Re: Meat Irradiation Note

[RuthWeiner@AOL.COM]

Please be aware that this email is off-topic, but there have been statements made on RADSAFE that I feel it necessary to refute.  I will continue any further discussion of this, if there is any,  off-line.


In a message dated 11/11/02 7:49:47 AM Mountain Standard Time, liptonw@DTEENERGY.COM writes:


> The medical establishment was gung ho to market thallidomide.  They were also big on hormone replacement therapy



I know this is off-topic, but these two statements are something of a  distortion.  Thalidomide (correct spelling) was approved by the FDA and was prescribed in response to pressure from pregnant women (just as supplementary vitamins are, by the way).  I did some reading about that, because I have had four pregnancies, and I know of no "gung ho" effort to market thalidomide.  The side effects were elucidated by a very astute FDA researcher -- an "expert" -- who got the approval withdrawn.


The distortion of the statement about hormone replacement therapy is even greater.  Many symptoms of menopause are no fun, and the symptoms are not just external or mildy inconvenient .  Your calcium metabolism goes to hell, your blood pressure skyrockets, your hair thins, in addition to the hot flashes, night sweats, and mood changes that vary in intensity from individual to individual.  The decline in calcium metabolism is particularly serious, leading to osteoporosis, and estrogens were the only thing available until the advent of sodium alendronate and similar compounds  (I take sodium alendronate once a week, and will for the rest of my life).  Post-menopausal women don't take estrogen to "stay young" and doctors don't prescribe it as a "youth pill" -- it is prescribed to mitigate the most serious effects of menopause.  Estrogens also have side effects that are not very pleasant.


Moreover, the increased cancer risk with hormone replacement therapy is small enough that it is left to the patient to make an informed choice.  By the way, that was always the case with hormone replacement therapy.  I find it no surprise that taking estrogen and related steroids would increase the risk of those cancers whose growth is promoted by estrogen.  The latest study confirmed what many women were aware of anyway.


Ruth

Ruth Weiner, Ph. D.

ruthweiner@aol.com