Saturday, July 08, 2006

Tea 'reduces ovarian cancer risk'--which may come from Clomid

Fresh off the BBC: Tea 'reduces ovarian cancer risk'

It's pretty well known that "ovulation inducing" drugs like Clomid are highly suspected of causing ovarian cancer. The ovary is by nature a cyst/tumor producing organ, therefore the more tumors, the higher the chances of something going awry. Ovarian cancer is the 6th most frequent type of malignancy occurring in women.

Here is what IVF.com had to say about Clomid (and, one must assume they're putting the best spin on it possible): "It is not a natural compound, and is a relative of tamoxifen and DES." Ugh--remember what a mess DES was? (It was the drug that supposedly would help prevent miscarriage, so they gave it willy nilly to pregnant women from 1937-1971 (eeeek!)--it was proven ineffective AND produced a generation of "DES daughters" [ugh, note the happy faces the CDC puts on this] with deformed or missing uterii, cancer, etc.)

They go on to talk about the "theoretical possibility" that any medication that would increase ovarian activity could result in an increased risk of ovarian cancer. Oops, but # 2 and # 3 kinda bring it out of the "theoretical":
* Isolated case reports of individual women who have taken ovulation inducing medications and were found to have developed ovarian cancer.

* Retrospective case controlled studies...noted that more of these women [with ovarian cancer]had taken “fertility medications” than would have been expected when compared to a “control group” of women who had not taken these medications.
In my previous incarnation as the Fertility columnist for Adoption.com, I heard from a LOT of women whose docs (sometimes just their primary care physicians) would put them on Clomid for no real reason, just because they'd been trying to get pregnant for over six months or something, and many of them reported awful (and sometimes lasting) side effects (migraines, a big one) AND continued infertility.

But (fair and balanced?) I do know someone who was put on Clomid, stopped it because it made her crazy, and then went on to conceive naturally--twice. She believes the Clomid kickstarted her repro system. The Don't-piss-off-Mother-Nature in me focuses on the fact she conceived once she STOPPED the Clomid.

FertilityBitch's suggestion? Drink organic black tea (in a non-dioxin-y bag, please) if you are or have taken Clomid (hello, Barry Bonds?). Two cups a day'll reduce your risk almost FIFTY percent according to the study. And drink black tea anyways--never can have to many anti-oxidants in today's polluted world.

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10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am doing decaf black earl gray now - can't go without it. Being preg, its my last ditch effort at pretending I am drinking my favorite 'black eye' coffee drink. Since I did use stimulation drugs, I appreciate this tidbit and will keep brewing. Thanks for the tip Marie. Love the BBC...

GreenFertility said...

Oh, good to hear! Sometimes I mix black tea with that roasted chicory junk to make a bitter brew that looks, feels (does not quite taste, though) like coffee...I put it in the fridge, make little rice milk "ice" cubes put it all in a tall glass and pretend I'm having an iced latte.

Sooo nice to have a baby "on the board." Thanks so much for sharing.

Third Mom said...

Dang - I've developed what appears to be an allergy to black tea. Is that possible? Have you ever heard of that? I love it, and miss it - but one cup and I'm covered with hives.

GreenFertility said...

Allegies are totally possible to everything--apparently a woman being (or becoming) allergic to her partner's sperm is not uncommon.

Is it organic tea, may I ask? So's to make sure you're not reacting to anything else. Do you know if you react to green or white tea (it's all the same stuff, just depends on how long it's "cured"). I would DEFINITELY not touch anything that give you hives--that's a signal that the body definitely does not like it!

p.s. sometimes if you stay "off" something you're sensitive to for awhile, you can get over the allergy.

xo,
ml

Third Mom said...

Hi, Marie,

It's not organic :( and both green and black cause the reaction. I have a couple of other food allergies, but when the tea allergy started it bummed me out - I really love tea - black tea, unfortunately, not herb. I haven't had it in quite a while, so maybe I'll try again in awhile to see if the reaction remains.

Thanks for the advice!

GreenFertility said...

We-ell, Third Mom, in the lineup (still waiting for the stuff) is some Himalayan black tea that's wildcrafted and picked by nice Nepalese tea farmers. Also, I'm going to do a piece on cod liver oil, which really calms down the ol' immune system. Allergies are usually a symptom of systemic inflammation.

Oh, and sometimes your body gets so used to the "irritation high," that it craves stuff that it's allergic to. We've seen this with our son :(

xo,
ml

Third Mom said...

Thanks! And I'll be on the lookout for the cod liver oil article - and the Himalayan tea.

Best!

Anonymous said...

Tea is short from being a panacea !

GreenFertility said...

it's also fun to drink...

Anonymous said...

in describing Clomid (Clomiphene) no allusions to that hope is not just a joke