Do you remember when “hormone replacement therapy” was considered
almost a cure-all for women? With great enthusiasm, physicians pushed
this “panacea” on their female patients. For alleged “cosmetic
benefits” to protection against heart disease and Alzheimer’s,
estrogen was prescribed.
Then, slowly, negative reports started to surface about this “forever
young miracle worker.” Now, instead of protecting against strokes, heart
disease, Alzheimer’s, etcetera, its use was said to encourage these
diseases.
This state of affairs reminded me of another medical fiasco –
cigarette smoking. Yes! Cigarette smoking! Those of you too young to
remember will find it amazing – or appalling – that back when I was a
youngster, medical doctors, dressed in their white coats, would
authoritatively assert in cigarette company advertisements that smoking
was good for people.
In a previous Blog I wrote about a friend’s mother who, after
undergoing a thyroidectomy, actually had her physician suggest that she
take up smoking! Being a good little patient, she followed “doctor’s
orders”! That was back in the 1940’s and early 1950’s.
Maybe in a few years people will look back on all the hype about milk
drinking and dairy product consumption and realize that instead of
“doing a body good” it really did the opposite.
See also:
http://www.all-creatures.org/health.html
