Show BIO — The Herald Journal Logan Utah Tuesday September 24 2002 Utah gets grant to study birth defects HRT Continued from B1 least as different on the inside as you are on the outside" Nevertheless Mitchell said when a woman comes to her gynecologist requesting HRT the usual approach is to give her the standard dose of estrogen often without even measuring hormone levels Another had practice common to gynecologists according to Mitchell is to administer estrogen without its companion progesterone “We know estrogen grows cells and 'that it causes dotting" he said “We also know progesterone mitigates these effects You need to he on both hormones in the proper balance” Reaction from the local medical community was mixed Physician's Assistant D'Annc Moon who attended a special talk Mitchell gave just for doctors thought “he brought up a lot of good By Utah Department of Health Four out of every 100 pregnancies are affected by a medically concerning birth defect The Utah Department of Health has been awarded a five-ye$5 million grant to study the causes of birth defects such as spina bifida defects of the heart lip and palate In addition researchers hope to find new ar tools to prevent birth defects Some Utah parents and their children will be asked Io participate in the study when it begins in 2003 Utah's 2nd Congressional District Congressman Jim Matheson was noti- fied of the grant recently by the US Department of Health and Human Services "Support for this type of research is critical to the work of Utah health researchers looking for the cause of spina bifida and other birth defects” says Rep Matheson “I will continue to support increased research funding so that programs like this can continue to bring hope to Utah families” Utah is one of seven states receiving the grant which include California Texas Arkansas Massachusetts North Carolina and Iowa The research effort will be conduct- ed jointly between the UDOH and the University of Utah’s Health Sciences Center Division Of Medical Genetics “Being part of this collaborative effort is extremely exciting” says Marcia Feldkamp principal investigator and director of the UDOH’s Utah Birth Defects Network t SGsEyi© IMHs® The Neri Stage points" However Morin said the concept of “natural” hormone replacement needs to be considered “alternative" at this 4k point "I haven't seena doubletrial blind placebo-controlle- d similar to the Prempro trial on these drugs and you’re not " likely to she said “For one thing they are similar enough to the real hormones that they're not patentable so the moqey is big not behind them Studies such as the Prempro study are noto- ' V s drug-compa- riously expensive" Obstetrician-gynecologi- st David Coppin was more dismissive Coppin didn’t attend Mitchell’s talk — “I've heard it all before and I have other ‘ things to do on a Saturday — but he said it is morning" misleading to tout “natural” hormone therapy over the traditional medications prescribed “Other than Premarin all our hormone replacement he therapy is said “The people who try to market these things call them 'natural’ and 'plant-base- d' the the that implication being other things aren’t It's not exactly honest” Also Coppin said “If it’s estrogen it's estrogen and it’s going to have the same good effects and bad effects as any other estrogen You don’t have to be a doctor or even a scientist to figure that out” Coppin said he's telling his menopausal patients “the same thing I’ve been telling them for 32 years — there's good and bad to estrogen like everything else It's great for the bones It reduces the risk of colon cancer If you’re a healthy menopausal woman with no real troubling sy mp- toms it doesn't make sense to be on it If you're having hot flashes so bad you can't sleep at night or losing bone mass then it’s worth it" Coppin said several of his patients have contacted him to talk about the WHI study but most of them “aren't panick-m- g plant-derive- : ' ' r A v HURRY IN AND GET LOW RATES ON HOME EQUITY LOANS d” Happenings Decency talk Stand For Decency will host a presentation by Mark Kastleman author of “Pornography: The Drug of the new MiHcnium” at noon Thursday in the Taggart Student Center auditorium at Utah State University The presentation is free and open to the public Journal workshop The Stokes Nature Center will host a journal making workshop led by local artist Dennise Gackstetter on Friday Oct 1 1 from 6:30 io 8 pm Saturday Oct 12 from 2 to 4:30 pm and Saturday Oct 19 from 9:30 am to noon All materials are included This workshop is designed for ages 13 and older Space is limited and required by Sept 26 Workshop tuition is $35 for $30 for Nature Center members For more information call That's right Our rates for home equity loans have fallen lower than ever And if you are a Wells Fargo customer you can get a lower loan rate just for having accounts with us How great is that? 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