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- Hormone Heresy: Oestrogen's Deadly Truth oestrogen and progestins in alll the forms grated to deficiency diseases-thus neces they take. Women are certainly suffering sitating ongoing medical attention. side-effects, some of which are quite from a wide variety of female complaints. It is indeed time for women Ito take even severe. A partial list includes headaches, What complicates the hormone story is greater responsibility for their health, their depression, fluid retenlion, increased risk Ithat the prescribed treatments for these choices and their lifestyles. The greatest of !birth defects and early abortion, liver complaints are actually making the prob weapon against compliance and ignorance dysfunction, breast tenderness, break lem worse. Without understanding the far is !knowledge. It's time to ask poignant through bleeding, acne, hirsutism (hair reaching side-effects of oestrogen domi questions of your heahh prov,ider, to growth), insomnia, oedema, weight nance and progestin, doctors arc misdiag demand answers and to be willing to inves changes, pulmonary embolism and premen nosing the cause ohhcse aggravated condi tigate safe, alternative approaches. It is strual-like syndrome. tions. Often, other drugs are then pre apparent that women will need to partic 17 Most importantly, progestins lack the scribed with disastrous side-dfe_cts, as the ipate in educating their doctors about the intrinsic physiological benefits of proges spiral of unnecessary medication increascs. other choices that exist as well as the ones terone, Ithus they cannot function in the What is the ultimate toll, not only on a that they prefer. major biosynthetic pathways as proges woman's deteriorating health and emotional Certain'ly, women have it well within terone does and they disrupt many funda wcll-being but also on her financial situa their own power not only to find safe, nat mental processes in the boc!y. Progesterone tion, her relationships and her career? ural and effective ways to heal themselves is an essential hormone that also plays a Without adequate knowledge, education but to live long, full Jives, preserving their part in the development of healthy nerve and access to natural products, women vitality, youthfulness and health. Women cells and brain and thyroid function. have been easy prey to the powerful cam deserve the right to appreciate themselves Progestins tend to block the body's ability paigns of the multinational drug companies and their bodies through all the stages of to produce and utilise natural progesterone that have convinced doctors as well as gov life. As women find the way to return to a to maintain these life-promoting functions. ernments of their claims. It is becoming greater balance within themselves, they The hormone story is certainly a very more evident that women's intcrests are not will know profoundly the truth of what Dr complicated one. Up until now, only one always best met through such a biased ap Decpak Chopra has said about women: version of the story has been available to proach. It is also not unusual for pmfits to "Feminine wisdom is thc intclligence at the the majority of Western women, especially take precedence over health and well-bc heart of creation." 00 Australian women. Serious doubt has been ing..The last thing a woman needs is to Continued on page 7() cast on the efficacy and appropriateness of have her natural bodily functions deni JUNt-JULY 1996 NEXUS • 75