The Medicalization of Menopause
Nothing gets me hotter than when the pharmaceutical industry sells us another pill - but forgets to tell us about the side effects!
" Menopause " long ago...
... was first used in 1872. It actually comes from the Greek words, "month" and "cessation".
Believe it or not, by the late 1800's western medicine thought it was a medical crisis!They believed that symptoms were worse for women who had acted 'indiscreetly' - meaning,getting too much education, having too much sex, attempting to use birth control, or even being insufficiently devoted to husband and children.
A common prescription was to tell the women to live a quiet lifestyle centered on the family!
It only gets worse...
More drastic measures were often taken when the women complained that the prescription didn't seem to help their symptoms (is it any wonder?). Leeches were put on a women's ears on the nape of her neck to cure her complaints! Sounds disgusting! But guess what? I heard on a medical news report this year that they're trying it again in some hospitals. Scary!
Here comes the drug companies to the 'rescue'
In 1966 Robert Wilson wrote a best selling book, "Feminine Forever" which was funded by Wyeth and Ayerst a pharmaceutical company. Wilson stated that estrogen therapy could keep women young, healthy, and attractive. It was so natural! (according to him). Women could be replacing a hormone they had somehow 'lost' over the years.
Wilson was so excited about this estrogen discovery that in 1972 he wrote in the Geriatric Society, "[estrogen] can save women - breasts and genital organs will not shrivel. Such women will be much more pleasant to live with and will not become dull and unattractive".
Makes you wonder what we were like before this miraculous discovery!
(stay tuned ... part 2 coming in next post...)
" Menopause " long ago...
... was first used in 1872. It actually comes from the Greek words, "month" and "cessation".
Believe it or not, by the late 1800's western medicine thought it was a medical crisis!They believed that symptoms were worse for women who had acted 'indiscreetly' - meaning,getting too much education, having too much sex, attempting to use birth control, or even being insufficiently devoted to husband and children.
A common prescription was to tell the women to live a quiet lifestyle centered on the family!
It only gets worse...
More drastic measures were often taken when the women complained that the prescription didn't seem to help their symptoms (is it any wonder?). Leeches were put on a women's ears on the nape of her neck to cure her complaints! Sounds disgusting! But guess what? I heard on a medical news report this year that they're trying it again in some hospitals. Scary!
Here comes the drug companies to the 'rescue'
In 1966 Robert Wilson wrote a best selling book, "Feminine Forever" which was funded by Wyeth and Ayerst a pharmaceutical company. Wilson stated that estrogen therapy could keep women young, healthy, and attractive. It was so natural! (according to him). Women could be replacing a hormone they had somehow 'lost' over the years.
Wilson was so excited about this estrogen discovery that in 1972 he wrote in the Geriatric Society, "[estrogen] can save women - breasts and genital organs will not shrivel. Such women will be much more pleasant to live with and will not become dull and unattractive".
Makes you wonder what we were like before this miraculous discovery!
(stay tuned ... part 2 coming in next post...)
posted by Caribbean Judy at
11:23 AM
