We offer viewers of this site some history on where both our horses today came from. It is called the PMU Industry (pregnant mares urine). Both Angel and Mischief are by-product foals of this industry which in fact started to slide 2002. During this time, the industry became very distressed when it could no longer handle the number of mares and their by-product foals, many went down the road to slaughter and quickly. The industry still exists on a much smaller number, which creates some concern as to why we continue to hear the many pleas each year from rescue centers asking for us to support and adopt pmu foals that will go to slaughter unless we provide funds to save them. We don't really have an answer to why the numbers are so high here but we do hope, and very soon that is, that these pleas will lesson drastically to match the downslide of the industry.
Prior to July 2002, there was a one size fits all answer that apparently solved all the problems women faced as they attempted to age gracefully. PremPro was the answer; a mixture of two hormones, Premarin, a synthetic estrogen isolated from pregnant mare urine thus the name Premarin, and Provera; a synthetic progesterone. This single solution PremPro was claimed to be not only the answer to menopausal symptoms but it would also protect the heart from age related heart disease and offer protection from breast cancer, uterine cancer and a decreased risk of osteoporosis.
Findings at the Women's Health Initiative on July 9, 2002 astounded many. Women were now told that the risks outweighed the benefits of PremPro and HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy). Previously found benefits were found not to be benefits at all. PremPro did not appear to protect the heart, brain and breast but it was associated with an actual increase risk for heart attacks, strokes, breast cancer and blood clots.
1974 (approx) - Link between HRT and endometrial cancer is revealed
1998 - The Women's Health Initiative (WHI) begins a 15 year study to test the effects of HRT on the prevention of coronary heart disease and osteoporosis on 16,000 women.
1999 - The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) release a new study "linking HRT after menopause to increased risk of uncommon forms of breast cancer that have good prognoses".
2002 - National Institute of Health (NHI) abruptly halts 15 year study after only 4 years when on July 9, 2002 NHI publishes its shocking findings: combination hormone replacement therapies were putting women at increased risk of multiple serious diseases. These risks include (and are not limited to):
26% increase in breast cancer
41 % increase in stroke
29% increase in heart attacks
100% increase in blood clots
22% increase in heart disease
2005 - In July, JAMA reports results of a study that shows that "more than half of the women who began hormone therapy to stop uncomfortable hot flashes and night sweats experienced those symptoms again once they stopped taking the drugs. The researchers advised doctors to explore alternative ways to treat menopause symptoms"—Marc Kauffman; The Washington Post.
Please scroll down the page to "The Legacy of the Women's Health Initiative" VideoCast and listen to the remarkable stories from women that participated in the WHI study.
A Natural Approach to Hormone Shifts ~ By Neal Barnard, M.D.
Many physicians now treat menopause like a disease and prescribe hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women. There is a better approach. Hormonal shifts at any life stage, including menopause, are much less intense on a low fat, high fiber diet. High fat diets increase estrogen production before menopause, thus the shift at menopause becomes a roller coaster ride. This is aggravated by the lack of fiber in most high fat diets. The body gets rid of excess estrogens, pulling them out of the blood and sending them into the digestive tract, where fiber carries them away with wastes. Since animal products contain no fiber at all, a meat eater’s digestive tract does not contain enough fiber to carry waste hormones away effectively. They end up reabsorbing their own waste hormones.
Low fat, high fiber diets decrease estrogen production, both before and after menopause, and the net effect appears to be a much smoother change. The key, though, is not just to eliminate animal products, but also to keep vegetable oils to an absolute minimum.
Osteoporosis is one of the main reasons doctors prescribe estrogen replacement, but it now appears that the principle contributors to Osteoporosis are animal proteins - which leach calcium from the bones - sedentary lifestyles with a lack of weight-bearing exercise, alcohol, and tobacco.
A low-fat, vegan diet is ideal: high in fiber, low in fat, and no animal protein. It provides calcium in the form of green vegetables, beans, peas, and lentils, or, if you prefer, fortified orange juice. Add daily exercise, and you've filled your own prescription for a healthful lifestyle.
Premarin "It's a scandal, it's an outrage!!"Oct 28, 2008 - New Hormone Replacement Therapy with a new name to be approved by the FDA after only two years of testing!! Aprela uses pregnant mares urine!
PR-Inside.com 2008/06/18 - Two late-stage pipeline products, Wyeth’s Aprela (bazedoxifene, conjugated equine estrogen) and Bionovo’s MF-101 (liquiritigenin) are expected to generate combined revenue of $893m in 2017.
