Synthetic Hormones Again Proven Dangerous

There are already plenty of good reasons to avoid using synthetic hormones, as these have been clearly linked to serious health problems such as breast cancer, heart disease, and other debilitating and potentially deadly health concerns. A new study has now been released which indicates a significant increase in fatalities from certain types of lung cancer in women who were also using synthetic hormones to treat menopause symptoms. (Link to article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090530/ap_on_he_me/us_med_hormones_lung_cancer_4)

The study is the latest conclusion from on ongoing federal research project called The Women's Health Initiative that has been continuing since the late 1990s. Various clinical studies have analyzed the effects of synthetic hormones, and the news is not good. In fact, one phase of the research had to be halted prematurely in 2002 because an alarming percentage of the participants (women given Prempro, an artificial estrogen-progestin compound manufactured by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals) were developing breast cancer.

This latest connection between lung cancer deaths and synthetic hormones indicates a frightening 60% increase in lung cancer deaths (for patients with non-small-cell lung cancers, the most common type) in women who were also using artificial hormones.

Specifics of the study reveal that the increase in death rates was found almost exclusively in participants who had been using synthetic hormones for less than five years. This information blows a hole in one of the recommendations that has been issued by the FDA and medical authorities stemming from the Women's Health Initiative Studies. They are telling women that the short-term use of synthetic hormones (in the two-year range) is relatively safe. Obviously, it isn't very safe for lung cancer patients. This is just additional evidence for the increased danger of these hazardous drugs, especially for women who smoke (probably a large percentage of lung cancer patients). Smoking while using synthetic hormones has already proven to raise the risk of strokes, heart attacks, and other types of coronary disease.

The truly ironic thing about this whole issue is that synthetic hormones, a multi-million dollar money-maker for Big Pharma, are typically prescribed for treating the symptoms of menopause as if it were a disease -- which it is not. So, we have women using these highly risky drugs and they are not even sick!

In many cultures around the world, this time of life for women is considered a natural phase that is not to be feared or demonized, but rather, menopause is accepted and even welcomed. Menopause is simply a process that transitions women from their child-bearing years into a later stage of life that can open doors for new challenges and opportunities. Menopause is marked a villain here in the U.S., a "disease" to be avoided and thus medicated. The pharmaceutical companies recognize this and indeed contribute to it. They also capitalize on it by pushing the use of synthetic hormones that literally risk the lives of the women who use them. Risking lives in the name of medicine (first -- do no harm) with the results being that more health concerns are created and deeper pockets are being filled for the doctors who push them and the pharmaceutical companies that make them.

Again, menopause is not an illness, but there are some symptoms that can be difficult to manage for many women. Synthetic hormones are definitely not the answer because, as we continue to see, they add more health concerns. How many times do we have to bang our head against the wall about this before we say "No More"? There ARE answers that work by using natural, safe ways to deal with the symptoms of menopause and PMS. These include:

• Bio-identical USP progesterone: The use of bio-identical hormone replacement is one of the most effective ways to deal with menopause, helping to achieve hormone balance without the dangers connected to synthetic hormones. Just because a conventional practitioner says there is no bHRT science, does not mean it doesn't work. (By the way, there is plenty of science but it is ignored.) It just means that he/she is most likely not educated in bHRT.
• Eat Healthy: The importance of an organic diet that is whole-foods based and includes an abundance of raw foods such as fruits and vegetables along with healthy fats cannot be overemphasized. It is foundational to the healing of the body and mind. Eliminate animal fat, which will only worsen menopause symptoms (and your overall health), especially if eating meat and dairy that is laced with added hormones. Refuse to knowingly put chemicals into or on your body. This will increase the hormonal imbalance in your body.
• Natural Phytoestrogens: Get natural estrogen from the natural phytoestrogens in foods. This will go a long way toward helping with symptoms without being harmful to your body.
• Cut down on stress: Even better than cutting down would be to eliminate stress completely. Yes, it takes work, but it can be done. Stress is a silent killer. Learn deep breathing techniques, take walks in nature, read up-lifting books, listen to relaxing music, get 30 minutes' worth of unprotected sunshine every day, cultivate friendships and hobbies. Women who have adrenal stress will have a very difficult time in balancing their hormones if they do not deal with/eliminate stress in their life.
• Thyroid: Get your thyroid correctly checked and in balance. See my blog article Balancing The Thyroid Naturally.
• Exercise: If one is over-weight, they are most likely estrogen dominant. Excess estrogen is stored in fat cells. Daily exercise helps to eliminate fat and thus helps the body to get rid of excess estrogen. You don't have to run a marathon or sweat buckets every day. Using a rebounder for 15-20 minutes/day or taking a brisk 30 minute walk will do wonders at alleviating fat from the body.
• Natural vitamin E: The use of natural, mixed vitamin E (that the body can recognize and use) is especially helpful for symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats.
• Vitex: Chaste berry is a herb that acts as a natural progesterone precursor. Many women use it during the days of the month in which they are not using bio-identical progesterone. Note that it can take 4-5 months for the effects of Vitex to take place.
• Vaginal Dryness: I have just developed a product called Her Oasis which addresses vaginal dryness and irritation. It contains the highest quality of organic Aloe Vera, natural Vitamin E and Sea Buckthorn Root.

Ladies, it is time to stand up and take responsibility for your health and well-being. Do your own research. The pharmaceutical companies do not have anyone's best interest at heart, nor do they care about getting to the root of health concerns. Many doctors get their continuing education from pharmaceutical reps and therefore know nothing about bio-identical hormone therapy. The pharmaceutical companies are about symptom relief, quick fixes and getting your money in their pockets. Decide to take back control of your health. Give your body, in natural ways, what it needs to be supported and healthy. Give it time to heal and repair. Decide FOR health and well-being and not fads. Ultimately, you will be so thankful that you took the time to educate yourself about what is really healthy and best for your situation. In the long run, you will begin to remember what it feels like to have true health and well-being.

Suggested Reading

Nutritional Powerhouse: Sea Buckthorn
New Study Indicates Further Dangers of Conventional Hormone Replacement Therapy

Macular Degeneration and Bioidentical Hormones

As the number of baby-boomers who reach retirement continues to grow, an eye disease called macular degeneration -- or age-related macular degeneration (AMD) -- is an ever-increasing health issue for millions of people. In fact, AMD is statistically found in nearly one-third of American adults over the age of 65, and is the leading cause of blindness in this age group. Scientists are predicting a whopping 18 million cases of AMD by the year 2050, and until recently, this disease was thought to be incurable and irreversible. However, researchers have recently conducted studies that indicate great hope for preventing and potentially healing AMD through the use of supplementation with bioidentical hormones.

What is AMD?

AMD is literally deterioration of a part of the eye, located in the center of the retina, called the macula. The retina is a critical part of the eye that is composed of millions of specialized structures known as photoreceptors that capture light as they receive signals from the brain via the optic nerve and convert these signals into images. AMD most often occurs when tiny yellow particles made of cholesterol called drusen begin to collect at the back of the eye and damage the macula and the photoreceptors. This type of AMD is called dry macular degeneration, and is by far the most common, accounting for about 90% of cases. Wet macular degeneration is the result of tiny blood vessels that grow abnormally in the retina and leak, causing damage and potentially rapid and irreversible blindness. Wet AMD always begins as dry, and progresses into wet, although not all cases of dry will turn into wet. AMD causes loss in the center of your vision, while peripheral vision is not affected. For many years, drusen have been identified as the culprit in AMD, and researchers thought they were probably the result of inflammation, cellular waste product, or reduction in blood flow to the retinal area due to aging.

Certain risk factors for AMD have been identified as well. These include smoking, a high fat diet, obesity, insufficient physical exercise, high blood pressure, family history, and others. If these risk factors sound a lot like those for cardiovascular disease, it is because they are identical. What’s the connection with heart disease? One word: Hormones.


How Can Bioidentical Hormone Therapy Help With AMD?

An exciting discovery was made about 10 years ago that is a boone for the care of AMD and for the overall understanding of hormone therapy. Researchers conducted several studies that led them to conclude that AMD can be prevented, and even reversed in some cases, by the use of bioidentical hormones. This journey began when cholesterol was pinpointed as the main ingredient in drusen, and the link between macular degeneration and cardiovascular disease was factored in. This link is very clear. In fact, it is estimated that a person with AMD has 5 times the chance of dying from coronary disease and 10x the chance of dying from a stroke than individuals without AMD. This led researchers to speculate that drusen form because the retina is trying to compensate for a lack of critical hormones in the blood by making its own. When it is unable to accomplish that, drusen (cholesterol) increases, causing AMD and increasing risk for cardiac disease.

The theory turned out to be correct, and it has been proven in clinical studies that supplementation with bioidentical hormones -- not synthetic ones -- has significant healing effects on both AMD and heart disease. These hormones include: dhea, progesterone, testosterone, pregnenolone, and others.

The retina is technically part of the brain, as an extension of the optic nerve, and hormones such as pregnenolone, estrogen, and progesterone are critical for proper brain and nervous system functioning. Dhea is also important in preventing AMD and heart disease.

What Else Can Help Prevent AMD?

While hormone therapy has the most significant effect, certain other substances have also proven therapy themselves to be useful for treating and preventing AMD. These include:

• Bioactive substances that are found in many raw vegetables called carotenoids. Examples include zeaxanthin and lutein.
• Vitamins and minerals high in antioxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin E, zinc, and beta-carotene. When Mom told you that eating your carrots would help your eyes, she was right!

The discovery of hormonal links to AMD has reinforced the concept that proper hormonal balance, and the use of supplemental bioidentical hormones, plays a major role in wellness and disease prevention of all types.

More Information

Preventing Macular Degeneration A New Theory

HRT May Cause Brain Damage

The use of artificial Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) drugs is associated with many hazardous side effects, including an increased risk for cancers, strokes, dementia, and other serious disease. A new study now indicates that synthetic HRT drugs can also literally shrink the brains of women who use them.

The FDA and mainstream medicine are aware of these dangerous side effects, yet they continue to allow and promote HRT by prescription to millions of women. Some of the probable reasons for that are discussed in this article.

As huge numbers of baby boomers approach menopause, the need for natural hormonal balance is a critical health issue. However, the best way to deal with this situation is to work with a natural medicine healthcare provider that can test you (saliva is what I recommend) to see exactly which hormones you need, and then recommend natural hormone balancing therapies that will work with your body and not against it. This is a much safer and more effective plan than the "one size fits all" approach often used with conventional HRT. Saliva and Blood-Spot Test kits are quick, efficient and cost effective allowing one to perform these tests in the privacy of their own home. I highly recommend them.


HRT Drugs Shrink Women's Brains
by Mike Adams, NaturalNews Editor
(NaturalNews) A new study carried out at Wake Forest University and published in the medical journal Neurology has found that HRT drugs literally shrink women's brains. Subjects who took HRT drugs for an extended period of time showed a loss of 2.37 cubic centimeters in the frontal lobe of the brain.
The frontal lobe is responsible for memory and thinking skills. These study findings may explain why women who use HRT drugs are increasingly being diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Dr. David Sturdee, president of the International Menopause Society, disagrees that brain shrinkage is a bad thing. "The benefits (of HRT) are still way in excess of the risks," he explains in a BBC report. HRT drugs also increase the risk of strokes and cancer, but they earn billions of dollars in revenue for drug companies.
Are HRT drugs part of a campaign to keep the women in society barefoot, pregnant and stupid? It just so happens that these drugs -- which are mostly pushed by men -- keep women in a state of cognitive impairment in which their thinking skills are suppressed. (It turns smart women into stupid women.) The shrinkage of their frontal lobe also causes them to be unable to make good decisions about getting OFF the medications, and that plays right into the hands of Big Pharma's profit schemes.
It's not unusual for drugs to shrink the brains of those who take them. ADHD drugs have also been proven to cause stunted growth and brain shrinkage in children and teens. But that doesn't stop them from being prescribed to children.
The dumbing down of America, it seems, is being accomplished in part through the mass medication of women and children with brain-shrinking drugs.
Last night I was watching footage of a Donahue show from the 1970's. It was downright fascinating to see how highly intelligent the people in the audience were. They asked intelligent questions and were thoughtful and critical. I sat there shocked at the contrast modern-day television show audiences.
Most of today's talk shows are idiot fests, where the IQs of audience members are barely above room temperature. It's amazing how America has gone from a nation of intelligent consumers to idiot consumers in just three decades. That rising wave of idiocy just happens to coincide with the rise of Big Pharma.
Coincidence? Not likely. The mass medication of America has accomplished something quite remarkable: The mass chemical lobotomization of the population by drug companies and their government enforcers (FDA, FTC). With all the brain-shrinking drugs now being consumed by the majority of people in America, it's no exaggeration to say that America has become a nation of mentally retarded consumers, and I mean that in a clinical sense, not as a casual insult. Widespread brain shrinkage is a (sad) fact in America today.
If it all seems a little confusing, just remember this quote from one of the greatest poets in American history, W. H. Auden, who said: "We are here on Earth to do good to others. What the others are here for, I don't know."

http://www.naturalnews.com/z025354.html

New Study Indicates Further Dangers of Conventional Hormone Replacement Therapy

Even the mainstream medical establishment has finally come around and admitted that the use of synthetic hormone replacement therapy in women is hazardous. They initially stated that the use of such drugs was only linked to increased risk of breast cancer in women using them for at least five years. However, new evidence indicates that shorter usage periods can significantly increase risk for certain types of cancers after only three years. It is obvious that the use of these artificial forms of hormones is not a good choice for health-conscious women, regardless of the length of exposure.

The "one size fits all" approach to hormonal balance that is the foundation of most HRT regimens is obviously a huge mistake. One of the concerns is that such therapies assume that all women are estrogen-deficient, despite the fact that this is typically not the case. The use of synthetic estrogen does help relieve some hormonal symptoms, but never gets to the root of the concern and in fact may cause more health concerns down the road. The use of a high-quality, natural hormone replacement product will address the problem of progesterone deficiency that is overlooked by conventional HRT, and will provide natural hormonal balance in a form that is gentle to the body, and easily recognized and assimilated for maximum safety and efficiency. There are many natural ways of dealing with hormonal changes. Do not be duped into thinking that the use of synthetic HRT, even for a short time, is necessary or safe, regardless of the advice of many well-meaning but misinformed healthcare practitioners.


Hormone Replacement Therapy Boosts Risk of Breast Cancer by 400 Percent
by David Gutierrez

(NaturalNews) Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) increases women's risk of lobular breast cancer by four times after only three years, according to a study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

"Previous research indicated that five or more years of combined hormone-therapy use was necessary to increase overall breast cancer risk," said lead researcher Christopher Li of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. "Our study ... suggests that a significantly shorter length of exposure to such hormones may confer an increased risk."

Researchers suggested that the longer time period found in prior studies arose from the fact that those studies looked only at breast cancer in general, while the current study looked specifically at lobular cancers.

Lobular breast cancer accounts for approximately 10 percent of invasive breast cancers, while ductal breast cancer, in which tumors form in the breast's milk ducts, accounts for much of the rest.

In the current study, researchers questioned 1,500 post-menopausal women in western Washington about their use of HRT. Women who were currently taking HRT had three times the cancer rate as women who were not undergoing the therapy. Those who had been taking HRT drugs for three years or more had four times the risk.

The researchers noted that the occurrence of lobular cancer in the United States increased by 52 percent between 1987 and 1999, while the incidence of ductal-lobular cancer rose by 96 percent. In the same time period, the occurrence of ductal cancer rose by only 3 percent.

In 2002, the results of the Women's Health Initiative study first showed a link between HRT and increased breast cancer risk, leading to a sharp drop in the prevalence of HRT. Between 2001 and 2004, the researchers noted, breast cancer rates in the United States fell by 8.6 percent.

http://www.naturalnews.com/023893.html

Ixempra - Newest Drug for Advanced Breast Cancer

Once again chemotherapy is being proven as very ineffective in the treatment of cancer. Suggesting that a 1.6 month response rate is something huge is hardly what most cancer patients would get very excited especially if they were told the truth about the conventional medicine meaning of response rate.

Notice the side effects of Ixempra and how many of them have to do with the digestive tract. Once the digestive tract, which is where 70-80% of the immune system is located, is compromised it becomes very difficult to bring it back into uncompromised health. Not impossible, but very difficult. And even then there will almost always be future digestive tract issues that are a result of chemotherapy.

Almost all chemotherapy is experimental medicine, meaning that the patient is being used as a guinea pig in the name of cancer research. Through these experiments patients are used to determine the type of drugs that seemingly get a response when mixed (chemo cocktails), dosage amounts (some trials have been stopped because patients died from what was discovered to be over-dosage), severity of side effects along with survival rates using different ratios of the above.

It is time that America insist that the cancer-game that we have been playing, in the name of cancer research, for the last 30 plus years be stopped. We need to take our focus off of toxic drugs that harm the entire body and instead focus on giving the body (immune system) what it needs to get well. As long as we believe the mass media marketing by the NCI and cancer treatment hospitals that poisoning the body with chemicals and then hoping for wellness is actually obtainable, this barbaric treatment will continue. It hasn't worked in the past and it will not work in the future. Remember, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Right now, cancer treatment in the U.S. is in the realm of insanity.


IXEMPRA - A NEW DRUG FOR ADVANCED BREAST CANCER

In October 2007, the FDA approved Ixempra (ixabepilone) for the treatment of advanced breast cancer. Specifically, the drug was approved for the treatment of patients whose metastatic or locally advanced breast cancer has become resistant to standard drugs such as anthracyclines, taxanes, and capecitabine (Xeloda). Ixempra is classified as a "microtubule inhibitor." It is thus similar to the taxanes but is said by the manufacturer, Bristol-Myers, to be somewhat less toxic.

"Previously, patients with aggressive metastatic or locally advanced breast cancer no longer responding to currently available chemotherapies had limited treatment options," said Linda Vahdat, M.D., of New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center, in a statement released by the company. "The approval of Ixempra means that we now have an important new option for patients with metastatic breast cancer who have rapidly progressed through currently approved chemotherapies."

Let us therefore examine just how "important" this new option is likely to be to patients with metastatic breast cancer.

First of Two Trials

The FDA approval of Ixempra was based on two clinical trials that included a total of 878 patients. The first of these studies was a phase II (non-randomized) trial of Ixempra as a stand-alone treatment. That study enrolled 126 patients with either metastatic or locally advanced breast cancer that had proven resistant to three prior therapies. There was an "objective partial response" in 12.4 percent of 113 evaluable patients. In other words, fewer than one out of eight patients who got the drug saw their tumors shrink. (And, by the way, whatever happened to the other 13 "unevaluable" patients in the study? Under the commonly observed intent-to-treat rule of medical statistics, they should have been included in this analysis.)

A partial response is generally defined as an incomplete shrinkage of the tumor by more than 50 percent for one month or more. As long-time readers of this newsletter will know, a partial response generally does not correlate with increased survival.

Side effects of Ixempra in this trial included the following:

• Peripheral sensory neuropathy in 62 percent of patients, with serious to severe effects (Grades 3 and 4) in 14 percent;


• Fatigue, asthenia 56 percent (Grade 3/4: 13 percent);


• Myalgia, arthralgia 49 percent (Grade 3/4: 8 percent);


• Alopecia 48 percent (Grade 3/4: 0 percent);


• Nausea 42 percent (Grade 3/4: 2 percent);


• Stomatitis,mucositis 29 percent (Grade 3/4: 6 percent);


• Vomiting 29 percent (Grade 3/4: 1 percent);


• Diarrhea 22 percent (Grade 3/4: 1 percent);


• Musculoskeletal pain 20 percent (Grade 3/4: 3 percent).

Major hematologic [blood-related] adverse events included neutropenia [Grade 3-4 in 54 percent] and leukopenia [Grade 3-4 in 49 percent].

Combination Trial

FDA also took into consideration a larger phase III randomized trial which evaluated the efficacy and safety of Ixempra combined with Xeloda (capecitabine) in comparison to Xeloda used as a stand alone treatment. This trial included 752 patients who were previously treated with anthracyclines (such as Adriamycin) and taxanes (such as Taxol), and whose tumors had already shown resistance to these therapies. In this trial, Ixempra in combination with Xeloda resulted in a slight improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) compared to Xeloda given alone.

The median survival with the combination of Ixempra and Xeloda was 5.7 months vs. 4.1 months for Xeloda alone - a gain of 1.6 months. But the side effects included peripheral sensory neuropathy in 65 percent, hand-foot syndrome in 64 percent, nausea in 53 percent, diarrhea in 44 percent, etc.

Again, readers will note that the above statistics do not yield any information on overall survival, i.e., how long on average Ixempra patients can be expected to live compared to those who got either Xeloda alone or no further treatment. The increase of 1.6 months (which you can be sure will be widely bandied about as indicative of the "value" of Ixempra) refers solely to an improvement in progression-free survival. But progression-free survival is not at all the same thing as improved overall survival. Progression-free survival is the time during which the disease appears stable before once again beginning to advance. It is entirely possible that two groups of patients could have a significant difference in this parameter, but the disease could still claim their lives at roughly the same time.

A Bristol-Myers spokesperson has been quoted as saying that the cost of a full course of Ixempra would be between $18,440 to $23,050.

There was a time when FDA required proof of increased survival before it would approve a new drug. Now Bristol-Myers has gotten Ixempra onto the market, having only shown a slight increase in a surrogate marker of doubtful benefit.

--Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.
http://www.cancerdecisions.com/

References:

Ixempra company web site: http://www.ixempra.com/

Cost of Ixempra: http://www.topnews.in/bristol-myers-breast-cancer-drug-won-us-fda-approval-23921

A Measure of Vindication for Wyeth

Unfortunately I just don't trust studies that seem to back a pharmaceutical company who has been trying to get the FDA to remove natural (bio-identical) hormones from being purchased without a prescription. These pharmaceutical giants have a lot of pull and it wouldn't be the first time that a study was skewed in their favor. While, seemingly, the WHI study now says that using synthetic hormones after menopause will not cause heart concerns, the biggest concern, like is said below, is the breast cancer issue. Our body does not get sick from a lack of pharmaceutical drugs.

It is concerning that the sales of synthetic hormones seem to be on the incline, if we can believe the figures. Most women are already on toxic over-load from all the chemicals in our food and water, not to mention the estrogenic effects from plastics and the environment. I suspect that since Wyeth was slapped in the face with the first results of the WHI, they have talked doctors into carrying on their mantra of "all you need is some estrogen and you will feel fine" by one-on-one contact with their patients.

Somehow, I just don't think that God intended that horse urine would help women with hormonal imbalance without causing other health concerns. But then Big Pharma usually thinks they know more than God.

by Jacob Goldstein - Wall Street Journal

All along, drug maker Wyeth has been the Big Pharma face of hormone replacement therapy. The companys drug Prempro, a combination of estrogen and progestin, was used in one arm of the large study known as WHI that was halted because the drug increased the risk of heart attacks. The findings, published in 2002, rang a loud alarm over use of the drugs to ease the symptoms of menopause.

The WHI report crushed what had been the cornerstone of Wyeths pharmaceutical franchise. Even with a recent rebound, sales of Premarin, an estrogen-only pill, and Prempro are a far cry from their peak before the first results of the WHI study came out. In 2001, sales of the drugs topped $2.07 billion. By 2003, sales had fallen to $1.28 billion and declined in later years to less than $1 billion annually.

Still, Wyeth stood by the medicines. And demand has begun to creep up. World-wide sales of Premarin and Prempro medicines were $1.05 billion last year, a 16% increase from $909 million in 2005. Sales of Prempro alone were $239 million in 2006, down 1% from $242 million the year before.

Today, Wyeth said in a statement that the results should be reassuring about heart-attack risks for newly menopausal women.

So what does the new finding that HRT does not appear to raise the risk of heart disease for women in their 50s mean for the company? We asked Tara Parker-Pope, the Journals HRT maven, and author of the recently published book The Hormone Decision.

Here Is what she told us:

What is tricky here for Wyeth is that even if the pendulum is starting to swing back in favor of hormones, there remains a bit of a backlash against Premarin and Prempro. Both are made from horse urine, and a lot of women just do not want that. And Suzanne Somers crusade in favor of bioidentical hormones, custom-mixed hormones made from plants, has really had an effect on womens thinking.

In general, this latest finding is good news for Wyeth. It may be that finally the company does not have to hide from the Womens Health Initiative anymore; it can proudly declare that its products are the most-studied hormone drugs in history and now the government is saying that for most women who use them they are safe. After all, this latest data showed that 50 to 59 year old women had a 30% lower risk of dying if they used Premarin or Prempro and that finding was statistically significant. Wyeth has stayed the course amidst all its hormone troubles, but now I think the question is whether they can leverage this into better sales.

The biggest stumbling block may be the breast cancer issue. Most of the litigation over Prempro does not have to do with heart health, but instead relates to breast cancer. That is a harder battle to fight, because the data do show a link between combination hormone use and a slightly higher risk for breast cancer.