HRT - Licensed to Kill and Maim: Book Review Dr Leo Rebello.

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HRT - Licensed to Kill and MaimbyMartin Walker and Maggie Tuttle- a book review by Dr. Leo RebelloThe view that contemporary medical science has of the human person is stillprimarily based upon a 19th century model of mechanical engineering, whichconsiders 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 ispolluted by the food we eat, air we breathe, water we drink, thoughts wenurture; (b) that the healing is within and © that the treatment should not beworse 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 inthe body. Produced by different organs and glands, and transported to

differentcells, in a complex network of demand and provision, over 30 hormones govern awide range of physical and psychological conditions.Hormones determine the course of growth and eventual height, the stimulation ofsecreted milk in mothers. They maintain sodium and phosphate balance in thekidneys and sugar levels in the blood - insulin is a hormone. They areresponsible for development and maintenance of the male and female sexcharacteristics, while also regulating reproduction. They are almost entirelyresponsible for the management of digestion in the human body.Apart from having huge tasks such as these, hormones, their distribution andstrength, also determine a multitude of details that make up an individual'squality of life. They determine processes, such as secretion of saliva in themouth and of liquids in the eye, the secretion of lubricants in the vagina anddensity of bone. Hormone imbalance can cause

oily or dry skin, pre-menstrualtension, low energy and fatigue.However, the introduction of non-individual specific hormones into the humanbody will create myriad problems. In other words, it is a treatment worse thanthe disease, namely, menopause - which is a passing phase.The glands and organs of the endocrine system are: the hypothalmus, pituitaryand pineal glands, which are situated in the brain; the thyroid, which issituated in the front of the neck, just below the voice box; the two adrenalglands 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, thetestes. Most of the major organs of the body like the heart, the stomach, theintestines 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 thethyroid to produce thyroid hormones, and corticotrophin, which stimulates theadrenal 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 hormonescontrol the metabolic rate and determine energy levels.In the kidneys and pancreas, the adrenal glands regulate the salt and waterbalance in the body, as well as stress responses, metabolism, the immune systemand 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 sexcharacteristics, both primary and secondary, including muscle growth and growthof facial and body hair. The female gonads, the

ovaries, produce oestrogen andprogesterone, which regulate the development of all the female sexual featuresand 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 thehypothalmus, within the brain, ensures that the pituitary gland produceshormones in relation to the emotional mood of the individual and to externalfactors such as temperature and climate change and light exposure.Female reproductive hormones begin their development and their regulation in thehypothalamus and pituitary gland. The hypothalamus first releases thegonadotropin-releasing hormone, which in turn stimulates the pituitary gland toproduce follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinising hormone (LH). Thesetwo instructing hormones then command the ovaries to secrete oestrogen

andprogesterone.Hormone balances change throughout the course of a person's life, depending onwhen and how the identity develops with age. Hormones move with differingregularity and energy at different times in the male and female bodies. Aftersexual maturity, which comes earlier in women than in men, hormone levels inwomen fluctuate cyclically over a much wider range than those of men. At femalemenopause, ovarian secretion shuts down. In men the testes continue to producetestosterone, but at an increasingly slower rate. In very old age, the brainhormonal environment is similar in the two sexes.The function of hormones and what they do to the human body has changedhistorically. Now that women in developed societies, for example, have fewerchildren and are less often pregnant, they have three times as many periods, andhigher levels of circulating oestrogen than their great-grandmothers did acentury

ago.A good example of the complexity of the endocrine system and the humanhistorical condition is the hormone melatonin, which is produced by the pinealgland. Melatonin is an antioxidant which goes through the body scavenging 'freeradicals', damaging toxic elements that build up in the body.Melatonin is produced when sleeping in complete darkness. With the developmentof electricity in the early 20th century, light and darkness patterns that hadpreviously dictated human behaviour, changed radically leading to production ofless melatonin. Some scientists believe that changing light pattern and lack ofmelatonin could be one of the factors contributing to the increase in cancers.The production of hormones can be affected by stress, infection and in thecontemporary world, the taking into the body of hormone-mimicking chemicals.Imbalances of hormone can lead to a variety of illnesses, which originate inboth the mind

and the body. Levels of oestrogen and progesterone can bothinhibit 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 mindsuch 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 artificialprocesses of delivery cannot imitate nature and always provide a sudden increasein hormones into a delicate and complicated system.There is a recognised series of illnesses caused by malfunctioning of thehormone producers in the body, which include: goitre (over production of thyroidhormones), Hashimoto's thyroiditis (under production of thyroid hormones),gigantism (over production of growth hormone), Type 1 and 2 diabetes (created bythe lack of production of, and the inability to utilise insulin), Cushing'ssyndrome

(execessive amounts of glucocorticoid hormones, resulting in symptomsthat include obesity, growth failure, muscle weakness, acne, high bloodpressure), Grave's disease and adrenal insufficiency leading to weakness,fatigue, abdominal pain, nausea, dehydration and skin changes. A lack ofthyroid-stimulating hormones is suspected of playing a part in osteoporosis.The approach of physicians to giving and taking away hormones from women overthe last half century, in no sense matches the infinitely complex naturalmodulation of the human female person. The automatic assumption that synthetichormones would inevitably play a useful role in making the human body functionbetter is one of Allopathy's most perverse and ill-founded conclusions.Now in her early sixties, Maggie Tuttle had an interesting younger life as apopular singer and campaigner. In 1979 (she was 37) she lost a baby and sufferedfrom irregular periods. She was

prescribed HRT by her GP. From the first timeshe took HRT, Maggie felt unwell with several symptoms. For 15 years, Maggievisited a large number of doctors, who all told her that the new symptoms hadnothing to do with HRT. Maggie, ofcourse, was sure that these were the adversereactions of HRT, that she was the victim of iatrogenic illness (doctor or druginduced disease). Maggie changed her prescriptions many times. However, nothingstopped 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 allwere the times when she literally lost her mind, suffering bouts ofunconsciousness. It is good that she did not die like Irene Brankin (whosedeath certificate appears on page 342 of the book) and has lived to tell thestory 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 takingHRT. Three months after she stopped taking hormones, most of Maggie's symptomshad gone and her hair had begun to grow back. In the meantime she had placed anad in a newspaper asking if anyone else was having a similar experience and shewas inundated with several frantic callers, which made her set up MenopausalHelpline, which was wound up in 2003. Inspite of tremendous support from printand electronic media and wide awareness, Maggie felt bitter that the voice ofthe women was still not recorded properly.Licensed to Kill and Maim ably chronicled by Martin Walker (he really walks thetalk) records the collective experiences of over 10,000 women who had contactedMaggie, simultaneously piecing together the scientific reports of thedetrimental consequences of HRT. The conflict between the 'medical state' andthe fragile individual, between the mighty pharma MNCs and the

'consumer',disabled further by medical professionals, and between the laity and the unholyalliance of professional physicians and pseudo-science, is becoming fiercer.The Questionnaire on the side effects of HRT on page 341 lists about 45 adverseeffects of HRT and thereby educates the women. Some of the dangerous sideeffects are breast cancer, depression and suicidal feelings, ME, discharge fromthe vagina, hair growth on face and body, high BP, memory loss, loss of libido,migraines, psoriasis, stomach cramps, thinning bones, thyroid problems, voicedeepening, obesity, erratic behaviour, etc.Even though the alternative to HRT as outlined in this book is patchy, it doesinform the reader that there are alrernatives available. The campaignersunhesitatingly recommend and quote from the most authoritative book Women andthe Crisis in Sex Hormones by Barbara Seaman. Her nutritional advice to womenduring the menopause (or

for that matter throughout life) is: eat fewer sweets,starches, and fried or fatty foods, especially saturated fats, and to increaseconsumption 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 toemphasise that among fruits, the organically grown seasonal fruits andvegetables 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 andsage. Among vitamins, the Vitamin E and B complex are regarded as being ofutmost value in Menopausal phase and the book further records homeopathicremedies like Lachesis30 and Silver Nitrate 30.There are many homeopathic and biochemic remedies for Mentrual and Menopausalproblems, which can be included in the next edition.

Similarly, there is nothingabout Yoga, Massage, Music, Reiki, Hydrotherapy, Acupressure or Aromatherapy inthe book. Likewise, a full chapter on Diet and Nutrition during Menopausal phasecould be included and it will be my pleasure to guide the authors to includethis 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 thereaders to understand this difficult topic. Glossary perhaps is the only otherthing missing.I compliment the authors and the publishers for bringing out such a usefuldocument which exposes the con-game called the HRT.Enpassant, Allopathy has created something like 30,000 diseases due to over useof drugs. Create scare, sell medicines, weaken people, make them dependent andrake in profit -- that is the kind of nonsense the modern medicine is. "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo.

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