Re: Copy of my posting
From: anonymous (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Fri Jul 26 09:26:34 2002
At Thu, 25 Jul 2002, Victoria wrote:
>
>From: Victoria <anonymous@obgyn.net>
>Date: 2002/07/25 Thu PM 12:38:03 EDT
>To: anonymous@obgyn.net
>Subject: Progesterone
>Thank you , Victoria for being the voice of reason.
>See the following of my posts (including letters from the FDA to companies) and
>from Quackwatch.com in regards to natural progesterone. I would also read Dr.
>Barrett's comments on
>http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/quacksell.html and
>http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/spotquack.html (#13, #16, #18,
>#19, #23, #24). I'm trying to find out about a comment made on Quackwatch.com
>that Dr. Lee owned Aviary? labs (before selling it to an 'ally') and that he had
>a product line of his own.
>
>http://www.quackwatch.com/04ConsumerEducation/QA/wyc.html
>
>http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/wildyam.html
>In September 2000, the FDA warned the company owners (Roger J. and Debra L.
>Peeples) that it was illegal to suggest that their "Miracle Wild Yam Cream" was
>useful in treating or preventing osteoporosis, symptoms of menopause,
>depression, premenstrual
>syndrome, breast cancer, postpartum depression, ovarian cysts, fibrocystic
>mastitis, infertility, or other diseases and conditions. In February 2002, the
>Illinois Attorney General charged the company and owners with violating the
>Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and the Illinois Food, Drug
>and Cosmetic Act.
>
>In premenstrual syndrome, for example, double-blind controlled trials have
>demonstrated that progesterone supplementation is no better than a placebo. Also
>blatantly false is the claim that synthetic progestins are dangerous whereas
>natural progesterone is harmless. Progesterone in any form may cause side
>effects.
>
>The more blatantly erroneous claim is that the Mexican yam, Dioscorea villosa,
>from which the cream is supposedly made is a source of progesterone. It is not.
>In fact, the main hormonally active substances present in the plant would
>probably be estrogenic. Extracts of D. villosa do have significant amounts of
>the substance diosgenin. The plant is therefore very useful because in the
>lab -- not in the human body -- diosgenin can be used to synthesize steroid
>hormones including progesterone. Indeed, it was this discovery that led to the
>first commercially available oral contraceptives. The progesterone listed among
>the ingredients in Wild Yam Cream may very well have been derived in this way
>via the test tube from naturally occurring diosgenin. But that, of course, isn't
>mentioned in the product literature.
>
>Also left unmentioned is the fact that, once introduced into the body by any
>effective means (including through the skin), the progesterone molecule can be
>metabolized to a wide variety of other compounds including estrogens, androgens,
>and even corticosteroids. Indeed, all of these vital hormones are the products
>of the continuous production of progesterone and its physiologic conversion of
>in the ovaries, testes, and adrenal glands. Part of the usefulness of synthetic
>progestins, on the other hand, is that they are not subject to these biochemical
>pathways but are able to exert their desired effects until metabolized and
>excreted.
>
>Thus, not only is there little reason to suppose that Wild Yam Cream would be
>helpful for the medical conditions for which it is being promoted, but it
>doubtful that it ever could be as useful as synthetic progesterone.
>
>http://forums.obgyn.net/womens-health/WHF.0207/0786.html
>http://forums.obgyn.net/womens-health/WHF.0207/0826.html
>http://forums.obgyn.net/womens-health/WHF.0207/1966.html
>
>--
>Victoria
>
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