Fwd: New drug aimed at cramps is a hormone-blocking nightmare

[Guest guest]

> " paul " <pbscavone

> " 'Gail Scavone' " <gailscavone

>New drug aimed at cramps is a hormone-blocking nightmare

>Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:57:42 -0400

>Thread-Index: AcraSBzgwi5LWNUFSXaMYy7EVyytuw==

>

>New drug aimed at cramps is a hormone-blocking nightmare

>By William C. Douglass, MD

>

>It's ladies' night for Big Pharma, but they're not out to buy you a drink.

>

>They want you to do the buying, gals -- and the bottle they're

>offering is filled with meds they hope you'll take at a certain time

>of the month.

>

>Vantia, a British drug maker, says it's testing a new

>hormone-blocking med that could help women beat a condition called

>dysmenorrhea, which is an awfully fancy way of saying " cramps. " And

>they hope to sell it to up to 90 percent of all women of child-bearing age.

>

>But anyone who deliberately messes with her hormone levels is just

>begging for trouble -- and risking agony far worse than the cramps.

>

>In this case, the hormone in question is vasopressin, which has been

>linked to menstrual cramps. But this hormone also regulates the

>water in your body -- it basically makes sure you don't dehydrate

>yourself every time you pee.

>

>The new drug, which doesn't have a name yet, suppresses this hormone

>-- and it doesn't take much imagination to see how this one can go

>tragically wrong.

>

>And since the company is conducting its own experiments on this med,

>I don't trust anything I read about it.

>

>I've been around a long time -- and I've seen a lot of PMS

>treatments come and go. The fact that we're still talking about this

>today should tell you how most of them have turned out.

>

>The last cramp-busting drug OK'd by the feds was a little monster

>called Bextra, which was pulled from the market after being linked

>to heart attack and stroke, and not just in women. Docs were giving

>these dangerous pills to everyone with any kind of ache.

>

>I hate to say it ladies, but a certain amount of pain comes with the

>calendar. For some immediate relief, do what grandma did and get

>cozy with a heating pad. But if you're suffering from severe

>life-altering, work-missing cramps month after month, look to your

>diet before you start gobbling down pain pills.

>

>Many women just need more of the omega-3 fatty acids -- if you're

>not eating enough fish, get yourself a bottle of cod liver oil and go to town.

>

>It beats whatever's in that bottle Big Pharma wants to sell you.

>Paul's Comments:

>

>The good doctor got this right...that is until the last paragraph.

>He knows, or should know that cod liver oil, obviously from the

>livers of codfish, contains vitamins A and D. Omega-3 fatty acids

>are obtained from the flesh of certain fish.

>

>Stick with a reputable source of Cold Water Omega-3 fish oil.