Overmedicating Our Women: the Misinformation No One Wants to Acknowledge
*not medical advice. all opinions are my own. studies are hyperlinked*
Why are we overmedicating our girls?
From birth to dying breath, pharmaceuticals lace in and out of the course of our lives. A whopping 70% of American adults take at least one prescription drug. In a culture that is terrified of discomfort, pain killers are household items. With steeply declining mental health, SSRIs are on the rise. Blood pressure medication, diet pills, blood thinners, and antibiotics. The list is endless; American men and women alike see countless prescriptions.
Theoretically, this is great. Medicine makes people feel better, right? In a perfect world, sure! But that’s not where we live. In reality, 69% of drugs have between 10 and 100 side effects, and 22% of all drugs have more than 100 side effects. Said side effects range from nausea to death, and include everything in between. These medically-induced dysfunctions tend to create a ripple-effect of additional systemic issues– the issues produce new symptoms, which call for more medication. The pharmaceutical world is cyclical and incredibly difficult to escape.
Big Pharma certainly does not discriminate (more patients=more money), but I’d like to zero in on its coercion and misinformation geared toward women, specifically. Studies over the years have shown that women are prescribed significantly more chronic and acute illness medications than men, and this statistic even excludes prescription contraceptives, and holds no consideration for over-the-counter medication. Let this piece serve as a bird’s eye view to showcase American healthcare’s exclusively symptom-based treatment approach, and its effects from conception and beyond.
In utero, a baby and her mother are intricately intertwined. What mom experiences, baby does also. What mom consumes, baby consumes secondhand. This is often our first introduction to medication. Acetaminophen is one of the most common over-the- counter drugs administered during pregnancy, and is advertised and approved by the FDA to ease the aches and pains that come with growing a life. The problem is, recent studies have shown that prenatal usage of the drug has potential to alter fetal development and increase risk for reproductive and neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD and Autism.
In addition to its neurological fetal effects, acetaminophen directly depletes the body of glutathione, a powerhouse antioxidant stored in the liver. Glutathione is a vital tripeptide in nearly every cell of the body, used to combat free radicals, eliminate toxins, and maintain cellular health. Low levels of glutathione are associated with nearly every form of illness, and the immune system is practically useless without it. Despite approving its usage for both pregnant women and infants, the FDA claims that acetaminophen toxicity is the leading cause of liver failure in America, which accounts for more than half of all acute liver failure episodes.
How could we possibly be so accustomed and desensitized to these facts? Why is this medication promoted as safe to a woman with child; a woman who’s fallen victim to misinformation regarding the probable repercussions on her and her developing baby? Once that baby is earth-side, this assurance of safety will only intensify. Aside from the harms of the active ingredient itself, over-the-counter brand Tylenol contains a laundry list of questionable ingredients in their infant edition. These ingredients include, but are not limited to:
Artificial colors (a known carcinogen, also linked to hyperactivity and neuroinflammation)
High fructose corn syrup (a known contributor to heart disease, insulin resistance, and various liver diseases)
Butylparaben (an endocrine disruptor linked to reproductive dysfunction)
…and so many others.
We’re still only on the first medication, and I’m already getting ahead of myself– let’s rewind. Before that baby breathes her first breath, there are another set of hoops to jump through: labor/birth medications. Birth is a monumental moment in many women’s lives. It’s spiritually altering, mentally exhausting, and the most physically strenuous task known to man. The Pharma industry preys on the overwhelmed mother, withholding information necessary to uphold her right to total informed consent. This happens a number of times in the labor and delivery timeline, but one of the least discussed points on that line is the choice of pain relief– an epidural.
Epidurals are not inherently bad. There are certainly instances that necessitate modern medical intervention, and there are plenty of women who would choose an epidural regardless of the risk. I take no issue with their choice! But these women should still be presented with the opportunity to be made aware (in full, not a once-over) of what their choice entails. Epidurals, historically, are classified as a local anesthetic (LA). These include drugs such as chloroprocaine, bupivacaine, and lidocaine. Though what most women are unaware of, is that epidurals utilize not only LAs but additionally, opioids (narcotics), to augment the analgesic effects of the LAs applied. Opioids include drugs such as morphine, oxycodone, and fentanyl. I feel that the uninformed use of opioids– on a laboring mother and her preborn infant, at that– raises enough question marks on its own. The side effects of that are rather accessible.
But what about the LA, bupivacaine? The manufacturer insert on the FDA website claims that, in relation to potential “carcinogenesis, mutagenesis, and impairment of fertility,” long-term studies “have not been conducted,” and a conclusive risk analysis “has not been determined.” More than 70% of laboring women receive an epidural or spinal anesthesia, and yet there has been no testing regarding its risk of causing cancer, genetic mutation, or a future of decreased fertility. What we do know, via the manufacturer, is that “there are no adequate and well-controlled studies on pregnant women,” but we should consider maternal and fetal toxicity, central nervous system alterations, cardiac arrest, prolonged labor, and “serious adverse reactions in nursing infants” as potential side effects of its usage. Enough said.
Once the child is born, Tylenol typically circles back around as a pain and fever relief option for infants and small children, along with various other “children’s medication.” Did you know that most drugs prescribed to children have never been clinically tested on children? Weird, right? And then there’s the antibiotic epidemic, where American children (on average) receive 17 rounds of antibiotics before the age of 21. Now, are antibiotics necessary sometimes? Absolutely! They quite literally saved my kidneys once, and I’m thankful for that. But maiming the microbiome of a child 17 times in 20 years is certainly excessive.
We’ve now gone through several drugs, some specific to women, and some universally used. But what do I believe is the biggest pharmaceutical threat to women? Prescription birth control (all of it, but I’m honing in on the Pill). Before we discuss this further, I’ve inserted a photo of the side effect insert included with every box of “the Pill.”
(For reference, it’s several feet long.)
The birth control pill is among the most commonly prescribed medications…ever. The Pill is a concoction of synthetic hormones taken to disrupt the female body’s biologically dispositioned monthly cycle. This disruption and hormone replacement prevents ovulation, therefore preventing pregnancy. The harm in this is that reproduction is not the only bodily system that hormones control. Hormones influence everything from blood sugar, to mood, to brain health, to sleep. So, what happens when we flatline this imperative element of our body’s ability to function? Tremendous amounts of inflammation and internal chaos. We’re not only prescribing this to women, but to girls as young as 13 years old. The Pill has been used as a one-stop-shop for hormonal imbalances and essentially any other symptom a woman may present. Because of this, we often see women at 25, getting off the Pill after more than a decade of use, experiencing infertility, skewed pheromones, an irregular cycle, and so much more.
I write this, not to induce fear surrounding modern medicine and its benefits, but to raise awareness to the lack of information we receive from our providers. Additionally, to highlight the manipulation that often occurs with women, specifically– selling a drug to a 15 year old girl who blindly trusts her doctor’s counsel, or medicating a mother with undisclosed narcotics when she is deep in the trenches of labor. This is all in the name of turning a profit. Informed consent must be that: INFORMED. Somehow, our healthcare system saves face for providers who neglect a proper education and thorough presentation of risk vs. reward to their patients. And the patients who demand a granular explanation are labeled as overbearing, “fear-mongers.” Never allow this to affect you and your choices. Do your own research, educate yourself, and rely on no one to do it for you. And lastly, remember that Pharma is a 1.48 trillion dollar industry, and never let your advocacy be labeled as overbearing.
