Premarin: Hormone Drug Hurts Women and Horses
Natural and synthetic alternatives offer helpful solutions for the post-menopausal
Written for Women's Radio
Are you one of the over nine million American women who are taking Premarin® for hormone therapy (HT)? If you are, then you may be putting your own health at risk and contributing to the abuse of pregnant horses.
If the name sounds strange, that's because it is. Premarin is short for "pregnant mares' urine" or PMU and is manufactured exclusively by Wyeth Laboratories, Inc. It has been the most commonly prescribed HT medication for hormonal deficiency symptoms associated with menopause or hysterectomy since 1942. However, Premarin is associated with numerous health risks that many who take the drug are unaware of. Furthermore, the drug’s active ingredient is procured through collecting urine from pregnant horses, which causes them extreme suffering. Fortunately, women who are concerned about these issues can choose one of the alternative HT medications currently on the market that may be safer and don't promote cruelty to animals.
Health Risks
A recent government study conducted by the Women's Health Initiative showed that taking Premarin poses serious health risks. More than 160,000 women served as test subjects during the 13-year longitudinal study, part of which had to be halted after the discovery that taking hormones increased the risk of stroke by 41%, the risk of heart attack by 29% and the risk of breast cancer by 26%. It was also found that the risk for dementia doubled for women over 65 years old. As a result, in 2003 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended that women avoid long-term HT, and to take hormones (if at all) only in small doses for a limited period.
Ironically, while Premarin has been linked to heart disease and stroke, it has also been prescribed in hopes of preventing these deadly maladies. This trend—which is rapidly waning because of the WHI human trial results—was based on faulty animal experiments using three-month-old rats whose ovaries had been surgically removed. Being that these research subjects are of a different species and radically different age from adult human females going through menopause, it is not too surprising that the results were misleading and misapplied. Wyeth used these unreliable studies to promote long-term Premarin use for heart disease and stroke prevention, endangering the lives of millions of women in the process.
Cruelty to Horses
The urine used to make Premarin is collected from an estimated 50,000 pregnant horses who are confined in stalls and tethered by their necks so that they cannot even turn around for six to seven months at a time. During that period, these naturally active animals get little or no exercise. The mares' estrogen-rich urine is harvested with rubber pouches fitted over their urethras which can cause infections of their vulvas and severe leg chafing. They also make it difficult if not impossible for the horses to lie down or assume other comfortable positions. Instead, they must stand or kneel resting on their chests even while sleeping—all this while pregnant. Horses on Premarin farms commonly suffer from injuries because of these inhumane conditions.
There are no official government regulations requiring humane treatment of horses used to make Premarin, so keeping them confined for months on end is perfectly legal. Under pressure from animal protection groups, Wyeth did issue a “Recommended Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Horses In PMU Operations” in 1990. However, it is not an enforceable law: farmers can choose whether and how closely they want to follow these corporate guidelines.
Finally, consider what happens to mares after they have been used for several years and are no longer economically "productive." Because mares from Premarin farms are usually untrained and difficult to manage, most are sent to slaughterhouses where they are killed and butchered for human consumption in Europe and Asia. These mares also give birth to approximately 40,000 foals every year. While farmers keep some females to replace their mothers in urine production and a few try to sell ponies for riding, most are sent to feedlots to be fattened for slaughter when the mares are reimpregnated and returned to their stalls. Equine rescue groups save as many of these foals as they can, but can only rehabilitate, care for and adopt out a small number of those carelessly abandoned by the Premarin industry.
Safer and More Humane HT Medications
Today, most doctors view menopause as an important natural life phase rather than a hormonal deficiency that needs to be treated. Many women find that they are able to control hormonal deficiency symptoms while fighting osteoporosis and heart disease through basic lifestyle changes like eating a low-fat, low-cholesterol plant-based diet and starting a regular exercise program.
There are also alternative HT drugs that are manufactured without harming animals. These medications have fewer adverse side effects than Premarin, and they are certainly more humane. Some use plant-based ingredients like Mexican yams and soybeans to produce hormones that are "bioidentical" to women's own, so they integrate more easily with humans' biochemistry. Others are synthesized in the laboratory, such as Cenestin® (produced by Duramed Pharmaceuticals since 1999), a form of synthetic conjugated estrogens now being used to treat hot flashes and other common menopausal symptoms. If you do take HT drugs, ask your physician to prescribe a safer and more humane alternative to Premarin.
Written for Women's Radio
Are you one of the over nine million American women who are taking Premarin® for hormone therapy (HT)? If you are, then you may be putting your own health at risk and contributing to the abuse of pregnant horses.
If the name sounds strange, that's because it is. Premarin is short for "pregnant mares' urine" or PMU and is manufactured exclusively by Wyeth Laboratories, Inc. It has been the most commonly prescribed HT medication for hormonal deficiency symptoms associated with menopause or hysterectomy since 1942. However, Premarin is associated with numerous health risks that many who take the drug are unaware of. Furthermore, the drug’s active ingredient is procured through collecting urine from pregnant horses, which causes them extreme suffering. Fortunately, women who are concerned about these issues can choose one of the alternative HT medications currently on the market that may be safer and don't promote cruelty to animals.
Health Risks
A recent government study conducted by the Women's Health Initiative showed that taking Premarin poses serious health risks. More than 160,000 women served as test subjects during the 13-year longitudinal study, part of which had to be halted after the discovery that taking hormones increased the risk of stroke by 41%, the risk of heart attack by 29% and the risk of breast cancer by 26%. It was also found that the risk for dementia doubled for women over 65 years old. As a result, in 2003 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended that women avoid long-term HT, and to take hormones (if at all) only in small doses for a limited period.
Ironically, while Premarin has been linked to heart disease and stroke, it has also been prescribed in hopes of preventing these deadly maladies. This trend—which is rapidly waning because of the WHI human trial results—was based on faulty animal experiments using three-month-old rats whose ovaries had been surgically removed. Being that these research subjects are of a different species and radically different age from adult human females going through menopause, it is not too surprising that the results were misleading and misapplied. Wyeth used these unreliable studies to promote long-term Premarin use for heart disease and stroke prevention, endangering the lives of millions of women in the process.
Cruelty to Horses
The urine used to make Premarin is collected from an estimated 50,000 pregnant horses who are confined in stalls and tethered by their necks so that they cannot even turn around for six to seven months at a time. During that period, these naturally active animals get little or no exercise. The mares' estrogen-rich urine is harvested with rubber pouches fitted over their urethras which can cause infections of their vulvas and severe leg chafing. They also make it difficult if not impossible for the horses to lie down or assume other comfortable positions. Instead, they must stand or kneel resting on their chests even while sleeping—all this while pregnant. Horses on Premarin farms commonly suffer from injuries because of these inhumane conditions.
There are no official government regulations requiring humane treatment of horses used to make Premarin, so keeping them confined for months on end is perfectly legal. Under pressure from animal protection groups, Wyeth did issue a “Recommended Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Horses In PMU Operations” in 1990. However, it is not an enforceable law: farmers can choose whether and how closely they want to follow these corporate guidelines.
Finally, consider what happens to mares after they have been used for several years and are no longer economically "productive." Because mares from Premarin farms are usually untrained and difficult to manage, most are sent to slaughterhouses where they are killed and butchered for human consumption in Europe and Asia. These mares also give birth to approximately 40,000 foals every year. While farmers keep some females to replace their mothers in urine production and a few try to sell ponies for riding, most are sent to feedlots to be fattened for slaughter when the mares are reimpregnated and returned to their stalls. Equine rescue groups save as many of these foals as they can, but can only rehabilitate, care for and adopt out a small number of those carelessly abandoned by the Premarin industry.
Safer and More Humane HT Medications
Today, most doctors view menopause as an important natural life phase rather than a hormonal deficiency that needs to be treated. Many women find that they are able to control hormonal deficiency symptoms while fighting osteoporosis and heart disease through basic lifestyle changes like eating a low-fat, low-cholesterol plant-based diet and starting a regular exercise program.
There are also alternative HT drugs that are manufactured without harming animals. These medications have fewer adverse side effects than Premarin, and they are certainly more humane. Some use plant-based ingredients like Mexican yams and soybeans to produce hormones that are "bioidentical" to women's own, so they integrate more easily with humans' biochemistry. Others are synthesized in the laboratory, such as Cenestin® (produced by Duramed Pharmaceuticals since 1999), a form of synthetic conjugated estrogens now being used to treat hot flashes and other common menopausal symptoms. If you do take HT drugs, ask your physician to prescribe a safer and more humane alternative to Premarin.
