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Stop Menopause Symptoms With Horse Urine?
Posted by Alisa Mullins at 6:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Horse Urine? Blecch!
If someone asked you to swallow horse urine, would you do it? Millions of women worldwide swallow horse urine every single day. Surprised? Well check your medicine cabinet: If you take the estrogen-replacement therapy (ERT) drugs Premarin or Prempro, you’re gulping down urine too. That’s because the “secret ingredient” in Premarin and Prempro is pregnant mares’ urine (PMU).
Every year, thousands of pregnant mares are confined to PMU farms in the U.S. and Canada, kept in stalls too small to take more than a step or two in any direction. The cumbersome rubber urine-collection bags that mares must wear at all times chafe their legs and prevent them from lying down comfortably. Mares are given limited access to drinking water so that their urine will yield more concentrated estrogens. And although horses need daily exercise, some mares are not let out of their small stalls for six months. Some farm managers tie up horses so tightly that they cannot lie down at all in their narrow stalls.
The thousands of foals who are born on PMU farms each year fare no better than their mothers. Some are used to replace exhausted mares, many of whom have been confined to PMU farms for up to 20 years. But most of the remaining foals, along with the worn-out mares, are sold at auction, where they are bought by “kill buyers” for slaughterhouses.
An Arizona newspaper recently reported on a couple who rescues PMU mares and foals. The couple notes that the horses are often fearful and unsocialized because of abusive treatment and/or neglect on PMU farms. The couple also notes-chillingly-that the drugs’ maker, Wyeth, actually forbids farm owners to give or sell PMU horses to rescue groups for fear of the bad publicity that results when rescue groups talk to the media about the horses’ plight.
Premarin and Prempro don’t just hurt horses. After Wyeth fought tooth and nail to ensure that only Premarin and Prempro were used in the massive Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study, their machinations backfired in a big way when the study was called off prematurely because of the discovery that the drugs were linked to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and breast cancer. They also found that most of the drugs’ supposed benefits-including improved mental and physical well-being, better sleep, and increased energy and memory function-were nonexistent.
After the WHI findings were publicized, the use of Premarin and Prempro fortunately plummeted, but some doctors continue to prescribe the drugs out of habit-and some women continue to take them for the same reason. But a growing number of physicians are suggesting alternative therapies to manage menopause symptoms, including ERT drugs made from plant sources or synthetics, such as Estrace, Estraderm, and Ogen, which more closely mimic the estrogens found in the human ovary. Some women report successfully combating hot flashes by adopting healthy lifestyle habits, such as exercising, limiting caffeine and alcohol intake, quitting smoking, and eating a low-fat diet. What have been your experiences dealing with the symptoms of menopause?
I’m willing to bet that most women, if they knew the truth about Premarin, would find it a bitter pill to swallow.
Posted to Health | Posted to Tags: Alisa Mullins, horse, menopause, women
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Nancy Distler says...
November 17th, 2008, 11:40 am
This method of obtaining hormones just should not be happening to mares or their fouls. Such abuse and cruelty should not be allowed. It would be a good thing for humans and horses if obtaining hormones in such a barbaric and totally offensive way were banned. I think the manufacturers should have to disclose EXACTLY HOW they get the hormones in large print right on the label and then I am sure that women would immediately STOP using the product. Knowledge is power !!!!!! but consumers are kept in the dark. Disgusting !!!
Laura says...
November 17th, 2008, 4:00 pm
Hi Alisa,
I have been using plant-based hormone therapy for years. (Premarin was exposed to the press before I needed any hormones, so I knew I wasn’t going in that direction!) I also follow a vegan diet, exercise 4 days a week, don’t smoke, and gave up drinking wine. I did experience hot flashes, but they weren’t extreme, and I credit my diet and the plant-based hormones for that.
I must say, if Premarin was the only drug available, I still wouldn’t take it. I don’t believe in inflicting pain and suffering on another living being just to relieve my own. These days there are many options for women going through menopause. By refusing to buy Premarin you are voting with your pocketbook to end the cruelty to horses.
Thanks for the informative post, Alisa!
Sonque says...
November 20th, 2008, 10:51 pm
Thanks for the info. I did not know what was in Premarin. Thank goodness I’m not to that point in life but when I am I won’t be using that. As a nurse I try advising my pts. to use alternative ways.
Tucker says...
November 22nd, 2008, 11:01 am
THIS JUST IS NOT RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY!!!!!!!!
IT IS JUST NOT RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HELP YOUR SELF, WITH OUT, WITH OUT HURTING OTHERS (ANIMALS, HUMANS.)
FIGURE OUT ANOTHER WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kathleen Hogan says...
November 22nd, 2008, 11:27 am
I use the Vivelle patch which is small doses of estradiol, commercially made. The compounding pharmacies also make various kinds of estriols, which are the weakest forms of estrogen. Estrace is a kind of estradiol, also commercially made. None of these use mare urine. Check with any pharmacist, but especially the compounding pharmacies who make their own meds. There are many excellent books on the pros and cons of using any form of estrogen. I lost my uterus to cancer, but since I have no markers for estrogen (causing the cancer) I decided to use the Vivelle patch. I feel better knowing I have some estrogen in me.
Helen says...
November 23rd, 2008, 3:37 pm
my mother got breast cancer
i was fortunate and heard about it through peta and quit immediately
Subhroneel Ganguly says...
November 26th, 2008, 1:51 am
I am not a woman but I feel glad and relieved to read these comments about rejecting the Medicine containing HORSE URINE, because the time came to deliver a message to the manufacturer that either you stop Animal abuse otherwise all women should boycott your products, I am not saying women should suffer, because if it is the question of urine it could be achieved in a more generous way, so stop abusing and torturing HORSES.
Wishaven Animal Rehabilitation says...
January 18th, 2009, 6:00 am
How unfortunate that Wyeth makes several veterinary drugs! I hope that they get an “earful” from tons of us!!! They will certainly hear from ME!
I think it’s time that their cruel, greed-based practices are exposed to the population at large, and specifically to many medical professionals who are unaware that they are participating in acts of cruelty by supporting Wyeth’s products!
Loraine J. Izzo, Esq. says...
January 31st, 2009, 5:52 pm
Dear PETA,
Many years ago I found out how Wyeth produced Premarin - which I was taking at the time. I was outraged that my obgyn never told me the drug composition! I visited him soon after and told him I would not take Premarin and then proceeded to educate him on how it was produced and the suffering caused by its production. Since then, I tell every woman I know who speaks about ERT not to take it. Shame on Wyeth and all the obgyns who don’t tell their patients that Premarin is animal based and most importantly, that there are synthetic alternatives to this cruelty.
Julie van Niekerk says...
March 11th, 2009, 3:45 am
Thanks very much for this info. I have never used anything for my menopause and mother nature took me through this all. Believe me, no side affects or mood swings at all.