A Tale of Two “Hormones”
What exactly is Prempro, and why is it so harmful to a woman’s health? Prempro refers to the most popular form of HRT, a counterfeit estrogen called Premarin combined with a counterfeit progesterone called Provera. Premarin is a combination of horse estrogens derived from pregnant mares’ urine (hence the name Pre + mar + in). While this may be a fine preparation for mares in menopause, it is of dubious benefit for human beings. Not only does counterfeit estrogen fail to improve the quality or length of a woman’s life, it can cause serious and even fatal diseases including endometrial cancer, breast cancer, strokes, and life-threatening blood clots in the lungs.
And what of the counterfeit progesterone drug, Provera? Like conjugated equine estrogens, Provera is the invention of the pharmaceutical industry. Although its generic name (medroxyprogesterone) makes Provera sound like it is a form of progesterone, it is not. It is a progestin, a drug that exists nowhere in nature. Unlike natural progesterone, which is essential to the development of the unborn baby, Provera can cause miscarriage or birth defects if taken during the first four months of pregnancy. It can also cause symptoms identical to those caused by estrogen dominance, including breast tenderness, migraines, allergy and asthma symptoms, weight gain, and depression. Taking higher doses of Provera in a misguided attempt to correct a condition of estrogen dominance won’t alleviate these symptoms, because Provera isn’t natural progesterone. It’s a counterfeit hormone, and you can’t fool Mother Nature.
