Fornits
General Interest => Open Free for All => Topic started by: Deborah on May 25, 2007, 04:39:24 PM
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FDA approves pill that stops periods; is womanhood a disease? (opinion)
Conventional medicine has, for decades, preyed upon the "symptoms of womanhood" and attempted to transform every female activity from childbirth to menstruation into a disease requiring chemical treatment. Today, the FDA approved Lybrel, a daily pill for women that stops periods... forever.
The concept behind such a pill is based on the false idea that menstruation is a disease requiring a medical fix. Most sane people would agree that menstruation is, in fact, a natural biological function and not a disease. So why take a pill to stop it?
If you ask the women taking this pill, it's because their periods are extremely painful or inconvenient. Taking Lybrel to stop the period is a typical Western-mindset approach to all ailments: Mask the symptoms and ignore the cause. Painful periods have a cause, mostly related to hormone imbalances caused by poor nutritional habits, lack of exercise and exposure to toxic chemicals in foods, medicines and personal care products (which contain hundreds of hormone-disrupting chemicals). Rather than addressing these underlying causes of poor health, many consumers wish to simply mask the symptoms and make them disappear at any cost, including ingesting potentially toxic prescription drugs whose long-term safety record is entirely unknown.
This desire to eliminate the symptoms of disease rather than addressing the underlying cause of poor health is a uniquely Western approach to health treatment. Americans mask joint pain with deadly COX-2 inhibitor drugs, they mask nutritional deficiencies with antidepressant drugs, and they mask poor cardiovascular health with statin drugs and blood thinners (which are made from rat poison chemicals, by the way, and that's not an exaggeration). It's like taking your car to a mechanic and instead of the guy fixing your engine, he just takes a can of spray paint and sprays over the engine warning lights on your dashboard. Problem solved! No more engine warning lights!
[Sound like the Industry?]
Women who take Lybrel to stop their periods are, in my opinion, doing the same thing with their health. And they're potentially taking a huge risk since no one knows the long-term consequences of such blatant disruption of normal hormone cycles. You can bet, however, that the results won't be positive. Although this is just a guess, I believe that long-term use of such synthetic chemicals may greatly increase the risk of hormone-related cancers such as breast cancer and cervical cancer. They may also cause blood stasis in the abdomen and could very easily, in my view, result in increased endometriosis and severe reproductive problems.
Both the manufacturer of this drug and the FDA, of course, say this chemical is perfectly safe. Then again, FDA-approved pharmaceuticals are right now killing 100,000 Americans each year, even when used as directed. Just one drug, Vioxx, reportedly killed well over 50,000 Americans according to the FDA's own senior drug safety whistleblower, and yet the FDA voted to put that drug right back on the market!
This is a critical point to understand here: The FDA believes that a drug that kills 50,000 people is not dangerous enough to pull off the market. Once you understand that point, some questions come to mind about Lybrel. How many women might die from the side effects of this drug? No one knows. It could be zero or a hundred thousand. If no more than 50,000 women are ultimately killed by it, the FDA likely claim that's still within a safety margin and that "the drug benefits outweigh its risks!"
[Window of loss...just like the Industry!]
What, exactly, is the level of fatalities required for the FDA to consider a drug "too dangerous?" Because apparently a drug that kills 50,000 people is not dangerous enough for the FDA to restrict its use. In fact, the FDA has never announced what level of fatalities it considers high enough to trigger a drug recall. It may be that a drug killing 100,000 people would also be considered "safe" by the FDA. Or perhaps even 250,000 people.
Technically, there is no level of death that cannot be declared "acceptably safe" by the FDA. (An herb, on the other hand, is pronounced as "dangerous at any dose" if it causes even a single fatality. This extreme double standard is standard operating procedure at the FDA, where all herbs are considered dangerous until proven safe, and all drugs are considered safe until proven dangerous.)
The hysteria of modern medicine
In my opinion, any woman taking Lybrel is embarking on a foolish experiment with her own health. It is not merely a dangerous course of action to pursue, it is the ultimate surrender of personal responsibility for one's own health. It also admits to a male-dominated medical system that womanhood is, indeed, some sort of terrible disease that requires treatment.
Note that the words hysteria and hysterectomy (the surgical removal of the uterus) have the same word roots. That's because a hysterectomy was a procedure originally developed by men and used as a surgical weapon to make women "less hysterical." It was long believed that the uterus was an organ that caused insanity! :rofl: In reality, the organ that no doubt causes the most insanity is the penis, but that's another story... notice that you don't see male doctors recommending penisectomies as a cure for male insanity. ::roflmao::
[Lorena Bobbitt might be able to speak to the efficacy of that.]
Although, indeed, we would all be much safer if the arrogant men pushing these nonsense pharmaceuticals weren't so cocky to begin with. Only women are advised to have their organs removed for emotional reasons. You ever notice that when it comes to cancer treatments for such organs, there's a cry to "Save the testicle!" but "Remove the breast!" ?
(The word menstruate, by the way, has its roots in Latin, where the word mensis means "month." It has no relational meaning to the modern English word "men.")
Men have always dominated Western medicine, and they have always used chemicals and surgeries to control or dominate women. Even today, the male-dominated breast cancer industry is a for-profit system that preys upon women through harmful mammograms that actually cause cancer and produce shockingly high rates of false positives. As I've stated in previous articles here on NewsTarget, mammography harms 10 women for every 1 that it helps.
[Wow! So much in common with the Industry.]
Conventional breast cancer treatment is largely a medical hoax where men use fear to control women by corralling them into treatments where they can poison them with chemotherapy or slice off their breasts. (Sound insane? It is.)
My advice to women is to learn from your painful periods rather than trying to dissociate yourself from them. A painful period is a messenger that's trying to tell you something. Perhaps you need to take a new look at your diet, your lifestyle and your use of toxic cosmetics and skin care products that disrupt normal hormone cycles. Painful periods can be transformed into painless periods through natural medicine. Chinese medicine is especially good at supporting this transformation. Diet plays a huge role, too.
Take responsibility for your health rather than abandoning it
Solving the health problem rather than simply masking it is the responsible thing to do with your body. It's not an overnight solution like the seductively easy Lybrel pill, but it is a far wiser and more wholesome solution that honors your body rather than hijacking its natural functions. Chemical are not the answer to your health problems. They are merely seductive, harmful synthetic substances that will inevitably produce harmful side effects.
If you think your periods are painful today, just imagine the emotional pain of being diagnosed with breast cancer, undergoing chemotherapy that nearly kills you and having a mastectomy. Once you start down the path of chemical suppression of symptoms of pain, you begin a journey into the world of harmful medicine that will only leave you diseased and bankrupt, addicted to a dozen pharmaceuticals and suffering from liver failure, kidney disease, brain fog and chronic pain. Think carefully about what you're doing to your body. It's the only one you've got, and nature intends for a woman to have periods. Menstruation is not a disease. And womanhood is not a medical condition. Don't fall for the male-dominated quackery that passes for medicine today, and don't play pharmaceutical roulette with your body by taking Lybrel.
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About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health author and technology pioneer with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guies, and books on topics like health and the environment, impacting the lives of millions of readers around the world who are experiencing phenomenal health benefits from reading his articles. Adams is an independent journalist with strong ethics who does not get paid to write articles about any product or company. In 2007, Adams launched EcoLEDs, a maker of energy efficient LED lights that greatly reduce CO2 emissions. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also a veteran of the software technology industry, having founded a personalized mass email software product used to deliver email newsletters to subscribers. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and pursues hobbies such as Pilates, Capoeira, nature macrophotography and organic gardening. Known as the 'Health Ranger,' Adams' personal health statistics and mission statements are located at www.HealthRanger.org (http://www.HealthRanger.org)
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I say bring this drug on!!! periods are not a medical condition but the are annoying. I never went in for the school of feminism that was all about celebrating womans "connection to the earth" or any of that crap. As i am not planning kids I wouldget rid of "the mean reds' once and for all!
BTW I note that the author was a guy. i wonder if he would feel differently if he ever got a period
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It can be a nuisance, for sure. But, I do think the health risks he detailed are valid and worthy of serious consideration. Not to mention, one of the side effects is "unscheduled" breakthrough bleeding.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2 ... ybrel.html (http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/05/lybrel.html)
So, how free is one if they have to wear a pad everyday, just in case?
One of the warnings.... because a regular period is eliminated, women might not realize that they are pregnant. :rofl:
Would it be such a nuisance if women weren't expected to function in all their many capacities right through the red wave? What if we adopted the Native American way... Moon Lodge. Women have no responsibilities and are waited on hand and foot while they 'dream together'. That's what I call respect. I bet we'd see fewer cases of PMS and Menopausal symptoms if we were so lucky to have that kind of treatment.
Isn't this at least in part about increasing productivity and decreasing absenteeism in the workplace, not to mention billions in profit for the pharmaceutical companies and cancer 'treatment' industry down the road?
And how bout the name.... Lybrel..... Liberal.... Lybrel... Liberal...
Such a liberating ring....
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It's much easier to just start testosterone injections.
Although... there are some irreversible side effects. Such as...becoming a man.
Worked for me, though.
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well I like being a lady castle just not everything about it! :roll:
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I like being a lady, too. I'm a pretty lady with a pretty little dress.
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here is slate's take on the issue
http://www.slate.com/id/2166983/fr/flyout (http://www.slate.com/id/2166983/fr/flyout)
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Mask the symptoms and ignore the cause. <- the crux of why we're here... though for big pains (children) that don't always cause bleeding :rofl:
Also, deb, I've heard to the extent there is no real medical reason why women need periods at all. But then again we're still sorting out the whole biochemical soup that is "human" so it might take a while until its known for sure.
Castle - Testosterone has side effects for men as well, like receding hairlines and raging tempers. :(
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Also, deb, I've heard to the extent there is no real medical reason why women need periods at all. But then again we're still sorting out the whole biochemical soup that is "human" so it might take a while until its known for sure.
Really. Thank goodness we have scientists to correct the errors in nature.
Women who don't have menses are undernourished/unhealthy.
I'd like to read the thinking on that. Any links?
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Actually, to some extent, niles is right. For example, I can still become pregnant, even though I no longer have periods nor would have any uteran lining to nourish the fetus.
It is extremely rare, but possible. I doubt the child would survive to term, though, even if I stopped my hormones on conception.
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Women who don't have menses are undernourished/unhealthy.
I'd like to read the thinking on that. Any links?
But that makes no sense. If transexuals 10 year olds and women over around 50 are not prone to being malnourished why would women who opt not to have periods be? Afterall we have been tinkering with nature on womens issues for a long time now. Nobody wants to go back to the days when we had babies on the kitchen table and a high infant mortality rate.
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I think maybe I wasn't clear.
Barring any intentional intervention, women have a period every month. I don't believe it's a mistake that needs a 'fix'. Those who don't are typically unhealthy, malnourished, stressed. There have been reports of girls in programs loosing/skipping periods due to inadequate nutrition and stress. There's some discussion in this thread
http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... 917#122917 (http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?p=122917#122917)
Woops, there's one other normal time in which women don't have a moon time- while they're nursing an infant.... natural birth control. Also interesting is the increase in breast cancer amongst women who take the pills and forgo breastfeeding.
I've read that having menses is one reason women typically out live men. Once a month we have the opportunity to dump a load of toxins and create new blood. If you aren't having periods, might want to consider taking saunas or something. But, to my knowledge, there's no way to minimize the excess estrogen from birth control products which will increase the risk of breast/uterine cancer, diabetes, gallstones, asthma, blood clots, and strokes. All the xeno-estrogens [http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?p=95332#95332] in our environment, only increase the risks.... but what risks we take and how we want to go is a personal decision which I support. Just as with psych drugs/torture treatments, I prefer informed consent and access to alternatives.
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Also, deb, I've heard to the extent there is no real medical reason why women need periods at all. But then again we're still sorting out the whole biochemical soup that is "human" so it might take a while until its known for sure.
Really. Thank goodness we have scientists to correct the errors in nature.
Women who don't have menses are undernourished/unhealthy.
I'd like to read the thinking on that. Any links?
Just because sick women do not have menses, does not mean you are sick if you don't have menses....
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Also, deb, I've heard to the extent there is no real medical reason why women need periods at all. But then again we're still sorting out the whole biochemical soup that is "human" so it might take a while until its known for sure.
Really. Thank goodness we have scientists to correct the errors in nature.
Women who don't have menses are undernourished/unhealthy.
I'd like to read the thinking on that. Any links?
Just because sick women do not have menses, does not mean you are sick if you don't have menses....
Here's a list of 101 causes of amenorrhea (absence of periods)
http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/symptoms/ ... causes.htm (http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/symptoms/amenorrhea/causes.htm)
They all indicate disease or stress or a general unhealthy state.
I'd really like to read the information you apparently have read. Links?
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Here's a list of 101 causes of amenorrhea (absence of periods)
Otherwise known as 101 slices of heaven. :P
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Things are often so interconnected in ways that no one appreciates 'till the buggy stops running.
No one has brought up effects that hormonal cycling has on other bodily functions and physiological stasis, which do very much figure into the usually longer lifespans that women enjoy over men. It is not entirely clear how much research has been done in that arena, given the medical establishment's predilection for male-oriented issues.
Plus, the whole concept of interrelated effects and the systemic health of the whole is not a concept that lends itself well to Western medicine's style of studies and means of measuring results. Too many variables to analyze, the paper would take 20 years to prepare and then probably no one would be interested in the results anymore anyway.
Common sense: you can bend Mother Nature, but you can't break her. I would be very leery of some synthetic hormonal override that seriously alters the route of the buggy. Overrides usually have unanticipated ripple effects, sometimes not appreciated for decades after they've been deemed "totally safe," and "a boon to Womankind."
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While I agree stress is one of the reasons why women skip and i tak your point about it often happening because something is not right, i dont know how fair it is to say women outlive men because of having a period. I argue it is because
-Women are less likely to work in dangerous jobs and to go to war
-Women traditionally have been more image conscious and therefore more likely to eat healthily
-Women traditionally have been more likely to get to a doctor to catch something early when they do fall ill. This may e linked to the fact that women are more often primary carers so are more likely to be toddling off to the doctor with the kids or with an elderly fragile parent.
While the long term benefits or costs of any drug are hard to measure until everyone has been taking them for a while, I also dont think that the inconvenience and sometimes physical pain invloved can be underestimated. Without being uncouth, I would bet my house if your average man had to front up to work for 5 days with a stomach or head ache, sore chest and general feeling of grumpyness and also deal with feeling gross down there, he would be looking for a way to make it stop. Partucularly if added to this was concern & worry about soiling expensive items of clothing.
Here are some links on infant mortality rates although I am not sure if this was what you wanted a link on?
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4838a2.htm (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4838a2.htm)
http://tinyurl.com/28mlwd (http://tinyurl.com/28mlwd)
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While I agree stress is one of the reasons why women skip and i tak your point about it often happening because something is not right, i dont know how fair it is to say women outlive men because of having a period.
I said it was reported to be 'one' reason, certainly not the only.
While the long term benefits or costs of any drug are hard to measure until everyone has been taking them for a while, I also dont think that the inconvenience and sometimes physical pain invloved can be underestimated.
Agreed. And the risks associated with Lybrel shouldn't be underestimated either. A person must decide if the risks outweigh the benefit.
There are many things one can do to ease their discomfort. One that was recently effective for me was Cod liver oil.
Here are some links on infant mortality rates although I am not sure if this was what you wanted a link on?
No, I was interested in links to info on 'healthy' women who don't have menses and haven't had any type of intervention.
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Deb, showing reasons why sickness can cause you to not have a period is not showing that lack of a period means you are sick!
In the middle ages, people thought body lice meant you were healthy and if they left you got sick... they didn't realize lice just didn't like staying on sick people.
Same thing, just in reverse. Collation is not causation, and cause and effect doesn't always go both ways.
At any rate, attaching meaning and significance in an anthropomorphic way around the "first, good-enough" evolved way to make female mammals able to be fertile is kind of foolish. You might feel all the mama earth/Gaia/hug tree stuff, and thats okay, but the "Thank goodness we have scientists to correct the errors in nature. " attitude is kind of nonsense.
First of all, NATURAL things are kind of impersonal, and don't really have anything to do with human feelings. Placental Mammals have been around a lot longer than people bitching about men-playing-god trying to "fix nature".
You might not mind your period, but plenty of people I know do and will NOT stop bitching. One FORMER friend felt like she was sitting in a puddle during her period, as ridiculous as it was... but sure, nothings wrong!
At any rate, considering (from the naturalistic point of view) we're a bunch of biochemical reactions in little bags that communicate to each other, unless there is an actual observed negative effect by skipping periods, WTF is the issue, unless you just get emotional about MEN doing something to Nature/Women?
(http://http://www.bu.edu/mih/images/Freud.jpg)
And, if you want to go on about nature's mistakes....
Why is it so many other creatures can ovulate basically at will or from a sound stimulus?
Why can't we evolve skin that doesn't get pimples and sunburn?
Why can't we change melanin level easier?
Why do our knees (and, ironically, womens knees especially) suck so much, structurally speaking? Why do we still have a all-fours pelvis that has only been "good-enough ed" by natural selection to let us walk upright?
Thats right, ITS NOT DESIGNED BY SOME EARTH MAMA DEITY! Its what happened that was good enough to work better than the competitors within the ecosystem! Your own meanings attached to natural processes and natural things is just that, yours! There is nothing intrinsic about it! Meaning is a HUMAN concept, until we find intelligent alien lifeforms that have such concepts themselves, then it will be a concept brought upon by sapient beings, but I digress.
Sure, you might not mind it, you might enjoy it, but while you might be flushing out toxins or whatnot, a lot of people get anemic from loss of iron, such as my own sister. So... yeah!
Nature has made tons of mistakes (if you were to compare it to an intelligent design, which it most certainly IS NOT), such as blood vessels on the wrong side of your retina in mammal eyes, yet octopuses did a better job!
I agree that medical science and American society in general ignores causes and only treats or masks symptoms WAY too much (being pushed on pills by docs when I was miserable by how I was treated in my teens, for example) but this anthro atittude is really annoying.
Then again, maybe I'm just a naturalist pig? :wink:
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Niles when you start riding the red tide I'll actually bother to read your post. Till then I'm probably going to listen more to what the ladies have to say about this.
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So they can put human meanings on naturalistic things just as long as they get emotionally attached?
Hey, why not us guys do the same thing. We should all worship phallic objects in nature and circlejerk around Volcanos! Also, any sort of dangling "fruits" should be hereby sacred.
Yeah! :lol:
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No, I was interested in links to info on 'healthy' women who don't have menses and haven't had any type of intervention.
Well in fairness the drug has only been out for about a week. There needs to br some time before enough women take it before that info can become available. The potential side effects are stated pretty clearly though so i would assume most women who give this a try are aware of the potential risks. It is not for everyone but I know i would give it a try if they brought it out here
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What do you think the Harley represents?
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Deb, showing reasons why sickness can cause you to not have a period is not showing that lack of a period means you are sick!
I heard that the first time. I'm curious to know more about the 'healthy' women who don't have menses and haven't had any type of intervention. Now my nutritionist did recommend a method to me once, but I was too undisciplined to pull it off. Put your palms flat against both breasts and massage in a circular motion... for far longer than I had the patience to do. Works for the same reason breastfeeding does. You have to be consistent to. Wayyyy too much work.
At any rate, attaching meaning and significance in an anthropomorphic way around the "first, good-enough" evolved way to make female mammals able to be fertile is kind of foolish. You might feel all the mama earth/Gaia/hug tree stuff, and thats okay, but the "Thank goodness we have scientists to correct the errors in nature. " attitude is kind of nonsense.
Scientist created chemicals/plastic, not nature- and I define that not as a deity, but as we lived prior to modern conveniences/science that brought 'unnatural' toxins/poisions into our environment.
Due to these chemicals/plastics (xeno-estrogens) we are experiencing sterility and the growth of breasts in males and an increase of breast/uterine cancer in women. Xeno-estrogens don't exist in nature, they're manmade. Think those alligators in Florida naturally evolved toward feminization- infertility? Think female humans are evolving naturally toward no menses?
BTW, I sent this info to my sister who recommended a movie called "Children of Men". I haven't seen it, have you?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Men (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Men)
I have great empathy for your sister or anyone else who deals with excessive bleeding- been there done that. That is not caused by, nor is it an error of nature, imo. Based on my own experience, it was caused by a diet full of things that don't exist in nature, putting things into the human body it can't process. It's a problem with living, not an error of nature. And, it can be remedied either with alternative care or surgery.
At any rate, considering (from the naturalistic point of view) we're a bunch of biochemical reactions in little bags that communicate to each other, unless there is an actual observed negative effect by skipping periods, WTF is the issue, unless you just get emotional about MEN doing something to Nature/Women?
Hum. I suspect you didn't read the information I posted on potential side effects of the drug. I consider that a negative, but others may not. And what I was ultimately after is evidence that there are women who are healthy, capable of reproducing, that don't have a period. Were you speaking theoretically or is there evidence?
And, if you want to go on about nature's mistakes....
Why is it so many other creatures can ovulate basically at will or from a sound stimulus?
Dunno. Will have to research that when I have time/inclination. But what's as curious to me is that female tigers who were caged (life threatened) had more frequent ovulation/menses (opportunities to reproduce).
Why can't we evolve skin that doesn't get pimples and sunburn? Why can't we change melanin level easier?
Well, I believe pimples/acne to be caused by poor diet and weak kidneys/liver. You can remedy that. As for sunburn... well if it's true that we all came from Africa, then we 'evolved' our way out of that protection by traveling around. As I've heard it, lighter skin was adapted and has more protection against frostbite than dark skin. Move to the mountains where your most recent ancestors lived.
Why do our knees (and, ironically, womens knees especially) suck so much, structurally speaking? Why do we still have a all-fours pelvis that has only been "good-enough ed" by natural selection to let us walk upright?
Dunno. I've never thought about my knees being a problem. They work quiet nicely. I can't fathom what about them 'sucks'. How would you prefer them to be? Same with my pelvis. No complaints.
Thats right, ITS NOT DESIGNED BY SOME EARTH MAMA DEITY! Its what happened that was good enough to work better than the competitors within the ecosystem! Your own meanings attached to natural processes and natural things is just that, yours! There is nothing intrinsic about it! Meaning is a HUMAN concept, until we find intelligent alien lifeforms that have such concepts themselves, then it will be a concept brought upon by sapient beings, but I digress.
Meaning? What does that have to do with the scientific "facts" I presented? Like excess estrogen increases the risk of cancer, women live longer than men in part due to menses. No one can predict what the long-term effect of ceasing menses with drugs might be.
Nature has made tons of mistakes (if you were to compare it to an intelligent design, which it most certainly IS NOT), such as blood vessels on the wrong side of your retina in mammal eyes, yet octopuses did a better job!
I know nothing about the reference you gave. I don't know what catagory I'd put that into without more info. Nature and intelligent design are synonymous to me. How do you define intelligent design?
I agree that medical science and American society in general ignores causes and only treats or masks symptoms WAY too much (being pushed on pills by docs when I was miserable by how I was treated in my teens, for example) but this anthro atittude is really annoying.
Nope. We all have our limits. You've clearly expressed where your limit is, and your lack of patience/acceptence of my 'anthro' attitude, how ever you define that.
Then again, maybe I'm just a naturalist pig? :wink:
oink. :wink: