Premarin Mares

My mare, Zora, is a Premarin Foal. She came to me when she was 9. She is an amazing horse, loves people, and has never known abuse or neglect. She is as sweet as a horse can be. When I did research on her background, I was shocked. Here is yet some of the information I gathered. I'd say 'enjoy', but it's quite impossible to do so.

“We are not spiritually unconnected from the drugs we take, or the pain and suffering that goes into their making.”  ~  Alice Walker

Premarin is a hormone replacement drug, used by women to control menopausal symptoms. Menopause, in case you didn't know, is when a woman's ovaries run out of eggs, or follicles. 

Follicles are what produce all of the progesterone and most of the oestrogen in a woman's body. Menopause usually starts around the age of 50, and can include the symptoms: hot flashes, night sweats, menstrual inconsistency, loss of sexual interest, mood swings, faintness, loss of hair, sleep disorders, weight gain, etc.

Premarin is only available by a prescription, and is recommended to be taken daily. It can be administered as a pill and taken orally, or as a vaginal cream.

Some claim that Premarin helps as part of cancer treatment, yet studies have been made that prove the Premarin drug can INCREASE your risk of certain cancers (including breast, endometrial, and uterine), heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots, according to the US Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA suggests that women should use Premarin for the shortest time possible, because these risks increase due to longer usage of the drug. They also state "Premarin should not be used to prevent heart disease or dementia, [because] this medicine may actually increase you risk of developing these conditions." Also, Premarin is considered dangerous to take while breast feeding, due to the fact that the drug may get into breast milk. But if it is toxic, if it poisons a our bodies, and if it increases our chance of fatal situations, why should we use it at all?

So now you have read about the drug... but what does this have to do with horses? Here comes the sad part of this post.

The most commonly known and used drug for conjugated equine estrogen is Premarin. Premarin uses the urine of pregnant mares to supply women with replacement hormones. Premarin is made by a company by the name of Wyeth, which, as a company, merged with the pharmaceutical company, Pfizer Inc, in 2009. Now, Wyeth is a branch of Pfizer, and uses both names on products.

Each year, doctors prescribe menopausal hormone therapy to hundreds of thousands of unknowing women. (I'd like to think them unknowing because if they knew the whole story, I assume they would not accept, or ask for, the prescription.) 

The most common prescribed drug for this is Premarin, which can be prescribed in both cream and pill form.

This drug has been proven dangerous to humans, but if that is not enough, uses horse abuse to manufacture the drug.

Premarin Mares are usually a Quarter Horse and Belgian Draft cross. A horse's pregnancy lasts about 11 months, and during this time they are milked for their urine, and confined into often barred stalls. Stalls are small, and the mares cannot turn around, and are limited to one step in any given direction. Mares are kept in these stalls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 11 months a year.

Although it is a well-known fact that horses do not lay down to sleep, they do lay down to rest anywhere from 5 minutes a day to 3 hours a day. These stalls do not allow the mare to lay down. There is no law that requires any amount of exercise for these mares, so IF the mare gets any exercise, it is usually very limited and is controlled by the buissness' owner, or the rancher in charge.

PMU (Pregnant Mare Urine) ranchers are expected (But not required!!!) to follow the "Recommended Code for Practice for the Care and Handling of Horses in PMU Operations". This document was produced by a 'study committee' that included a representative from Wyeth (the branch of Pfizer Inc that manufactures most of Premarin drugs used today), and this document is not a legal requirement; it is on a voluntary basis. This document suggests that all horses involved in the PMU operation may be permitted "only as much exercise as is necessary for their welfare," but does not state an exact amount, and leaves that to personal interpretation.

Urine is collected in rubber bags worn under the tail at all times for the 11 months of pregnancy. These bags create sores, blisters, and chafing. Bags hook around the tail and hang between the legs to collect the urine, and are not odor-containing.

 Premarin mares are not allowed free drinking water. The mares are given the minimal amount of water, just enough to stay alive. This creates a urine that is as highly concentrated in estrogen as possible.

After the foal is birthed, the mare is re-impregnated and the cycle continues until the mare is too weak to birth again, usually around 12 years old. (The average horse lives 25-30 years) The mare is then sent to auction, and usually the worn mares are bought in large purchases by slaughter companies. Every 9-12 years, a new 'batch' of mares are 'disposed of' and the foals take their mother's place. Until the need for new mares comes around, the foals are taken to the slaughterhouse right after, or sometimes even before, being weaned from they're mother.

The foals may also be put up for auction, however Wyeth-funded farms are not allowed to work directly with any rescue organization. Even on the rare occasion that foals or worn-out mares go to auction, they are most often bought by a 'middleman' for the slaughterhouses.

One PMU worker says, "See, the foals - and the mares [that] can't get pregnant any more - they are the byproduct of the PMU industry... We crush 'em and recycle 'em, just like [aluminum] cans."

A 2002 research study on 16,000 women came to an abrupt halt when the results came back conclusive. The information that was discovered is shocking. Hormone replacement therapy raises a women's risk of breast cancer by 26%, the chance of a heart attack by 29%, and the odds of having a stroke a whopping 41%. Research was stopped immediately, and the women who were being tested on were aghast.


On top of it all... there are simple and NATURAL relief to this! For example, trying a low-fat vegetarian diet (and yes, this IS proven... I'm not just saying that because I'm a veggie-lover myself), or just keeping a workout schedule and keeping the pounds off! I'd say that this is a pretty reasonable request, considering it will spare abuse, cruelty, and ultimately, death. Dr. Jennifer Hays from the Baylor College or Medicine even added that, "The average woman will not experience an improvement in her quality of life by taking this pill."

AFTER THE FACT:

I was informed that my post lacked a big section of this topic; he was right. (As usual)

Natural hormone replacement formulations are usually available in the US only from certain compounding pharmacies, and require a physician's prescription. These drugs CANNOT be found at you regular pharmacies, and even at the compounding pharmacies where they are available, it has to be requested, and is not the first option for many doctors. These formulas are considered Natural Progesterone and are often referred to as triple estrogen, and can also be ordered from overseas, as long as proper precautions are used. They can also be purchased in many health food stores. Here are some of the more popular and well known:

• AIM International Inc
• Bio-Nutritional Formulas
• Broadmoore Labs Inc
• Dr. Helen Pensanti's Cream
• Dr. Randolph's Natural Balance Cream: for Women
• East Way International
• Life-flo Health Care Products
• Natural Pause-Natural Menopaus
• Nature's Sunshine Products, Inc
• Pure Essence Labs, Inc
• Restored Balance, Inc

Credits:::

http://www.johnleemd.com
http://www.livestrong.com/article/181349-about-premarin

http://www.34-menopause-symptoms.com

http://www.horsefund.org/
http://smart-publications.com/articals