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Timeline: A Brief History of DES (Diethylstilbestrol)



 
 
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Old March 27th 08, 06:38 PM posted to misc.health.alternative,talk.politics.medicine,sci.med.diseases.cancer,misc.kids.health
Ilena Rose
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Posts: 1,139
Default Timeline: A Brief History of DES (Diethylstilbestrol)

Note from Health Lover, Ilena Rosenthal:
http://ilenarose.blogspot.com

Today we see Gardasil being promoted by Myrl Jeffcoat / the Snake-oil
Vaccination Propaganda Team as a 'wonder drug' ... they use the same
techniques used by Lilly years ago ...
www.BreastImplantAwareness.org/snake-oil.htm
www.BreastImplantawareness.org/myrl.html
Lies about Gardasil ... lies about Ilena Rosenthal

http://www.descancer.org/timeline.html

Timeline: A Brief History of DES (Diethylstilbestrol)
DES, diethylstilbestrol, is a drug that was given to millions of
pregnant women, primarily from 1938 to 1971. This synthetic hormone
was touted as a "wonder drug" and widely prescribed in the mistaken
belief that it could prevent miscarriage. In addition to having no
effect on miscarriage, it has resulted in health problems for the
women who took the drug as well as their daughters and sons.

1938: Diethylstilbestrol (DES) created. DES was the first synthetic
estrogen ever synthesized; it was cheap to produce, more potent than
natural estrogen, and could be taken orally. In the rush to make and
market DES, Eli Lilly became one of the drug's major manufacturers. In
America alone there were 267 drug companies that made and distributed
DES and other similar synthetic estrogens because it was unpatented
and easily produced. From the start, studies showed that DES promoted
cancer in lab animals:

1938: Mice exposed to DES developed breast cancer.

1939: A rat exposed to DES developed mammary carcinoma.

1939-1940: Mice exposed to DES were born with malformed reproductive
organs.

1941: DES approved for medical use in human beings. Despite the
evidence from animal studies, the FDA approved the use of DES to treat
vaginitis, gonorrhea, menopausal symptoms, and to suppress lactation -
but not for use during pregnancy. Once FDA approval was granted for
these limited uses, however, there was nothing to prevent drug
salesmen from suggesting, and physicians from prescribing, DES for any
other medical condition – menstrual problems, morning sickness,
infertility, and many other applications.

1947: DES approved for use during pregnancy. At the prodding of the
drug companies reacting to market demand, the FDA approved the use of
DES during pregnancy. No controlled studies had been conducted by the
drug companies to determine the effectiveness or safety of DES for use
during pregnancy. DES was initially recommended for women with
conditions such as diabetes, or those at high risk for miscarriages;
however, it was soon widely prescribed to women with no apparent
problems at all, and was the active ingredient in some "vitamin"
tablets given to healthy pregnant women.

1952: Some scientists began to publicly question the efficacy of DES.
The largest and best publicized controlled study of DES at the
University of Chicago in 1953 showed it had "no beneficial effect
whatsoever" in the prevention of miscarriage, and, in fact, DES
brought about higher rates of premature birth and infant mortality.
These findings were supported by several other studies done in the
1950s.

1959: DES banned in chicken and lambs. DES was used widely in
agriculture beginning in 1941 to fatten livestock and chickens.
Exposed male agricultural workers suffered sterility and breast growth
as a consequence. When high DES levels in poultry produced similar
symptoms in consumers as well, the FDA banned the use of DES in
chicken and lambs in 1959.

Late 1960s: Six of the seven leading obstetrics textbooks stated that
DES had no effect in preventing miscarriage in any group of patients.
DES was still being prescribed to pregnant women and touted as a
"wonder drug."

1970: Unprecedented appearance of rare cancer in young women. A rare
vaginal cancer, CCA (clear cell adenocarcinoma), began to show up in
unprecedented numbers in young women. There were eight such cases at
Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston alone. One of the mothers
raised the question of whether her daughter's cancer might be
connected to DES exposure in utero.

1971: Doctors confirmed the link between CCA and DES. The findings of
the Boston doctors were published in the New England Journal of
Medicine, April 22, 1971. Only then did the FDA issue an alert
advising against the use of DES during pregnancy. Even so, some
physicians in the U.S. continued to prescribe it for a few years to
pregnant women despite the FDA alert. Companies continued to sell DES
overseas even after 1971; while it was no longer used in most western
European nations by the late 1970s, DES continued to be sold through
the 1980s in much of the rest of the world.

1978: DES Action formed -- a national non-profit organization
representing mothers, children, and now grandchildren exposed to DES.
The organization provides a newsletter, physician referrals and
updated health information, as well as advocacy for continued
research.

1979: DES banned in animal feed. Cattle breeders fought regulation of
DES in feed until the Department of Agriculture finally banned it in
1979, but there were reports of its covert use through the early
1980s.

1982: DES Cancer Network formed. The DES Cancer Network is an
international, non-profit, consumer organization that addressees the
special needs of women who have had clear cell adenocarcinoma of the
vagina or cervix – a cancer linked to exposure to DES before birth.
The DCN provides recovered patients with ways to contact one another
and to support new patients who have been diagnosed or are undergoing
treatment. The DCN is also a support group to the family and friends
of DES daughters who are clear cell cancer survivors as well as those
who have lost loved ones to the disease. In addition, we serve as a
resource to health care professionals and attorneys whose
patients/clients have had clear cell cancer. The DES Cancer Network
has been serving DES cancer daughters since 1982.

1992: National Institute of Health (NIH) convened the first-ever
meeting on the long-term effects of DES.

1992: DES bill passed. Congress unanimously passed the DES Education
and Research Amendment (chief sponsors Rep. Louise Slaughter [D-NY]
and Sen. Tom Harkin [D-IA]), providing funding to the National
Institute of Health for research on mothers and children, and for a
public and physician education campaign.

1993: Long-term DES research is expanded. The NIH began new studies on
the long-term medical effects of DES, such as breast cancer in the
daughters, immune system disorders, and reproductive problems in the
sons, as well as the long-term health effects of the various
treatments for CCA.

TODAY
Since 1971, the devastating effects of DES exposure discovered
include:
Structural damages in reproductive organs of DES sons and daughters;
High risk pregnancies and miscarriage for DES daughters;
Increased risk of clear cell cancer of the vagina and/or cervix in DES
daughters;
Increased risk for infertility in DES sons and daughters;
Increased risk of breast cancer in DES mothers and DES daughters over
40 years of age;
Possible immune system impairment in some mothers and children exposed
to DES.
There are an estimated 10 million DES mothers and children in the
United States today. Current statistics indicate that one in a
thousand DES-exposed daughters will get CCA, the clear cell cancer
originally linked to DES in 1971.

To this day, none of the 267 pharmaceutical companies who produced and
distributed DES has accepted any responsibility for the DES tragedy,
and all continue to claim that DES causes no health problems. Eli
Lilly, the largest manufacturer, has been a defendant in the majority
of lawsuits brought by victims of DES-related cancer, infertility, and
birth defects.

Researchers are still uncovering frightening facts about the life-long
effect of exposure to DES, including higher rates of breast cancer in
DES mothers, reproductive abnormalities in daughters and sons, higher
rates of ectopic pregnancy in daughters, and damage to the endocrine
and immune systems. Effects on the third generation - DES
grandchildren - are as yet unknown. To this day, no studies have been
done on the long-term effects of DES exposure on agricultural workers,
nor is the impact of exposure on pharmaceutical company employees
known.

The DES issue will not be finished until this entire generation of
DES-exposed mothers, daughters, and sons is gone. Every physician and
health care provider must be aware of what it means to be DES exposed
and be educated to treat their patients in the best possible way.
 




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