February 2013

Resveratrol from Red Grapes Blocks Endometriosis

Published on February 27, 2013

5088 views

A new study out of Germany found that resveratrol, the popular phytochemical derived from the skins of red grapes, known for its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant benefits may also have potent anti-angiogenic properties that inhibit the growth of endometriotic lesions.

How it Works

The infiltration and survival of endometriotic lesion requires ample blood supply. This requires new blood vessels to supply the endometriotic tissue with vital nutrients and growth factors. Without those blood vessels, the tissue dies. Angiogenesis is the process by which new blood vessels are born. A compound that is anti-angiogenic blocks the birth or growth of new blood vessels, effectively starving the lesion or the tumor. Blocking angiogenesis is a popular mode of treatment for cancer, but has not been fully investigated in endometriosis.

In a mouse model of endometriosis (uterine tissue is surgically implanted in the mouse abdomen and allowed to grow), researchers tested whether resveratrol would block angiogenesis. It did. Mice fed 40 milligrams of resveratrol per kilogram of body weight per day of resveratrol had significantly less vascularization and smaller endometriotic lesions than did the control group.

Bottom Line

Will drinking resveratrol inhibit the growth human endometriosis? It’s too early to tell, but an emerging body of research is showing remarkable results with resveratrol and cancer in human and animal studies. More research is needed to determine its role in endometriosis and the appropriate dosing strategies. The nutritional supplements currently on the market may not have the concentration or purity of resveratrol used in the lab study. Just for reference, neither does red wine. This study was short, only four weeks, and of course, extrapolating from mice to humans is always problematic. The research is promising, however, and points to a new direction in endometriosis research – one that includes dietary changes.

Wish Me Well – Hysterectomy Looming

by Angela Wice

Published on February 26, 2013

1954 views

As I embark on my surgery in a couple of days, I have come to terms with the fact that I could possibly wake up with the hysterectomy I have wanted for 5 years. I will not know for sure if the doctor will do the hysterectomy, as she is not willing to do the procedure unless there are complications. Is it bad to wish for complications? I want it all out. I have weighed the pros and cons. I know the hysterectomy provides only a 50/50 chance of getting better, but I am done with this disease. Fifteen years of suffering with endometriosis is enough.

I am afraid of what will happen to my hormones after the hysterectomy. I am not quite prepared for the wrath of raging hormones. Maybe I will just wake up with the tubes and left ovary gone. Maybe I am not yet facing the reality of what may come. I have begged and pleaded for a hysterectomy for so many years, but for some reason they would not do it. My doctor wants to try removing my tubes first and my left ovary to see what happens. I guess she is right. I should try this surgery one more time because my first surgery was so successful, in 2007. If it wasn’t for the post-surgery pelvic inflammatory disease that wreaked havoc on my insides, maybe I would be feeling better now.

I just don’t want to have another surgery after this. After this I am done and that is why deep inside I hope she removes everything.

This is a difficult decision to make, probably just as difficult as having to pull the plug on someone you know is not going to make it. You sit there with that thought in your mind “What if?” It is one of the most serious decisions of my life. I can’t take it back if it all goes wrong. I have to live with it.

The truth is, all the side effects don’t matter to me right now at all. I don’t want my woman parts anymore. I don’t want to have to go back and forth for all the tests only to end in tears and to be rejected my doctors who show no empathy when it comes to the survival of this disease. This choice is my decision to make mine and mine alone. I have listened to so many people and read so many stories but, in the end, I am sick of the cycle, sick of this disease, sick of the drugs, and just sick and tired of being sick and tired.

If she does not remove everything and I have no relief after this surgery, I will be looking for a surgeon that will remove it. I am 100% sure about this. I wasn’t sure before.

Thank you everyone who posted their thoughts, encouragement and concerns. I took them all in and made my decision. I just needed to be at peace with it. I am now. Wish me well. I will post again after the surgery.

My surgery is scheduled for February 28^th.

Bees, Birth Control and Bayer

by Chandler Marrs, PhD

Published on February 25, 2013

2009 views

Cool things happen in the world of social networking and hyper-connectivity – previously disparate movements become connected and cross-pollinated. My post: Look Beyond Access – Demand Safe Birth Control was picked up by an environmentalist, active in the #BoycottBayer movement. It seems Bayer has an extended history of unleashing dangerous chemicals on the world and other egregious business practices dating back to before World War I. If there ever was a chemical company to boycott, Bayer just might be the one – maybe even a little worse than Monsanto and that is a high standard of callousness.

Most recently, Bayer is the purveyor of the most dangerous birth control options on the market – the Yasmin line or oral contraceptives, the frequently dislodging and vaginal tearing Mirena (no one has measured the hormone side-effects yet) and the just released and repackaged version of Mirena – Skyla. Repeated billion dollar class action lawsuits are just the cost of doing business, I guess. According to financial reporting, their profits are down because:

Bayer faces lawsuits in the United States from women claiming the contraceptive caused blood clots that led to serious health consequences. Otherwise the [financial] picture was brighter. – silly women.

Imagine my surprise when I learn that Bayer may also be responsible for the collapse of honey bee colonies worldwide – social networks are cool.

Lest you think honey bees are of no import to health, think again. Without honey bees we have no agriculture – no food. Killing the honey bees is serious business, something only the most unscrupulous and short-sighted corporation would do, but that is exactly what Bayer and its ally Syngenta (formed by the merger of Novartis Agribusiness and Zeneca (AstraZeneca) Agrochemicals) are doing. They are killing honeybees. Although, they disagree vehemently and their own, company sponsored research supports their benevolence, health organizations and governments worldwide are beginning to ban the use of these pesticides and genetically modified seeds.

Not so in the US. We seem to wait generations before making the appropriate moves (remember DES) or at least until the same chemical company can introduce a ‘treatment’ for what they caused initially. Gotta love me some unbridled capitalism without tether to ethics or morals – except some skewed sense of moral hazard.

It’s time. Life and health must come before profits. These chemical companies must be stopped. And since there is no regulatory agency with the teeth to protect our health, we must use the means we have – stop buying their products. Just stop.

Environmentalists save the honeybees, but save human women too. We all should be boycotting Bayer and any other company that dares to poison us for a buck. Spread the word.

Kegels are a Girl’s Best Friend

by Lana Hanson

Published on February 22, 2013

1828 views

God bless the male doctor who discovered this pelvic floor exercise and all that it continues to achieve for humankind, but it’s high time to change the name of this act. “Kegel” just sounds too… well, so innocent, so wholesome, so cutesy – like an ideal name for a General Mills kids’ breakfast cereal that’s brimming with pastel-colored urethral-sphincter shaped marshmallows (whole grain!!) Slap some conniving cartoon rabbit or pirate on the box and kids will scarf it down faster than you can utter the phrase “urinary incontinence.”

Yum.

Or maybe it seems like a great name for a new puppy. I can see it now: I’ll beat Marley and Me author Jon Groban at his game and write my own hit movie about a rascal dog and the comedic havoc he leaves in his wake. I’ll aptly title it “Kegel and Me,” and it’ll star Jennifer Aniston (her pelvic muscles will get second billing to her). But instead of the dog (spoiler alert!) dying at the end, he’ll be quickly dropped off at the shelter because he’s continuously looting the trash to indulge in some delectably dumped-in adult diapers.

Because that’s what lies in tanned and talented Jennifer Aniston’s future, too, if she doesn’t do her daily squeezes and releases… adult diapers.

Adult diapers. These two simple words make women shiver in their g-strings. Imagine a Girl’s Night Out with that swish and bunch action. Do you really think you can get your swag on while you soak up the pee from a strong sneeze? Hope you got enough perfume for Valentine’s Day to mask that potty-training-toddler smell you’d be emitting.

Have I filled you with horror yet? Better jump-start your Kegeling to ward off the pelvic paranoia! In fact, the optimal place to “Kegel” is at a traffic spotlight. If the timed lights in your city drag on as long as in mine do, you’ll easily get to 50 Kegels before “green” means “GO.” Why, that should put you in The Guinness Book of World Records – better than an Olympian, and WITHOUT performance enhancing drugs! That’s Presidential Fitness Award level, Baby!

But you know, Kegels really ARE a girl’s best friend! Not to mention, they heighten your and your partner’s sexual pleasure as well! So when I take this name change idea as a proposed law all the way to Congress, I can proudly present it to House Speaker John Boehner, who might just sympathize, seeing that his name is quite misleadingly innocent, too…

So what new name do YOU think we should give this blessed squeeze-release exercise? Drip your ideas into the comments section below.

Look Beyond Access – Demand Safe Birth Control

by Chandler Marrs, PhD

Published on February 21, 2013

4644 views

Fair warning, this may get ugly. I’m mad. Bayer just announced the next in a long line of dangerous hormonal birth control options the Skyla IUD. Though not much different from the currently embattled and lawsuit ridden Mirena (which tends to dislodge and cause hemorrhage among other things) and likely not much safer than their oral contraceptives – the Yasmin line ($700 million in lawsuit settlements and counting) – women’s health and feminist groups are jumping on the support bandwagon. Now younger women can get a (dangerous) IUD too (Skyla happens to be just a hair smaller than Mirena), yippee.

Wake up, ladies. Medical devices and pharmaceuticals are not shiny new iPads. We cannot blindly support and recommend each and every new product in this market.

The fight to give women access to birth control as a point of equality is dead on and much needed, but ignoring the safety issues and not demanding safer birth control options is just downright negligent. Advertising these birth control options without understanding the serious dangers makes us pawns of pharmaceutical industry and complicit in the deaths and injuries of the women who use these devices and medications.

Women need birth control options. I support that – wholeheartedly. I am a child of the 80s-90s when access to oral contraceptives was unquestioned. Access to birth control allowed me to compete against guys in my chosen sport, allowed me to date, to pursue academic and career goals without worrying about pregnancy. Easy access to oral contraceptives also, unbeknownst to me, elevated my blood pressure to dangerously high levels, caused progressively worse vertigo and syncope to the point of multiple hospitalizations, tests and desperation. I stopped taking oral contraceptives and all of the symptoms resolved. It wasn’t until years later that I understood the connection.

Like so many others, my physicians and I were blind to the legitimate dangers of hormonal birth control. Sure we’ve all read the package inserts (which are really the tip of the adverse event iceberg), but in a sort of cognitive dissonance we dismiss the side-effects as happening to someone else or as something to be tolerated in exchange for our freedom. Physicians often downplay the dangers hormonal birth control, even today, as more research comes to light.

Imagine, pregnancy versus possible death from cardiac arrest, stroke or a myriad of other adverse events; that is the choice we make daily when using hormonal birth control. We shouldn’t have to make that choice. As educated women and modern feminists we must be able to distinguish between fighting for the absolute right to have access to birth control from a stance that says all birth control options are good and safe. The later is most certainly not the case.

Not all contraceptives are created equal. Some really and truly, should not be on the market. Even among the safer birth control options, there are dangers. We should be fighting for more research, for better and safer birth control options and not promoting each new pill or device that comes on the market. Just because it’s new and the makers say it is safe does not make it so. The pharmaceutical industry has a long history of publishing only positive results for their products (here, here, here) and paying physicians to promote their products. If ever there were a buyer beware, it would be here – with birth control.

Finally, we should be boycotting companies like Bayer who continue to put women’s lives at risk. We boycotted Rush Limbaugh and the Koch brothers for their anti-women statements, why are we not as aggressive when it comes to companies that seriously injure women? At the very least, we should not be promoting their latest, greatest assault on women’s health. Bayer is the maker of the Yasmin line of birth control, arguably the most dangerous line of oral contraceptives on the market. Bayer is also the maker of Mirena, the hormonal IUD with on-going class action lawsuits due to serious adverse events. Skyla is almost equivalent to Mirena and is simply repackaging and re-branding of that old, soon to be off-patent, dangerous IUD. It is neither new nor innovative and it remains to be seen whether it is any safer. What are we doing ladies?

Post Script: Hormones Matter^TM is taking the safety of birth control into its own hands. We find it unacceptable that the adverse events of many birth control options are poorly understood, that medication interactions are not investigated and that oral contraceptives (like many other medications in women’s health) are regularly prescribed for uses for which there are no data to support their efficacy. We are conducting our first of many studies on oral contraceptives and women’s health issues. If you have ever used oral contraceptives, whether you had any side-effects or not, please take the Oral Contraceptives Survey. Another woman’s life may depend upon it.

About us: We are an unfunded company, committed to improving women’s health through research. We believe so strongly in the need for better research that rather than wait for funding, we’re doing the research anyway. We are crowdsourcing this research and would be much appreciative if you would also share the link throughout your social media networks. To take another health survey, click: Take a Health Survey.

To suggest a survey, help create a survey, write a guest post or otherwise get involved: info@hormonesmatter.com

Real Risk Study: Birth Control and Blood Clots

Lucine Health Sciences and Hormones Matter are conducting research to investigate the relationship between hormonal birth control and blood clots. If you or a loved one have suffered from a blood clot while using hormonal birth control, please consider participating. We are also looking for participants who have been using hormonal birth control for at least one year and have NOT had a blood clot, as well as women who have NEVER used hormonal birth control. For more information or to participate, click here.

Lazy Men Have Fewer and Slower Sperm

by Chandler Marrs, PhD

Published on February 19, 2013

2583 views

Two publications from the same the study population (Rochester Young Men’s Study) affirmed what women everywhere have long suspected: active, healthy men make better mates. That’s right, exercise and healthy diet affect a man’s ability to mate at the most fundamental level – his sperm quality.

Researchers from Harvard’s School of Public Health found that otherwise health young men (ages 18-22, n = 188) who were predominantly sedentary and/or eat poorly had significantly fewer sperm and slower, less active sperm. Because the studies were analyzed and published separately and we were only able to access the abstracts, it is not clear if men who were both sedentary and had a poor diet suffered greater reductions in sperm quantity and quality than men who met only one of those requirements. We can only surmise that it would be the case.

Physical activity and sperm quantity. Men with greater than 15 hours per week of moderate to vigorous activity had an average 73% more sperm than men who were largely sedentary and exercised <5 hours per week.

Diet and sperm quality. Men who ate well and included fruits, vegetables and fish in their diets had 11% more active (motile) sperm than men who ate the typical western diet rich in processed food and red meat.

The takeaway, exercise and healthy diet impact one’s ability to conceive at the most basic level. So before mating or seeking pricey fertility treatments, consider cleaning up your diet and lifestyle.

Dietary Guidelines Increase Death – Why Open Data Matter

by Chandler Marrs, PhD

Published on February 18, 2013

2609 views

At Hormones Matter we’re huge proponents of open data. We believe data matter and should be open and available to all – not cloistered behind a corporate paywall. Without access to critical data, neither physicians nor patients or researchers can make educated decisions about health. When data from clinical trials are not published, and even when they are published, but physicians and researchers are denied access to the research by paywalls, people die, accidents and injuries happen.

The open data movement has garnered some powerful supporters. The leading British Medical Journal (BMJ) has launched an open data campaign, motivated largely in response to the pharmaceutical industry’s long-standing history of publishing only those clinical trials that positively reflect their products. Neither raw data nor contrary clinical trials data are accessible. Physicians make clinical decisions based on published research. If only the positive findings are published, then their decisions are obviously skewed in favor of specific medications, products or procedures. This skewed presentation of favorable research trickles down into every aspect of healthcare. It costs money and more importantly, it costs lives.

Even something as simple as dietary guidelines for healthy living are affected by publication bias. Case and point, as part of their open data campaign, BMJ gained access to the Sydney Diet Heart Study – a randomized controlled trial conducted from 1966 to 1973 that led to dietary guidelines for men with cardiovascular disease (as is commonly the case, women were not studied) .

As a result of the published data from the Sydney Study, physicians and heart associations around the world recommended the use of dietary vegetable oils instead of saturated fats. The primary component of vegetable oils are omega-6 polyunsaturated vegetable fats (PUFAs) specifically, omega-6 linoleic acid.

It turns out, that when all data from the study were re-analyzed, this wasn’t such a good recommendation. In fact, men who followed the recommended dietary guidelines and ate more vegetable oils, margarines instead of other dietary fats had a much higher risk of death from all causes, including cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease, compared the group who continued with their previous diets.

The American Heart Association and just about every other major medical association recommends the more dangerous diet.

However, alternative medicine and natural health organizations have been reporting on the dangers of too much omega-6 for decades. And certainly, anyone with an understanding of basic biochemistry can look past the trials data and surmise that something is off. A quick dive into the pharmacokinetics and dynamics of foods high in omega-6’s and the cocktail of other artificial ingredients should give anyone pause – even without access to the trial data.

Nevertheless, the need for open data has reached a critical point. As the open data movement gains steam, more and more studies like this will contradict long held beliefs. Let’s hope this open data becomes a reality sooner rather than later.

Female Sexuality, Penis Size, Eroticism and Language

by Chandler Marrs, PhD

Published on February 18, 2013

3816 views

Several weeks ago I wrote a post about Penis Size and Condom Use. It was a legitimate commentary on the state of medical and science marketing, but, truth be told, I used it as much to get a post with the words penis size circulating in blogosphere as I did to comment on bad medical journalism. Penis size ranks among the highest search phrases around. The post got a lot of hits, but no discussion. It was, after all, a bit of a bait and switch using research on penis size to describe the state of medical marketing – not what most would have expected when Googling that phrase.

Recently, however, a gentleman commented both on the content of the article and the nature of modern eroticism. This gave me pause on many fronts. First, I had to consider whether to approve the comment at all – he used rather frank terms. Would our readers be offended? Would they discontinue reading because of the terminology? The very act of having to consider whether to publish the comment, led me to wonder when our adult, female ears became so sensitive that we could not speak or write frankly about sexuality? Probably around the time of Freud, but I think I missed that memo.

And then, there was the comment itself about the nature of modern sexuality or more specifically, eroticism.

It is that raw eroticism mediated by plastic [that] is devoid of real memory. When I think of some of my worst erotic encounters, they invariably are those mediated by plasticity.

How absolutely telling his comment was; modern eroticism is plastic. From a physiological standpoint, the plastic barrier that a condom provides reduces the erotic sensitivity for both parties – even when the condoms fit appropriately. And apparently, as the original research suggested, more often than not condoms do not fit correctly.

From the language perspective, modern sex is most often discussed in terms of disease, violence or ‘safe sex’ – no pleasure, no passion, no eroticism and not even an appreciation those concepts – only power, disease and violence. Even our images of what is supposed to be sexually desirable are plastic, modified and unreal – think unnaturally thin women, with fake boobs, botoxed lips and when at all possible, heavily photoshopped so that nary a glimmer of natural or erotic beauty comes through. Indeed, there is no reality to our plasticized versions of eroticism.

So how do we talk about sex in a modern culture, where disease from sex places a barrier on the act and the language of pleasure? How do we talk about sexuality when the medicalization of sex supersedes the erotic? How do we talk about eroticism when the politics of power elevate the sperm of violent, repugnant men – rapists, pedophiles and incestuous degenerates – above the health and well-being of girls and women? How do we talk about sex when women don’t enter the conversation, except to denounce the actions of men? How do we talk about sex, sexuality and eroticism in the 21^st century?

We don’t. We seem only capable of talking about or writing or even visualizing notions of plastic, unreal, violent or medicalized sex. To make matters worse, we fail to distinguish among the ‘types’ of sex, between sex and sexuality, between the erotic and the mechanical. It’s all just sex. Well, it’s not.

We need a new language of sexuality; one that brings back to the fore a notion of beauty and pleasure for both participants; one that speaks frankly about sex, sexuality and eroticism. We need a language that is honest about female and male sexuality, anatomy and pleasure and that is capable of distinguishing acts of violence from sex.

I would argue that conversations about penis size and female sexual pleasure have to come into the mix in some form, preferably with honesty. Ladies, what beyond the obvious, do we really know about the male penis or male sexuality? Probably, not a lot. Does penis size affect female sexual pleasure? Does penis size affect male sexual pleasure? Who knows. Nobody, but the purveyors of porn talk about this stuff.

And guys, how much do you really know about the female anatomy or more importantly female sexuality? Sure you’ve seen hundreds, if not thousands of pornographic images of women faking pleasure with over-endowed men. And of course, you imagine yourselves the wielders of such pleasure, but in reality how many of you know what a real woman actually wants and needs to achieve pleasure? How many of you have taken the time to find out, or better yet, become skilled in these endeavors?

If we are to move beyond the plastic, the political, the violent, the sterile and mechanistic views of sex, we need to bring sexuality, eroticism and pleasure back into the conversation. We need a new language about sex and we need it now.

How it Works

Bottom Line

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Real Risk Study: Birth Control and Blood Clots

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