs. We are taking a stand against this heavy handed attempt to destroy competition. We are going to fight for your choice of a healthy way to get through menopause comfortably and safely. (Ed. note: This was from our newsletter last year. The continued harassment by the FTC has caused us to discontinue our wonderful product.  Do not be forced into taking something that can kill you. You may purchase safe progesterone cream at your local health food store, or find it a lot less expensively on line at places like ebay and yahoo stores. Do not let these heavy handed tactics destroy your health!)

REPRINT:

Botanical Products Act Like Estrogen in Animals, Finds University of Pittsburgh Team.
April 12, 1999


ADVANCE/PITTSBURGH, April 11 /PRNewswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation -- A University of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh VA Medical Center team has provided new evidence that certain botanical products act like estrogen in animals. The findings indicate how these agents may work to relieve menopausal symptoms but suggest their potential danger for women who should not take estrogen. The scientists are reporting their findings April 11 at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Philadelphia.

"Of the plant products we examined, we found that vitex, dang gui, (ed. note: dong quai) American ginseng and cohosh produced estrogen-like effects in animals," remarked Patricia Eagon, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and principal investigator on the study. "These findings confirm reports that these plants relieve menopausal symptoms, especially hot flashes. However, we still need to conduct further pre-clinical tests with these substances to study their long-term effects and to ensure that they are safe to use."

"Our results should signal a strong note of caution to women who want to relieve menopausal symptoms but who have a family or personal history of breast or uterine cancer," added Dr. Eagon. Estrogen is known to fuel the growth of these cancers.

Because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not regulate these botanical products, many women who should not take them could end up using them, remarked Dr. Eagon. Moreover, overuse of these remedies or impurities in the products can lead to liver problems and blood clotting disorders, she added.

The Pittsburgh research team found that extracts of vitex, dang gui, American ginseng and cohosh bound directly to estrogen receptors, just as natural estrogen would. The investigators next tested these compounds in rats whose ovaries were removed so they could not produce significant levels of natural estrogen. After 30 days of treatment, the researchers found that the uterus in each rat grew heavier, an indication that this organ had an estrogen-like response to the extracts. In addition, the scientists found that blood levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) decreased in these animals. Produced by the pituitary, LH triggers other organs to make estrogen. Naturally high levels of estrogen turn off LH production. In the treated animals, the plant extracts similarly reduced LH production, according to the investigators.

"It appears as though these extracts work through several biological pathways," added Dr. Eagon.

Herbal remedies have been used for centuries to relieve various gynecological symptoms, including absent periods, painful periods and symptoms of menopause. Vitex, or chaste berry, is a Mediterranean plant traditionally used to relieve menopausal symptoms. Dang gui (ed. note: dong quai) and ginseng are traditional Chinese remedies for a variety of gynecological problems. Cohosh is a traditional American Indian cure for menstrual pain and menopausal discomfort. Black cohosh has been shown to relieve hot flashes in European clinical trials.

Dr. Eagon's research is supported by a breast cancer research grant from the U.S. Army.

CONTACT: Lauren Ward, wardle@msx.upmc.edu or Heather Szafranski, szafranskihl@msx.upmc.edu, of the UPMC News Bureau, 412-624-2607, or fax, 412-624-3184.

SOURCE University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

 

 

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