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Oestrogen is quite a high:profile hormone .these day.s: For some, it repr~sents the Golden Fleece that excItes so many medIcal practitIOners, pharmaceutIcal com panies and writers in search of its miraculous properties. For others, oestrogen is a rather perilous hormone, fraught with many unknown and unspoken dan gers. Most women are lost in the dark and bottomless abyss, somewhere between troth and fiction. All too often they are despcratcly oonfused about whether to trust their instincts or medical science. Their phys{cal, emotional and mental health and long-term well-heing hang in the balance. The oestrogen story is similar to a modern-day thriller. It is a story of deception, betrayal, hidden agendas, propaganda and misinformation. As a story it could be quite entertaining, but as a real-Me drama its cffects are disastrous to the lives of tens of mil' lions of women around ,the world. Hormones are very powerfUl substances. Begin tampering with Nature's finely tuned messengers of life's processes and you are asking for trouble. This is especially true for women. A woman's psyche is intimately connected to her monthly flow of hormones. Hormo.nes not only direct and determine her physiological processes, but also influence her emotiOnal and psychological state. Besides creating myriad health problems, honnon al imbalance can undermine self-esteem, creativity, mental ,acuity and a healthy sex-dJtive. Perhaps the bigger picture about the oestrogen story is the fact that the introduction of synthetic hormones, as a JegitiJ:Jlate need of women, is basically experimentation under the guise of standard medical practice. As a result, medical science has expanded its control of women's lives. Germaine Greer sums up the mcdical establishmenfs intrusion into a woman's hormon al health. quite astutely when she says, "Menopause is a drea.fil speciality for tbe mediocre medic. It requires no surgical or diag,nostic skill; it is not itself a life-threatening condi tion; there is no scope for malpractice action. Patients must return again and again for a battery of tests and check-ups.'" Quite simply, tampering with a woman's hormones rs Itampering with her power. Introducing Oestrogen Dominance The natural design of the body is to produce the two hormones, progesterone and oestrogen, in a very sensitive and precise balance so that reproductive ability is max imised. These two hormones are closely interrelated in many ways and, although they are generally antagonistic towards each other, each he'lps the other by making the cells of a target organ more sensitive. Oestrogen really isn't a s.ingle hormone. To be accurate, lit refers to a class of hormones with oestrus activity (i.e., proliferation of endometriall cells in preparation for pregnancy). The oestrogens are named oestradiol and oestrone-both of which are implicated in stim ulating abnormal cell growth when found in higher-than-normal amounts in the body=as well as oestriol, which is known to be cancer-inhjbitihg. Each type of oestrogen has a dif ferent function in the body. These oestrogens are produced mainly in the ovaries, although small quantities are secreted from the adrenal glands, the placenta during preg~ nancy, and fat cells. When puberty arrives, oestrogen encourages in a girl the development of breasts and the expansion of the uterus. Oestrogen contributes to the moulding of female body contours and maturation of the skeleton. After that, it helps regulate the menstrual cycle and plays other necessary roles in maintaining bone-mass and keeping blood-cholesterol levels in check. When excessive quantities of oestrogen, regardless of source, are present in a AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 1996 NEXUS • 21