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from outside, eaten in food or prescribed as medication, are exogenous. Most oestrogens, whether natural and endogenous or synthetic and exogenous, like Premarin, still act exactly like oestrogens, have the same action and attach themselves to oestro- gen receptors. All exogenous hormones tend to cause biochemi- cal stress.’ When a women is pregnant, levels of oestrogen and proges- terone rise and further egg production is stopped. The hormones levels continue to rise during pregnancy, signalling the brain to stop secreting its egg-stimulating hormones. The contraceptive Pill hormones mimic this effect and continually dupe the brain into thinking that pregnancy has occurred, thus suppressing ovula- tion. Present-day oral contraceptives are made up of varying doses of oestrogen-progestin formulations (the combination Pill) or prog- estin-only products (the mini-Pill or implants such as Depo- Provera). The Pill literally stops menstruation. Bleeding only occurs each month because the synthetic hormones are not taken for seven days of the cycle. The bleeding that occurs would be more accu- rately termed "withdrawal bleeding", not menstruation. In fact, there is nothing natural about taking the Pill. The action of the Pill actually ‘castrates' a woman by stopping her natural reproduc- tive cycle, sometimes permanently damaging her ovaries and even causing infertility. To varying degrees the various formulations of the Pill signal the brain to suppress ovulation.‘ In addition, all formulations of the Pill cause alterations to cer- vical mucus. The cervical mucus may become thicker and hence make it more difficult for sperm to move through the neck of the cervix.’ This presents obvious difficulties when a woman decides to stop taking the Pill in the hope of becoming pregnant. Both the progestin-only and oestrogen-progesterone formula- tions act to cause alterations to the lining of the womb, converting the proliferative nature of the endometrium—which is naturally designed to accept and sustain a fertilised ovum—to a secretory endometrium, which is a thin, devasculating lining, physiological- ly unreceptive to receiving and sustaining a zygote." The Pill also causes changes to the movement of the Fallopian tubes which may alter the time taken for the passage of the ovum and hence reduce the possibility of the ova being fertilised."' Clearly, when you tamper with a woman's hormones you are tampering with her most sensitive physiological and psychologi- cal processes. By interfering with these vital processes, many profound changes are initiated in a woman's body. For the best part of two centuries we have known that sex hor- mones cause cancer in hormone-dependent tissues, such as in the breast. In 1940, around the time that pharmaceutical oestrogenic chemicals were first appearing on the market, an American wom- an's lifetime risk of breast cancer was | in 20. In 1995 the risk is now | in 8. In Australia, it is presently 1 in 14. "Every study shows an increase now," confirms Carol Ann Rinzler, author of the authoritative book, Estrogens and Breast Cancer. Rinzler is especially worried about the youngest users who may take the Pill for four years or longer prior to the birth of their first child. These young women, she explains, have the highest risk of developing cancer from using the Pill, and the highest risk of acquiring sexually transmitted diseases. Teenagers are particularly vulnerable to the potent artificial steroid drugs contained in the Pill. According to a report in the November 1995 Natural Fertility Management newsletter, the Pill causes 150 chemical changes in a young woman's body. The prevailing myth that the Pill is a safe and natural way to correct hormonal imbalances has led to its widespread use in cor- recting teenagers' menstrual cycles or alleviating painful periods. Puberty has now been medicalised. Even though Nature often requires several years to help balance out a teenager's menstrual cycle, girls as young as 13 who complain of irregularities will all too often be recommended or prescribed the Pill, supposedly to help 'regulate' their periods. Such common practices are both irre- sponsible and highly dangerous. Professor Vincent, formerly chief hydrologist at the Department of Hydrology at Paris University, pioneered what has become known as the Bio-electronic Vincent Method of assessing healthy blood and tissue parameters. By conducting tests that measured such indicators as pH, resistance and redox potential in blood, urine and saliva, he was able to determine a subject's general health. When he directed his testing methods to assess the health of women using the Pill, his results were quite shocking. Women on the Pill showed a definite shift of parameters towards a malig- nant pattern within just a few months of starting to use it! By the mid-1970s a new test, allowing doctors to identify oestrogen-dependent tumours, established that approximately one- third of breast cancers contain cell chains that hook up with oestrogen molecules. Such tumours are called "oestrogen recep- tor positive", or "ER+".’? Very simply, they grow when exposed to oestrogen and shrink when their source of oestrogen is with- drawn. This new technology has allowed epidemiological The Pill is contraindicated = Epilepsy Recurrent or active hepatitis for women with a personal Fibroid tumours of the uterus ~ Unusual vaginal bleeding i i i . 2 Gall bladder disease or gallstones = Varicose veins (large, swollen, or ry of: history or family history 0 + Heart or kidney disease tender) Angina pectoris High blood pressure Very irregular menstrual cycles or = Blood clots + High cholesterol or triglycerides late menarche = Women who are currently + Breast nodules or fibrocystic Liver tumours ° disease of the breast - Migraines or recurrent headache breast-feeding a = Cancer, known or suspected, of + Multiple sclerosis = Women over 35, especially if the breast or reproductive organs + Obesity they smoke or suffer from poor , : : . irculation Cigarette smoking - Pregnancy-triggered diseases, een - Depression €.g., jaundice, herpes, chloasma (Source: Natural Fertility, - Diabetes + Pregnancy, known or suspected by Francesca Naish) JUNE - JULY 1997 NEXUS - 27 THE PILL AND BREAST CANCER