Who knows these days? There’s science below—but there has been so much LYING lately from once-trustworthy sources, it’s hard to know where the truth lies. But since the researchers were not American, I have some hope there are facts in there somewhere!
I was a male who lived through the greatest liberation event for women in the history of the universe! “The Pill”. No question: at its inception it was like a gift from Heaven. Girls could play and have fun and NOT suffer the consequences of pregnancy.
College girl whose lives were changed forever by “The Pill”
The Pill was like a ticket to a new dimension altogether. Of course there were the reactionary die-hards, who thought this was the origin of endless mischief. But for me, already in the medical environment, it was a relief to watch unwanted pregnancies drop off. Also miserable deaths due to illegal abortions (terminations), which became infected and killed the luckless girl/woman.
However, I do remember that after 10 years, I decided to go for a personal vasectomy. I was uneasy about the long-term safety element for my wife (my first wife, that is). She berated me and wanted the possibility of more kids; but then, she was born and raised a Catholic and this is understandable. I have always been sad I did not have a daughter—but then, no matter how many kids you have, there is no guarantee of gender!
But we worried about cancer—especially breast cancer, cervical cancer and uterine cancers womens’ cancers, in other words. And finally, over a decade ago, the Women’s Health Initiative came out and stated plainly that the orthodox mixture of progestin and estrogen was causing a significant increase in women’s cancers.
Sales plummeted and so did deaths.
The reason isn’t hard to grasp: progestin is a synthetic compound, not natural, and is dangerous. But it’s patented and “FDA approved” folks! Just follow the money!
The message I have for you is maybe “the Pill” was not entirely as dangerous as once thought and if you are still anxious about possible long-term effects, you may be able to relax a notch or two. Sighs of relief, ladies! You may even be protected from heart disease to a degree that means some value to these therapies.
OK, Let’s Poke Some Fun!
Having now lived in the USA for a number of years, I am struck by the most common marketing technique used here, which is outrageous and shocking lies! Just make any wild claim you like, to get the sale. So long as you get rich doing it, everybody seems to approve (sort of)!
The second commonest trick is claiming your competition is filthy, degraded, doesn’t work and is a fraud. More lies. Both are often used together, of course.
So, no surprise when the pharmaceutical industry resorts to both these sleazy, dishonest tactics.
I reported in a former newsletter that at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS), the industry crooks had become so alarmed at the sale of women’s bioidentical hormones, they started clamoring for a regulatory ban!*
NAMS officials and a panel of discussants spent an hour decrying the practice of prescribing “unsafe and unapproved” compounded hormones during an all-present meeting (plenary), supported by a grant from Pfizer, here at the 2015 Annual Meeting.
[first thing to note is Wyeth, a subsidiary of Pfizer, produces a hormone replacement therapy: premarin, which is made from horse piss (pregnant mare urine, get it?), and sold at vast profit. Plenty of conflict of interest, then!]
False Claim 1. Only FDA approved hormone replacement therapy is safe and effective.
False Claim 2. Compounded drugs lack an FDA finding of safety, efficacy, and manufacturing quality (identity, potency, purity and sterility).
What got this bunch of turkeys upset was what the finding from a survey that they conducted, showing that 41% of hormone users reported choosing compounded products — often referred to as bioidenticals — over those approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Even “good doctors are capitulating and signing these prescriptions,” said Julia Files, MD, from the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Ha! So they even slip in the innuendo that doctors who don’t share their cynicism and greed are not really good doctors! They “capitulated” meaning they switched sides. They are just offering the patients what makes them happy and not what makes Big Pharma the doctors happy!
The delegates spent their time at this meeting, not discussing better patient care, but how to stop the rot and grab back their profit machine. “I’d like the panel’s opinion as to where we can intervene, beyond not just capitulating and writing the prescriptions,” said James Simon, MD, from Washington, DC, who is past-president of NAMS.
“It’s too late; the cat’s out of the bag,” said panelist Lauren Streicher, MD, from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “We can all sit here and talk and talk about it, but until the FDA comes out with regulations, I don’t think it’s going to make any difference.”
Ah, so now we are getting to it. We greedy, lazy, incompetent, sleazeballs want the FDA to step in, destroy those nasty freedom-of-choice people, and give us back our exclusive robbery system.
Women on the Pill Have Comforting CVD Outcomes Years Down the Line
Despite the evidence showing the link with cancers, oral contraceptive use had no deleterious effects on cardiovascular disease (CVD) and survival over long-term follow-up, a U.K. Biobank study showed.
Indeed comparisons between women who have used the pill and never-users, oral contraceptives are linked to apparent reductions in CVD events and all-cause mortality over a period of nearly 12 years.
Look at these surprise reductions for Pill users:
• All-cause mortality: 3.2% vs 5.9% (almost half)
• Incident CVD: 5.8% vs 10.6% (almost half)
• Coronary heart disease: 2.8% vs 5.1% (almost half)
• Heart failure: 0.8% vs 2.0% (more than half)
• Atrial fibrillation: 2.0% vs 4.3% (more than half)
“These findings provide significant public health insights and may facilitate a shift in public perception because oral contraceptive use is common in women of reproductive age, and previously negative publicity exists about the safety,” Huijie Zhang’s research group wrote in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Well, maybe. I’m still not advocating this stuff. But there is a straight line, between trouble and being relatively safe, if you steer carefully.
In any case, my subscribers are an older demographic and I am addressing you ladies, not young flirts in a Kardashian circus costume!
Kim Kardashian’s sleazy “come on” outfit is asking for trouble
The important conclusions of the UK Biobank Cohort Study are that:
• Oral contraceptive use did not increase the risk of cardiovascular disease events or increase all—cause death in the general population.
• Women with oral contraceptive use throughout their reproductive life span may have a previously unrecognized protective factor for all?cause death over time.
And don’t forget: pregnancy is itself a high-risk condition, and if pregnancy is not desired, women of reproductive age should have access to a full range of [safe] options for pregnancy avoidance… (and please don’t write to me and say you will pray for me; I have my own friendship with God).
Anyway, just talkin’
To your good health,
Prof. Keith Scott-Mumby
The Official Alternative Doctor
Disclosures
The study was supported by grants from the Chinese National Key Research and Development Project, National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Joint Funds of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and Key-Area Clinical Research Program of Southern Medical University.
Source Reference: Dou W, et al “Associations of oral contraceptive use with cardiovascular disease and all-cause death: evidence from the UK Biobank cohort study” J Am Heart Assoc 2023; DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.123.030105.
* North American Menopause Society (NAMS) 2015 Annual Meeting: Plenary 11. Presented October 3, 2015.
