Suzanne Somers Promotes "Bioidenticals"

grayman

Happy-go-lucky Heretic
grayman
Joined
Apr 24, 2006
Messages
5,655
Suzanne Somers has a new book on the benefits of "bioidenticals". This of course has traditional doctors upset.

This month Somers is at it again with her newest book, "Ageless." Subtitled "The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones," the cover features a coquettish shot of the actress unclothed from the collarbone up. Inside, she calls bioidenticals "the juice of youth" and also promotes the questionable dosage advice of a former actress and "independent researcher" named T.S. Wiley (whose academic credentials are limited to a bachelor's degree in anthropology) who thinks menopausal women should have as much estrogen in their bodies as 20-year-olds.
Click to expand...

Doctors who specialize in treating menopausal women feel they're fighting a tsunami of misinformation. "Highly sophisticated, unsubstantiated and downright dangerous marketing is leading women to go in and make demands for these bioidentical products, believing them to be effective and safe," says Dr. Wulf Utian, executive director of the North American Menopause Society.
Click to expand...

Enjoy.
 
Soapy Sam said:
"Unclothed from the collarbone up? "

That's no fun.
Click to expand...
Caught my eye, too ;) . I assume this kind of pictures are meant to evoke the notion that she is also undressed from the collarbone and down :rolleyes: .

Oh, the real topic? Dunno, where are the published clinical trials?

Hans
 
scotth said:
I would say that it is Grayman's position that they should be upset. That was my reading of it.

I should let Grayman answer for himself. Being quiet now.
Click to expand...

You're probably right, and I could have asked that differently.
 
What Scotth said.

I wasn't sure what to write, I just wanted to get the info on the book out here for comment and debate.

The part where it talks about, "promot[ing] the questionable dosage advice of a former actress and "independent researcher" named T.S. Wiley (whose academic credentials are limited to a bachelor's degree in anthropology) should give you a little insight to my thoughts. I get bothered when I see yet another "celebrity" dispensing health advice.

Does that help, Katana? :)
 
grayman said:
What Scotth said.

I wasn't sure what to write, I just wanted to get the info on the book out here for comment and debate.

The part where it talks about, "promot[ing] the questionable dosage advice of a former actress and "independent researcher" named T.S. Wiley (whose academic credentials are limited to a bachelor's degree in anthropology) should give you a little insight to my thoughts. I get bothered when I see yet another "celebrity" dispensing health advice.

Does that help, Katana? :)
Click to expand...

Yes! :thanks

Oh, and I second what you said.

Also, I get bothered when millions believe these celebrities and rush out to buy untested, unproven, and potentially dangerous junk. Actually, I get bothered when people do this whether a celebrity is involved or not.
 
Clueless somers was on Larry King live saying that her book will save millions of lives by getting women off of HRT "drugs" and onto these "natural hormones" instead.

What she hasn't figured out is that a hormone is a hormone, just like vitamin C is vitamin C no matter how it got in the vitamin bottle.

Sad thing, like with all other "all natural" junk, you don't know what dose you're getting in those supplements. Their other claims are completely unproven, and Somers will cause much grief with that stupid book. I guess patients are asking their doctors for that stuff in droves, and are unduly alarmed about what they are currently taking.
 
Nothing like going to a doctor and telling him what prescriptions he ought to be writing.

Next we'll go to a MMA studio and teach them katas...


:rolleyes:
 
Eos of the Eons said:
Clueless somers was on Larry King live saying that her book will save millions of lives by getting women off of HRT "drugs" and onto these "natural hormones" instead.

What she hasn't figured out is that a hormone is a hormone, just like vitamin C is vitamin C no matter how it got in the vitamin bottle.

Sad thing, like with all other "all natural" junk, you don't know what dose you're getting in those supplements. Their other claims are completely unproven, and Somers will cause much grief with that stupid book. I guess patients are asking their doctors for that stuff in droves, and are unduly alarmed about what they are currently taking.
Click to expand...

Exactly, a chemical is a chemical whether it cam from a radish or a labratory. (Don't know where I got radish from, but you get the point) A friend of mine insists "sea salt" is much healthier for you than regular salt. I tell him sodium chloride is sodium chloride...
 
Skeptic Guy said:
Exactly, a chemical is a chemical whether it cam from a radish or a labratory. (Don't know where I got radish from, but you get the point) A friend of mine insists "sea salt" is much healthier for you than regular salt. I tell him sodium chloride is sodium chloride...
Click to expand...
Agreed. Ever see those (so we're supposed to think) exotic bags of potato chips advertised "with sea salt" added? I burn-up at such misleading advertisement that takes advantage of people's ignorance. One can probably ingest more trace minerals from their water supply than from sea salt.

As for bioidenticals--The most influential event I could envision happening would be for that Dr. Oz guy that frequently guest stars on Oprah to come out against it. That show has an enormous following and such an announcement would sway many minds. Judging by the info on his website, it sounds like he's against it, or at the very least; admits there are quality control issues and no data to back up bioidentical claims. Perhaps some letters and e-mails to both the show and their personal website would be effective.

http://www.realage.com/news_features/articler.aspx?id=12068
 
Thank you for the link Serenity, good idea!

Another good point:
http://www.oss.mcgill.ca/yasked/bioidentical.pdf

Then they refer to the Women’s Health Initiative and its findings that the
common prescription hormones have been linked with heart disease, cancer and a host of
other problems. Surely, they say, bioidentical hormones cannot do such nasty things,
because they are “natural.” Not so. It is the raising of hormone concentrations in the blood to levels that are not natural to menopause that is the problem, not the source of the
hormones.​
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Skeptic Guy said:
Exactly, a chemical is a chemical whether it cam from a radish or a labratory. (Don't know where I got radish from, but you get the point) A friend of mine insists "sea salt" is much healthier for you than regular salt. I tell him sodium chloride is sodium chloride...
Click to expand...

Actually, you are mistaken. The "estrogen" in Premarin is a conjugate of over 39 substances, predominantly a horse estrogen that has has chemically "tweaked" so that the original inventor (now owned by Wyeth) could patent it. In a bioidentical compound, the estrogen used is derived from a plant (and since most people are plants anyway) which is identical to the human for of E1, E2 and/or E3 which are, respectively, Estrone, Estradiol and Estriol.

Similarly, "natural" progesterone is just that, while pharmaceutical HRT is an artifical substance, progestin, that does not exist in nature.
 
Katana said:
Yes! :thanks

Oh, and I second what you said.

Also, I get bothered when millions believe these celebrities and rush out to buy untested, unproven, and potentially dangerous junk. Actually, I get bothered when people do this whether a celebrity is involved or not.
Click to expand...

Let's set the record straight. T.S. Wiley is the author of two books, Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar and Survival and Sex, Lies and Menopause. She is not a "credentialed" scientist. Instead, she is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences, has published her original research in peer-reviewed scientific journals on molecular oncology (check PubMed), she has authored chapters that are in use in medical school textbooks, keynotes at medical conferences and teaches courses to doctors for which they receive CME credit (Continuing Medical Education), a requirement for maintaining their licenses.

Her goal is not to be famous and appear on television. Instead,. she wants a national trial of compounded bioidentical hormones, which can only happen if there is standardization in both compounding and the way doctors administer and follow the protocol. This is why she has so many enemies - if she is right, with her rhythmic cycling, they are all wrong, and there is a lot of money involved. Doctors and pharmacies are making a fortune on BHRT, but the Wiley Protcol is only $37.50/month (Wiley does not sell it, it is dispensed by pharmacies that agree to compound it according to her instructions).

The publicity hound doctors like Schwartz and Schwarzbein do not want standardization, it will cost them.

My suggestion is that before you comment on the life work of a crusader for women's health, who receives no comnensation for her efforts, you should at least familiarize yourself with her body of work.

Start at her website.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom