(FinalCall.com) – While many see the new birth control pill, Lybrel, as an advance for women that allows them contraception while eliminating their menstrual cycle, others are alarmed that it is another dangerous advance in the plot that leads women to poor health and for some death.
“Suppression of the normal menstrual cycle throws a “hormonal monkey wrench” into women’s complex chemistry, with troubling effects on virtually every organ system in the body–disruptions in the immune system, depressed libido, sensitivity, and response, and alterations in brain chemistry and mood balance,” explains Dr. Susan Rako, author of “No More Periods? The Risks of Menstrual Suppression and Other Cutting-Edge Issues About Hormones and Women’s Health.”
Tampering with nature
›“Tampering with the hormonal climate of healthy, menstruating women, including teenage girls, whose lives stretch ahead for decades, for the purpose of doing away with their periods is, in a word, reckless. Manipulating women’s hormonal chemistry for the purpose of menstrual suppression threatens to be the largest uncontrolled experiment in the history of medical science,” she writes.
Those words are red flags for women that won’t be found in mainstream media touting the success of a new contraceptive from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, who announced on May 22 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved their Lybrel tablets for the prevention of pregnancy in women interested in putting their menstrual cycle on hold.
The Lybrel tablet is taken 365 days a year and provides a steady “low-dose” of hormones so that over time, women may become cycle-free. It can be acquired through prescription by a doctor, and is expected to be available as early as July 2007.
This is analogous to the birth control death plot expressed in the Book of Exodus, wherein Pharaoh, fearful of the increasing birth rate among the poor, said, “Come let us deal wisely with them…,” which resulted in a plan to destroy newborns, especially the male.
Will this new drug be marketed and targeted to the Black and Hispanic communities who are identified as having the largest out of wedlock birthrates?
“Things are going from bad to worst,” said Dr. Abdul Alim Muhammad, Minister of Health for the Nation of Islam, to The Final Call newspaper. “Anything powerful enough to suppress the natural menstruation in a woman, nothing good can come from it. I strongly recommend against it.”
“Menstruation is natural. It’s a part of the natural system of the body,” said Dr. Muhammad. “It prepares the womb on a regular basis for contraception. It removes tissue that is no longer useful in the economy of the body. The cessation of menstruation–that’s one of the worst things I’ve heard of.”
The womb in child-bearing age women prepares each month to accommodate for a fertilized egg. When fertilization does not occur, the lining of the womb (uterus) is shed, resulting in what is called menstruation. This process has been labeled as “the curse,” due to the hormonal affects that cause many women to experience bloating, painful cramps and mood swings.
“There are blessings of ‘the Curse’ and of the normal menstrual cycle that contribute far more to women’s longevity than they or their doctors realize at present. The regular monthly cycle reduces excess stored iron, which has been shown to be a major contributor to arteriosclerosis, heart attacks, and strokes,” explains Dr. Rako.
Since the 1960s, new forms of birth control pills have consistently been marketed and prescribed to women to avoid these monthly occurrences in the name of pregnancy prevention–Lybrel just joins the long list of those pills, and in recent years, shots and implants. Prior to Lybrel, the latest was Seasonale, which was designed to limit a woman’s period to four times a year.
On May 22, The Arizona Republic reported that Mesa gynecologist Jo Merriwether Knatz says at least six patients come to her office each week asking to change their periods.
“Women are proactive about their bodies much more so, as they should be,” Dr. Knatz stated. “They’re saying, ‘…I don’t want my period. How can I stop that from happening?’”
The destruction of the female
This type of “control” over one’s body functions may sound good, however, for many women, it comes with severe consequences. Dr. Rako has made it her mission to confront the ever-growing “anti menstruation” movement in medicine.
“Using potent hormones non-stop, with the consequence of doing away with any monthly cycle, deprives a woman of the only naturally-occurring means of ridding her body of excess stored iron. Excess stored iron is a risk factor for heart attacks and strokes,” she explains.
And with the increase in use of birth control pills since the ’60s came the increase in sexual promiscuity, which has lead to the increase in sexually-transmitted diseases. Many see this as factors that have contributed to the disrespect and destruction of the female.
“The disrespect of the female sends the nation to hell, because if you want to raise a nation, you raise it through the woman. If you want to destroy a nation, you destroy it through the woman,” said the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in his address to the Faith Community of St. Sabina Church in Chicago, Illinois on May 25, titled “The Presence of the Kingdom of God.”
“To the women in the audience, there is no great America without you, and there is no great world without you. You fashion the future. That is why wise people protect the female,” Minister Farrakhan shared.
That protection of the female is lost when sex without consequences is promoted as the “glamorous” and “modern” thing to do. It is apparent that today, the protection of the female is not the primary concern of women nor American society.
Fear of pregnancy no match for disease
In many women’s minds in regard to sexual activity, birth control pills have provided a false sense of security–that the “fear” of pregnancy can be eliminated. However, the kind of fear that should be of primary concern for women–particularly Black women who are the No. 1 source of new HIV/AIDS cases, as well as having high rates of sexually-transmitted diseases.
Birth control pills provide no protection against HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. So while some women are eliminating their periods, Dr. Rako explains that they are putting themselves at great risk of cervical cancer.
“It has been shown that the use of birth control pills is a partner to high-risk strains of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) in causing cancer of the cervix. More than 99 percent of all cervical cancers are caused by certain strains of HPV, and women who use birth control pills are at greater risk.
“Further–we know that the longer-term a woman uses birth control pills, the greater the risk. No studies have yet been done to evaluate the increased risk of cancer of the cervix in women who use birth-control pills nonstop.”
Dr. Rako adds, “Common sense tells us that it is likely that nonstop use of the birth control pill will further increase this risk. While cancer of the cervix can often be cured, unfortunately some such cancers are resistant to treatment. Even here in the United States, several thousand women, some of them young women, die each year from cancer of the cervix.”
While taking a pill to eliminate menstruation may sound attractive, Dr. Rako explains that the risks far outweigh the benefits.
“The daily, nonstop use of the potent estrogen in the birth control pills designed to do away with menstrual periods results in a woman’s having less available natural testosterone in her body.”
The consequences of this state of testosterone deficiency can be subtle to severe. Testosterone deficiency usually occurs during menopause, which is the natural process of the ending of the female reproductive process. This can result in women losing the desire for intimacy and many other symptoms associated with menopause which occurs on average with women in their late 40s and early 50s.
“Many women have told me that when they report this to their doctors, they are told that “the Pill” has nothing to do with it. The truth is that ‘the Pill’ can have everything to do with it, and nonstop use of ‘the Pill’ can absolutely be the cause,” Dr. Rako said
A billion-dollar industry ‘warns’ of risks
Dr. Rako believes there definitely are financial motivators involved with the marketing and administering of such drugs.
“The pharmaceutical companies that are encouraging women to do away with their periods are jockeying for a position in an industry worth more than $2 billion dollars a year,” she said.
According to Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, another complication in its product is the fact that “because regular monthly cycle does not occur on Lybrel, an unexpected pregnancy may be difficult to recognize.”
They warn women, “If you suspect you may be pregnant, or if you have symptoms of pregnancy, such as nausea/vomiting or unusual breast tenderness, a pregnancy test should be performed and you should contact your health care professional.”
So, in other words, a woman on Lybrel could still get pregnant because the drug is not 100 percent effective; she would not know she is pregnant and would continue in her lifestyle, perhaps jeopardizing the new life she may be carrying.
We have learned that serious risks can occur from birth-control pills that can be life threatening, such as blood clots, stroke, and heart attack.
Dr. Muhammad is totally opposed to Lybrel.
“When a woman of child bearing age stops menstruating, it is a sign of very severe illness, starvation or exhaustion. It is a warning sign. To deliberately induce this great pathological condition borders on insanity.”
The Final Call will continue to monitor and report on how this Birth Control Death Plan is implemented and marketed.
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