Natural thinking on natural bullshit.

SMILE!! IT’S ALL NATURAL

I was just browsing the FDA newsroom site, cause I like to see what’s going on there. I like reading about all the recalls. I also enjoy marveling at the sheer amount of stuff that they approve each day, either drug, devices or medical tests. Anyways.

So I see this Jan 9 press release about bio-identical hormone replacement therapy or BHRT. In case you didn’t know, BHRT is hormone replacement therapy that uses naturally extracted or synthesized female sex hormones that are identical to the ones our bodies naturally produce. They increased in popularity following finding from several massive clinical trials that traditional HRT (synthesized molecules that are slightly different than our “natural” ones) can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, blood clots and breast cancer. For a good overview of the science, check out this page from the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation. The FDA also has their own little BHRT: Fact and fiction page. It’s fun!

The FDA is basically putting the kibosh on the marketing ploys of certain pharmacies who claim that BHRT can fight Alzheimer’s and cancer. And of course it’s safe! because it is NATURAL. And NATURAL hormones won’t hurt you, because they are so NATURAL and all.

This, my friends, is complete bullshit. Maybe they are safer, maybe they aren’t. That depends on dosing, the compounds used, the individual’s profile and some ACTUAL CLINICAL TRIALS supporting this claim.  Seeing as there aren’t any good studies on BHRT, we just don’t know. This paper, from researchers at the Women’s Integrative Medicine Department, Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in Arizona suggest that BHRT is likely carries similar risks compared to the evil evil synthetic, patented, vicious criminal Big-Pharma stuff.

Why why WHY do people get sucked into the “natural MUST = safe + good.” I mean check out this study from 2001 that found a whole buncha college-educated women felt that natural hormones were more effective, had fewer or no risks and fewer side effects. Seriously?

I mean RICIN is natural, ain’t it? It’s just all natural bean mush that will slowly and painfully kill you over a couple of days.

I am not an anti-natural medicine nut. I use echinacea. I think home births can be effectively as safe as hospital births for a large percentage of the population. Raw milk is good for you (though it won’t do your taxes or fight Alzheimer’s or anything...and PS...part deux is coming soon, promise). A lot of pharmaceuticals are total crap and the business of conventional medicine is pretty geared towards treating you to within an inch of your life. Yes. Nevertheless, I really really really don’t like seeing the massive proliferation of health care half or untruths. It’s offensive and terrifying. Terrifying because people are BUYING it. Hook, line and bank account.

(PS. I have recently read, on a site that will go unnamed, that the root cause of all cancers, such as colon cancer, is actually unresolved emotional conflict. I shit you not).