What is Premarin?

Premarin is an estrogen replacement derived from pregnant mare's urine (PMU). It is prescribed for Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) in menopausal women, and is apparently THE most prescribed drug in America, 3rd most prescribed in Canada. Mares are kept closely confined and pregnant - which produces an excess of foals. In addition Premarin, Prempro and Premphase, which are solely produced by Wyeth-Ayerst (who also gave us Fen-Phen) have also been linked to various health problems. With the coming of age of the baby boomers, use of HRT is expected to skyrocket

If you are taking or considering taking Premarin, Prempro or Premphase, you owe it to yourself (and these horses!) to understand the issues. As there is an abundance of good information on the web already, we'll just direct you to some of it. We also encourage you to do your own research by searching on premarin in your favorite search engine.

Please take careful note of the differing information and approaches represented. Emotions and $$$ run high on this topic, and there are claims on both ends of the spectrum of exagerration by the other. No matter the differences in presentation - there are effective alternatives to Premarin, and very little reason for the informed consumer to participate in perpetuating PMU farms or their growth.

Are There Alternatives?

Just like most everything in life, there are always alternatives. The main reason people aren't using these alternatives is they don't know about them! Most doctors that you go to learned about PMU and will continue to prescribe it do to lack of wanting to try something new. We have to educate people about PMU and about the alternatives.

Links for PMU and Premarin alternatives (please also ask your doctor about alternatives):

• Specialty Pharmacy talks about alternatives to Premarin. Has other ‘natural' ways for hormone replacement therapy that really work.

• HiHopes Horse Haven "The drug company's objective is to have a Premarin® farm keep as many mares pregnant as often as possible, in order to increase the output of the desired urine product. Foals become a byproduct, and are often sold at auction, with many going to slaughter."

• Premarin -- Cure or Curse? Great Information on an alternative to Premarin called CES. Please read the article titled "Cruelty-Free Substitute Challenges Premarin". There are many other articles that are very helpful in making the decision to switch.

Informative Links About PMU

• Anti-Premarin Campaign Contains information in the "I've Switched Campaign", articles about what goes on at the 'foal' auctions and much more. The Anti-Premarin Campaign is a catagory of "United Animal Nations" which gives information on all animal cruelty hidden to most of the world.

• Premarin.Org Has the most up to date information around. They answer many of the questions about Premarin including: How it is collected, how it is produced, where is is collected, how the horses are treated, current and past laws regarding the treatment of these horses, and many other bits of useful information. They also have a list of Common Non-Organic Estrogen Replacement Therapy Products in the U.S. (meaning non-PMU).

• The Truth About Premarin has some real life stories about the side affects of Premarin and other PMU drugs. Some suggested alternatives to PMU that can be incorporated into a daily diet. Also has information on a video about hormone replacement, "Look Into Their Eyes".