The view that contemporary medical science has of the human person is
still primarily based upon a 19th century model of mechanical
engineering, which considers the human body as a machine and every part
in it as replaceable, except perhaps the doctor's brain !!!:). The
exponents of this view forget
(a) that the body is a living organ with
an inner environment of its own which is polluted by the food we eat,
air we breathe, water we drink, thoughts we nurture;
(b) that the
healing is within and
(c) that the treatment should not be worse than
the disease.
Although hormones are largely recognised as pleasure tools or agents of
youth, sexuality and immortality (all false notions), they play an
important role in the body. Produced by different organs and glands, and
transported to different cells, in a complex network of demand and
provision, over 30 hormones govern a wide range of physical and
psychological conditions.
Hormones determine the course of growth and eventual height, the
stimulation of secreted milk in mothers. They maintain sodium and
phosphate balance in the kidneys and sugar levels in the blood - insulin
is a hormone. They are responsible for development and maintenance of
the male and female sex characteristics, while also regulating
reproduction. They are almost entirely responsible for the management
of digestion in the human body.
Apart from having huge tasks such as these, hormones, their distribution
and strength, also determine a multitude of details that make up an
individual's quality of life. They determine processes, such as
secretion of saliva in the mouth and of liquids in the eye, the
secretion of lubricants in the vagina and density of bone. Hormone
imbalance can cause oily or dry skin, pre-menstrual tension, low energy
and fatigue.
However, the introduction of non-individual specific hormones into the
human body will create myriad problems. In other words, it is a
treatment worse than the disease, namely, menopause - which is a passing
phase.
The glands and organs of the endocrine system are: the hypothalmus,
pituitary and pineal glands, which are situated in the brain; the
thyroid, which is situated in the front of the neck, just below the
voice box; the two adrenal glands situated on the upper ends of the
kidneys and the pancreas; in women, the ovaries, which are situated on
both sides of the uterus, and, in men, the testes. Most of the major
organs of the body like the heart, the stomach, the intestines and skin,
produce hormones as well as perform their main functions.
The pituitary gland produces, among other things, the growth hormone,
prolactin, which initiates and sustains lactation, thyrotropin, which
stimulates the thyroid to produce thyroid hormones, and corticotrophin,
which stimulates the adrenal glands to prodce its hormones. It also
affects the nervous system, secreting endorphins, signals to the ovaries
and testes to make sex hormones, and controls ovulation and menstruation
in women.
The thyroid gland produces thyroxine and triiodothyronine. These
hormones control the metabolic rate and determine energy levels.
In the kidneys and pancreas, the adrenal glands regulate the salt and
water balance in the body, as well as stress responses, metabolism, the
immune system and sexual development and function.
The male sex hormones produced by the gonads, the testes, are called
androgens, the most important of which is testosterone. This hormone
controls the male sex characteristics, both primary and secondary,
including muscle growth and growth of facial and body hair. The female
gonads, the ovaries, produce oestrogen and progesterone, which regulate
the development of all the female sexual features and reproductive
functions, including menstruation and pregnancy.
A complex relationship between the pituitary gland - sometimes called
the 'master gland' because it controls so many varied functions - and
the hypothalmus, within the brain, ensures that the pituitary gland
produces hormones in relation to the emotional mood of the individual
and to external factors such as temperature and climate change and light
exposure.
Female reproductive hormones begin their development and their
regulation in the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. The hypothalamus
first releases the gonadotropin-releasing hormone, which in turn
stimulates the pituitary gland to produce follicle-stimulating hormone
(FSH) and luteinising hormone (LH). These two instructing hormones then
command the ovaries to secrete oestrogen and progesterone.
Hormone balances change throughout the course of a person's life,
depending on when and how the identity develops with age. Hormones move
with differing regularity and energy at different times in the male and
female bodies. After sexual maturity, which comes earlier in women than
in men, hormone levels in women fluctuate cyclically over a much wider
range than those of men. At female menopause, ovarian secretion shuts
down. In men the testes continue to produce testosterone, but at an
increasingly slower rate. In very old age, the brain hormonal
environment is similar in the two sexes.
The function of hormones and what they do to the human body has changed
historically. Now that women in developed societies, for example, have
fewer children and are less often pregnant, they have three times as
many periods, and higher levels of circulating oestrogen than their
great-grandmothers did a century ago.
A good example of the complexity of the endocrine system and the human
historical condition is the hormone melatonin, which is produced by the
pineal gland. Melatonin is an antioxidant which goes through the body
scavenging 'free radicals', damaging toxic elements that build up in the
body.
Melatonin is produced when sleeping in complete darkness. With the
development of electricity in the early 20th century, light and darkness
patterns that had previously dictated human behaviour, changed radically
leading to production of less melatonin. Some scientists believe that
changing light pattern and lack of melatonin could be one of the factors
contributing to the increase in cancers.
The production of hormones can be affected by stress, infection and in
the contemporary world, the taking into the body of hormone-mimicking
chemicals. Imbalances of hormone can lead to a variety of illnesses,
which originate in both the mind and the body. Levels of oestrogen and
progesterone can both inhibit and encourage tumour growth in the breast,
the uterus and the ovaries. It is thought that levels of hormones are
also linked to diseases of the mind such as Alzheimer's, schizophrenia
and more common ailments such as depression, anxiety and alcholism.
It is dangerous to give any kind of hormonal supplementation because
artificial processes of delivery cannot imitate nature and always
provide a sudden increase in hormones into a delicate and complicated
system.
There is a recognised series of illnesses caused by malfunctioning of
the hormone producers in the body, which include: goitre (over
production of thyroid hormones), Hashimoto's thyroiditis (under
production of thyroid hormones), gigantism (over production of growth
hormone), Type 1 and 2 diabetes (created by the lack of production of,
and the inability to utilise insulin), Cushing's syndrome (execessive
amounts of glucocorticoid hormones, resulting in symptoms that include
obesity, growth failure, muscle weakness, acne, high blood pressure),
Grave's disease and adrenal insufficiency leading to weakness, fatigue,
abdominal pain, nausea, dehydration and skin changes. A lack of
thyroid-stimulating hormones is suspected of playing a part in
osteoporosis.
The approach of physicians to giving and taking away hormones from women
over the last half century, in no sense matches the infinitely complex
natural modulation of the human female person. The automatic assumption
that synthetic hormones would inevitably play a useful role in making
the human body function better is one of Allopathy's most perverse and
ill-founded conclusions.
Now in her early sixties, Maggie Tuttle had an interesting younger life
as a popular singer and campaigner. In 1979 (she was 37) she lost a baby
and suffered from irregular periods. She was prescribed HRT by her GP.
>From the first time she took HRT, Maggie felt unwell with several
symptoms. For 15 years, Maggie visited a large number of doctors, who
all told her that the new symptoms had nothing to do with HRT. Maggie,
of course, was sure that these were the adverse reactions of HRT, that
she was the victim of iatrogenic illness (doctor or drug induced
disease). Maggie changed her prescriptions many times. However, nothing
stopped the terrible pains in her back and shoulders, hot and cold
fevers, sweating or the extreme fatigue that had descended on her.
Perhaps worst of all were the times when she literally lost her mind,
suffering bouts of unconsciousness. It is good that she did not die
like Irene Brankin (whose death certificate appears on page 342 of the
book) and has lived to tell the story of medical mess.
In 1995, after a period of a new prescription, when her hair started
falling, Maggie did the only thing that she should have done long ago:
she stopped taking HRT. Three months after she stopped taking hormones,
most of Maggie's symptoms had gone and her hair had begun to grow back.
In the meantime she had placed an ad in a newspaper asking if anyone
else was having a similar experience and she was inundated with several
frantic callers, which made her set up Menopausal Helpline, which was
wound up in 2003. Inspite of tremendous support from print and
electronic media and wide awareness, Maggie felt bitter that the voice
of the women was still not recorded properly.
Licensed to Kill and Maim ably chronicled by Martin Walker (he really
walks the talk) records the collective experiences of over 10,000 women
who had contacted Maggie, simultaneously piecing together the scientific
reports of the detrimental consequences of HRT. The conflict between the
'medical state' and the fragile individual, between the mighty pharma
MNCs and the 'consumer', disabled further by medical professionals, and
between the laity and the unholy alliance of professional physicians and
pseudo-science, is becoming fiercer.
The Questionnaire on the side effects of HRT on page 341 lists about 45
adverse effects of HRT and thereby educates the women. Some of the
dangerous side effects are breast cancer, depression and suicidal
feelings, ME, discharge from the vagina, hair growth on face and body,
high BP, memory loss, loss of libido, migraines, psoriasis, stomach
cramps, thinning bones, thyroid problems, voice deepening, obesity,
erratic behaviour, etc.
Even though the alternative to HRT as outlined in this book is patchy,
it does inform the reader that there are alrernatives available. The
campaigners unhesitatingly recommend and quote from the most
authoritative book Women and the Crisis in Sex Hormones by Barbara
Seaman. Her nutritional advice to women during the menopause (or for
that matter throughout life) is: eat fewer sweets, starches, and fried
or fatty foods, especially saturated fats, and to increase consumption
of fibre, raw fruit and vegetables, whole grains and cereals, especially
iron-rich beans, bran, dried fruit, greens and nuts.
What Barbara has forgotten is the yoghurt, barley, honey and sprouts and
to emphasise that among fruits, the organically grown seasonal fruits
and vegetables are the best.
The book also talks of useful herbs like black cohosh, chasteberry, dong
quai, Siberian ginseng, evening primrose oil, gingko biloba, kava-kava,
liquorice and sage. Among vitamins, the Vitamin E and B complex are
regarded as being of utmost value in Menopausal phase and the book
further records homeopathic remedies like Lachesis30 and Silver Nitrate
30.
There are many homeopathic and biochemic remedies for Mentrual and
Menopausal problems, which can be included in the next edition.
Similarly, there is nothing about Yoga, Massage, Music, Reiki,
Hydrotherapy, Acupressure or Aromatherapy in the book. Likewise, a full
chapter on Diet and Nutrition during Menopausal phase could be included
and it will be my pleasure to guide the authors to include this useful
information in the second edition.
Barring these minor lapses the book is foolproof. Extensive
bibliography, chapter wise Index, major subject wise index and the names
index, help the readers to understand this difficult topic. Glossary
perhaps is the only other thing missing.
I compliment the authors and the publishers for bringing out such a
useful document which exposes the con-game called the HRT.
Enpassant, Allopathy has created something like 30,000 diseases due to
over use of drugs. Create scare, sell medicines, weaken people, make
them dependent and rake in profit -- that is the kind of nonsense the
modern medicine is.
To order this 40 and above woman's Bible contact:
http://www.zero-risk.org
or write to Slingshot Publications, BM Box 8314, London WC1N 3XX