Jacksonville, Fla. (PRWEB) June 11, 2009 -- Newsweek has generated major buzz with its recent piece criticizing Oprah and other celebrities for their support of alternative medicine, such as bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. The article suggested that celebrities, with their huge followings, are sometimes persuading their fan base to adopt questionable medical theories without the science to back them up.
Newsweek might have better served its readership by offering women access to the leading medical experts and scientific studies on both sides of this issue, according to C.W. Randolph, Jr., M.D., Medical Director of the Natural Hormone Institute. "Choices regarding hormone replacement can be a life or death decision. To make informed decisions, women need solid, scientific facts, medical research and clinical studies - along with honest and open debate about the pluses and minuses of each option," he says.
Menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, weight gain, low libido, memory loss or brain fog, affect an estimated 45.6 menopausal women in the United States. "And these women are not interested in suffering through 'The Change' only to become increasingly fat, sexless and senile," contends Randolph. "They are demanding that the medical community come up with safe, effective options for symptom relief and treatment."
Multiple medical studies have linked traditionally prescribed synthetic hormone replacement therapies, such as the still-popularly prescribed Premarin and Prempro, to significant and sometimes lethal health risks such as breast and uterine cancers, heart attack, stroke, lung cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Meanwhile, recent medical research and multiple clinical studies published in this country and, also, internationally, validate the safety and efficacy of bioidentical hormone replacement therapies. So why is BHRT not more widely recognized as the menopausal treatment of choice?
"It's a matter of money and marketing," says Dr. Randolph. "Unlike the pharmaceutical giants with large sales forces, when a study about BHRT is published by a physician at an academic medical research center, such as Joel Hargrove, M.D. at Vanderbilt University Medical School, or Abraham Morgentaler, M.D. at Harvard Medical School, there is no sales force waiting to take that study to physicians' offices. Doctors -like myself -who have developed an expertise in bioidentical hormones have had to seek out education and cull through the science and research mostly on our own. When marketing gets ahead of medical science, lives can be put at risk."
Randolph challenges publications like Newsweek to interview the top medical experts on both sides of this issue and compare the scientific data. "Even better," he says, "Newsweek should raise its voice - along with its millions of possibly hot and irritated menopausal readers- to demand that the National Institutes of Health fund a head-to-head clinical study comparing synthetic hormones to bioidentical hormones. I am confident the results would validate what my patients have experienced for years - BHRT is a safe and effective godsend for menopausal women."
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Why should Newsweek attack Oprah Winfrey?
ReplyDeleteHere's Why:
Oprah's TV show advocates Natural Medicine and Bioidentical Hormones in direct competition to the interests of the Pharmaceutical Industry. Newsweek is merely an attack dog for the drug industry. A typical issue of Newsweek magazine contains $2 million in pharma ads.
Oprah is depicted as a voodoo witch on the Newsweek cover in a desperate attempt to please the drug company sponsors of a failing magazine.
To read more:
Newsweek Attacks Oprah Winfrey and BioIdentical Hormones