3.07.2009

Educate Yourself - Premarin

I know that most of my readers are many years away from menopause.

But there's a very important issue regarding medication prescribed to many women for menopause symptoms. This drug is called Premarin. It's a shortened version of Pregnant Mares' Urine, because that's what it's made from. It's also sold under the names PremPro, PremPac and PremPhase. The production of this drug has cost the lives of over a million horses.


The issue here is the treatment of horses for the making of this drug. There is no government regulation for the treatment of these horses. They are kept in stalls & strapped to urine bags 6 months out of the year. They are kept in production, foaling every year, for eight to nine years, then sold for slaughter. A horse's normal life span is 20-25 years. The foals are sold at auction, usually for slaughter as well.

I recently spoke to a volunteer from the Horse Sanctuary near my home. She said of all the horses they have who have come from all sorts of neglect & abuse situations, the Premarin mares are the saddest cases. Some of them have lived at the Sanctuary for years, but still will not allow any human to get anywhere near them. They can only feed and water them, they can't give them any type of care that requires contact.

What we need to do is refuse to take Premarin or any other drug containing Pregnant Mares' Urine. There are many alternatives to aid in the natural life changes of menopause. Menopause is not a disease. It can be dealt with without hormone treatment (my mother is proof of that). Premarin also has risks; it's been linked to breast cancer, heart attacks, blood clots, and strokes.

I'll leave you with a few links about Premarin and Premarin Mares, so you can Educate Yourself! (or your mom, your grandma, your aunts, your friends!)








18 comments:

Sue said...

That's just awful. May I share this with my family in email?

Momo Fali said...

I had NO idea!!! Oh my goodness. Thank you for this information.

Twisted Fencepost said...

This is one of the sadest things I've ever heard.
Thank you for this information!

Anonymous said...

this is incredibly interesting cyndy.
thanks for informing us.

Unknown said...

UGH!!! Thankyou for sharing this.

I've done the menopause thing and did not use this stuff.

I used herbs to help me through the more difficult patched. I can thoroughly reccomend Evening Primrose oil and Black Cohash :-)

Tara R. said...

That is horrible, I had no idea. I am precariously close to full blown meno. I will remember this and not allow my doc to prescribe it

April said...

Oh.My.Goodness!!! I had absolutely NO idea this was going on! How very sad! I still a ways from menopause, but this is something I will DEFINITELY address with my doctor! I will not support cruelty to animals in any way, shape, or form!

Keeper of the Skies Wife said...

This is just terrible. Makes me sad!

Karen in Texas said...

I'm close to menopause and plan to get through it without any medication if I can. If I can't I'll be sure and not use any of the products you mentioned Cyndy. Thanks for the heads up. I figure if my aunt who had to have a full hysterectomy at the age of 26 could go through it without any drugs then so can I. My mother and grandmothers also made it through without any medication help. Hopefully I'll follow suit too.

Mrs4444 said...

I checked this out through SNOPES.com and found it to be true. Wow. That's unbelievable. Thanks for the heads-up!

junglemama said...

Interesting. Glad I weaned myself off of it last July.

Rhea said...

OMG, that is so depressing and sad. :o(

Bad Momma said...

Lovely...makes me thankful that I have chosen to not take any drug or hormone to ease my hot flashes.

I think if we knew where all of our drugs came from, we would be a bit more careful with our prescriptions.

Great post! Thanks.

anymommy said...

I had no idea. Thank you so much for sharing this information.

Anonymous said...

That's absolutely awful. I had no idea at all about that.

Alpacamountain said...

I think if I'm not mistaken, Premerin causes breast cancer too. They took my aunt off of it because she developed something.

debi9kids said...

Holy cow! I had no idea.
That is just awful :(
Poor animals....

ps good luck in the contest. I hope you win :)

tiarastantrums said...

this is so sad and TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!