So, let’s see… you have irresponsible sex tonight (Plan A).. oh … don’t worry… in the morning you can take a pill (Plan B). So… our government, and those who sell “Plan B” are telling our young people that irresponsible promiscuity is ok… we now have something that will help you to cover up your little transgressions. How convenient.

 Did you know that birth control was created by someone right here in the US who was a

practicing eugenicist (someone who is practicing the science of “breeding” people! ie. Population control).

I wonder…

I wonder if that is what our government has up its sleeve with Plan B?

“The pills are a concentrated dose of the same drug found in many regular birth-control pills. Taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, a woman can lower the risk of pregnancy by up to 89 percent.” states one press release.

Notice that even the press release from the drug company refers to the pill as a “drug”? It’s NOT a real hormone! It’s NOT “Progesterone”. (even though some reports are using the word “Progesterone” in stating what is in the drug) What’s really in the “Plan B” pill is a synthetic form of progesterone (a “progestin”). A drug that is dangerous and is not natural and does not match nor communicate in your body the same way a real “Progesterone” hormone molecule does. It simply does NOT do the same as the real hormone.

Their own website (the drug company) states further, “each plan B tablet contains a totally synthetic progestogen.”

“While we still feel that Plan B should be available to a broader age group without a prescription, we are pleased that the Agency has determined that Plan B is safe and effective for use by those 18 years of age and older as an over-the-counter product,” said Bruce Downey, Barr’s chairman (this is the drug company rep).

GEEZ! He wants to sell it to younger than 18 year olds?????? What’s going on here… what’s the real intention? Do you want your young daughter age 16 getting drugs and hormones without you knowing about it? What message does this send to our young teens?

What are the side effects of this drug? “Irregular menstrual bleeding, ectopic pregnancy, may experience glucose intolerance and increase in insulin, abdominal pain, nausea, fatigue, headache, dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea, breast tenderness, etc.”

The drug company’s literature goes on to say… “safety and efficacy are expected to be the same for post pubescents under the age of 16 and for users 16 years and older.”

Whooo Hooo! I told you so… They’re shooting for under the age of 16! Come on people… get outraged here!

Plan A – be irresponsible!

Plan B – take a drug to do away with responsibility!

Plan C – God help us!

Many studies in the scientific literature have shown that there is a strong correlation between the levels of steroid hormones in saliva and the bioavailable (free) levels of steroids in the bloodstream. The amount of steroid hormone that enters the salivary ducts and then saliva, is representative of the fraction of steroids in the bloodstream that are bioavailable to other tissues in the body. Advantages of saliva vs blood testing of steroid hormones Saliva collection is easy, can be done anywhere, any time and at a much lower cost. Serum hormone testing is stressful, and the stress of a blood draw can sometimes alter the result. Blood has to be drawn at a doctor’s office or drawing station, and it is more difficult to obtain samples at the desired times (e.g. early am), multiple times through the day or late evening. There is also an extra cost involved in drawing blood, independent of the cost for the test itself.

Saliva testing may help you to gain insight into health problems before you see your doctor. It will also allow you to monitor

a natural hormone supplementation program (eg natural progesterone cream or DHEA are widely available at holistic health practitioner’s offices) if improvement in quality of life, disease prevention, or anti-aging is your goal.

How Can Saliva Hormone Tests Help You?

There are several ways salivary hormone tests can help you to take responsibility for, and optimize your health. Hormone testing can be used to guide supplementation, to determine if an oral hormone supplement such as DHEA is being absorbed, and if the dosage is appropriate. Bioavailability of oral hormonal supplements can vary widely. The saliva test can also help you evaluate if estrogens are well balanced with progesterone following progesterone cream supplementation. Too much estrogen, relative to progesterone, leads to excessive tissue proliferation, whereas too much progesterone in the absence of adequate estrogen can exacerbate estrogen deficiency problems.

Saliva hormone testing can also be vital for rational disease prevention and anti-aging programs. Testosterone, for example, is an important hormone in both sexes, for the maintenance of cardiovascular and bone health.

Identification of a low testosterone level and correction with diet, exercise, and/or hormone supplementation could help prevent the development of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis.

SALIVA REFLECTS THE BIOAVAILABLE CONCENTRATION OF HORMONES PRESENT IN THE BLOODSTREAM

We get asked the question all the time about why we offer saliva testing for hormones instead of blood testing…

many of our clients have gone to their local doctor’s office and been told that saliva testing is not accurate and that blood testing is the only way to go… this is simply not true… so I’m g oing to try to clear up why this is so and help you to understand that difference between the two methods…. it’s going to be a bit technical so please use a dictionary if there are any words you do not fully understand as you read this… Blood is a fluid consisting of red and white cells suspended in an aqueous plasma. The cells make up about 45 percent of the mixture (called the “hematocrit”), and the watery plasma is about 55 percent of the mixture. The majority of cells in the blood are red blood cells (erythrocytes). The most important constituent of the red blood cell is hemoglobin whose main function is to transport oxygen from the lungs to the somatic (body) cells. The other cells in blood are white blood cells (leukocytes) that include platelets. The white blood cells are nearly twice the size of red blood cells and are concerned with immunity.

For example, the white cells can engulf bacteria and foreign particles in a process called “phagocytosis.”

The platelets function to control bleeding after an injury. The platelets liberate serotonin when the blood vessels are damaged. This causes small blood vessels (capillaries) to strongly contract, which reduces bleeding.The blood also contains fibrinogen and other factors that cause blood to clot.

When blood is drawn from a vein (low pressure going to the heart), it contains plasma and red and white blood cells. To analyze the blood, the plasma is separated from the blood cells by centrifugation. Since the plasma still contains clotting factors, an anticoagulant is added. This, then, is the plasma used for blood analysis. If the blood is allowed to coagulate, the cell-depleted fluid phase, devoid of fibrinogen, is called “serum.” The serum may also be used for analysis. In either case, the blood being analyzed does not contain the red blood cells that held the free testosterone. What is being analyzed is testosterone that is attached to binding proteins and is not bioavailable.

When testosterone (or any other natural bio-identical hormone) is applied transdermally, it is absorbed into the bloodstream as “free” testosterone. It has not been packaged with a binding protein by the liver because the liver did not have access to the testosterone. Most of the “free” testosterone is taken up by the red blood cell membranes which are not analyzed by a common blood test. Conclusion: Common blood tests that use plasma or serum are not accurate for assessing bioavailable steroid hormone concentrations because neither the plasma nor the serum contain the red blood cells which hold the bioavailable hormones.

Now for some background on saliva. There are three salivary glands in the mouth that produce about two pints of saliva per day. The saliva is about 99.5% water and 0.5% solute. Saliva is used for chewing, swallowing and the initiation of digestion by the enzyme amylase which begins the breakdown of carbohydrates. In addition, saliva is protective against pathogens ( a micro-organism or substance capable of producing disease). It is antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral. That’s probably why rubbing saliva on an injury feels so good. Saliva also contains immunoglobulin A which protects the eyes, nose, throat, intestines and lungs from infectious diseases. (bet you didn’t know that about saliva?!)

The secretion of saliva is entirely under the control of the nervous system. Sympathetic nervous system stimulation dominates during stress, resulting in dryness of the mouth. During dehydration, the salivary glands stop secreting to conserve water, and the resulting dryness in the mouth contributes to the sensation of thirst.

The salivary glands have an extremely high blood flow which is about ten times that of an equal mass of contracting skeletal muscle. Researchers have found that the “free” hormones from the red blood cells and plasma readily filter through the saliva glands into saliva where they can be measured accurately ( in parts per trillion).

Conclusion: Saliva reflects the bioavailable level of hormones present in the bloodstream, and saliva testing is a far more accurate and relevant test than blood tests in measuring bioavailable steroid hormones such as estrogens, progesterone, testosterone, DHEAS and cortisol.

Whew! I hope you didn’t go to sleep with all of that… now you actually have something to show your doctor if he/she questions you about why you chose saliva testing for your hormone levels. I hope this also gives you more certainty on why you NEED to get your hormones checked properly with saliva testing.

The other point that should be made is accurate reading and interpretation of the saliva test results must occur. The main point to make is that just looking at whether or not a particular hormone is “in range” is simply not an accurate assessment… a practitioner should also check on the balance bewteen the two partner hormones (such as progesterone and estradiol)…or the relationship of one hormone to another (such as DHEAS and cortisol).

Let’s look at the following sample results to give you the idea… Example: Estradiol: 4.5 (range is 1- 5) ; Progesterone: 520 (range is 500 – 3000) *The above individual is IN RANGE but IMBALANCED… how do I know that… the ratio/balance for her is 115 and the range is 200-1000. This individual is IMBALANCED even though IN RANGE….(divide the progesterone figure by the estrogen figure to get the ratio number). (women may need 5 to 10 times more progesterone than estrogen). Now in the above example this particular woman may not need tons of progesterone but she certainly needs some in order to achieve a healthy balance.

New research by Brent Formby, Ph.D. at the Sansum MedicalResearch Institute in Santa Barbara, CA has uncovered evidence that progesterone may help men with prostate problems. His results showed that progesterone inhibits the growth of prostate cancer cells and that estradiol (estrogen) and dihdrotestosterone (DHT) (bad testosterone) accelerate prostate cancer cell growth. So if this is true, why aren’t doctors prescribing natural progesterone to their patients? The answers are money and lack of knowledge. First money, truly natural progesterone, one that is the same chemical composition that our bodies make can not be patented. You can not patent a natural occurring substance. If you can’t patent it, you can’t make money. Secondly doctors remain cautious and wary of a drug that doesn’t show up in their medical literature, and does not appear to have any credibility behind it. It is a vicious circle, if a substance can not be patented, there is no money to be made, then if there is no money to be made, and then there is no reason for a drug company to do a clinical trial to see if the substance is beneficial.

Men need Progesterone????

Each year over 400,000 men in the United States alone undergo prostate surgery and over a billion dollars a year is spent on prostate treatment. Proscar, the leading drug is highly dangerous and according to the United States Veteran’s Administration is no more effective than a sugar pill. On the opposite side there are no side effects to using natural progesterone. By the age of 50, 35% of men have cancer cells in their prostate. Odds are 2 to 1 a man will have prostate problems by the time they are 60. Get your husband to get tested NOW with an accurate saliva test!