The Four Biggest Hormone Myths – Part 1
Let’s face it, when it comes to our hormones, most of us are in the dark. We may know the name of some more infamous ones such as estrogen, progesterone and testosterone but beyond this cursory knowledge, it’s all rather murky.
When I first began my journey to healing my hormonal imbalances, I really hadn’t clue about hormones, or for that matter, what was really going on with my female body.
I was forced to do a crash course when I suddenly found myself with anxiety attacks, insomnia, night sweats and a diagnosis of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (what was that???).
I made a decision to go down the natural route. So I turned down thyroid hormones, anxiety meds, and other hormone replacements. It lead me on a journey that not only healed my body but changed my life and destiny. My research and new understandings culminated in writing my best-selling book, Hormone Heresy: What Women MUST Know About their Hormones.
I learned that in order to restore hormonal balance for whatever issue we may be addressing, it is first necessary to gain greater knowledge about our body and what’s really going on with our hormones. Otherwise, it’s like trying to hit the bullseye with your eyes closed. There’s a lot of wasted energy without achieving your outcome.
Discerning myths from truths is essential for getting on the right path. It is certainly a big part of regaining hormonal balance because so much of what we have been taught about our hormones and women’s health issues, in general, is based on pervasive myths.
In this blog series, I will first be sharing with you the four most powerful myths that have blinded us to the truth about ourselves, as women. The next blog series, will reveal the amazing truths that all women must know.
Myth #1 – A Woman’s Body is Innately Flawed
Without a firm foundation of truthful information regarding the physiological changes that occur during menopause, it isdifficult to make truly effective and safe choices. The belief that a woman’s physiology is innately flawed dates back
2,600 years to the time of Hippocrates, the father of medicine, who rhetorically asked, “What is Woman?” His answer – ”Disease!
This idea has persisted into modern times. In 1966, New York gynecologist, Robert Wilson published the best-selling book, Feminine Forever. He reinforced the cultural myth that a menopausal woman “becomes the equivalent of a eunuch” because her ovaries shrivel up and die at this time.
He also proclaimed that menopause was an estrogen-deficiency disease and that estrogen was the long sought after “youth pill”. He wrote, “Many physicians simply refuse to recognize menopause for what it is – a serious, painful, and often ‘crippling’ disease.”
He won women over with scientific-sounding promises of beauty and good sex, even though the FDA banned Wilson from certain research for making unsubstantiated claims.
Dr. Wilson successfully convinced doctors and women that estrogen was the salvation for the “horrors of this living decay.” He wrote, “The myth that estrogen is a causative factor in cancer has been proven entirely false. On the contrary, indications are that estrogen acts as a cancer preventive.”
Dr. Wilson is credited with enshrining the belief that estrogen efficiency was the hormonal profile of all menopausal women. He also convinced the medical fraternity that estrogen replacement was the obvious solution. This paved the way for making menopause a medical condition that required treatment with estrogen and synthetic progestin, (Hormone Replacement Therapy).
Fortunately, Dr. Robert Wilson and his unfounded theories were proven to be entirely wrong. He was also very wrong about the non-carcinogenic effects of estrogen. This was a tragic medical mistake that had drastic consequences for millions of women who not only embraced estrogen replacement therapy, but also the later version of hormone treatment, Hormone Replacement Therapy.
In 1975, the New England Journal of Medicine published two studies documenting a strong association between cancer of the lining of the uterus and estrogen therapy. The publication of these studies coincided with the increasing incidence of uterine cancer in women who were prescribed estrogen therapy. In fact, the increase was a shocking 800 percent! To this day, the only known cause of uterine cancer is from estrogen excess. Tens of thousands of women who were diagnosed with uterine cancer either had to undergo a hysterectomy as the only acceptable form of treatment or they lost their lives to this cancer.
By 2002, The Women’s Health Study showed that women who took the combination of estrogen and progestin had increased their risk for breast cancer, stroke, heart attack, and blood clots. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences listed all steroidal estrogens and progestin’s as known human carcinogens.
As a footnote to history, Wilson’s original research, which was the basis of his book, was eventually declared flawed by the FDA, and Dr. Wilson himself, was discredited as a researcher. It was also discovered that Dr. Wilson’s book and lecture tour were financed by a pharmaceutical company that manufactured estrogen.