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June 4th, 2010
02:02 PM ET
'Sex and the City' hazardous to women's health?
By Elizabeth Cohen You may find the new “Sex and the City” movie entertaining – but don’t turn to it for medical advice. In the movie, Samantha Jones, the eldest of the famous foursome of gals, takes hormones. “I’m leading the way through the menopause maze,” she tells her friends. “I’ve tricked my body into thinking it’s younger…No hot flashes. No mood swings. And my sex drive is right back to where it was.” The medical hiccup: Samantha had breast cancer, and doctors generally don’t recommend hormone therapy for breast cancer survivors, since some studies show it increases the chances of having a recurrence. “Most doctors that I know would do everything possible to avoid use of hormone replacement therapy in a woman with a past history of breast cancer,” says Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society. Some breast cancer survivors are upset about the movie. “It drives me crazy that some woman out there might think this is OK,” says Courtney Bugler, a breast cancer survivor and executive director of the Young Survival Coalition. Candice McDonough, a spokeswoman for New Line Cinema, which produced “Sex and the City 2,” declined to comment. The National Cancer Institute and Susan G. Komen for the Cure have advice for breast cancer survivors about hormone replacement therapy. With reporting by CNN's Sabriya Rice and John Bonifield
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Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest stories from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and the CNN Medical Unit producers. They'll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love. Recent Comments
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What a bunch of bullshit! Get with the times people! Of course there are breast cancer survivors who take estrogen. The incredible stupidity of this article just floors me.. the narrow mindedness of it. Suzanne Somers oncologist Julie Taguchi is has a MAINSTREAM practice; she prescribes the Wiley Protocol loosely referred to in the movie and also administers chemo.... she says her patients on anti estrogen drugs do no better than those who have had breast cancer and are on the protocol... hormones have nothing do with it!!!!! They don't cause cancer!! Taguchi says that in fact doctors are not really sure what is causing cancer or the role that hormones play. Of course there are breast cancer survivors who do HRT. If I had cancer I would. Life is too short to suffer!!
If you're taking your medical advice from Sex And The City, clearly when you die from it you'll only be serving to clean up the gene pool a little bit.
wow this movie sucks on so many levels.
hey hollywood, take a chance on something new and original and please, please stop insulting our collective intelligence (which, admittedly, is approaching IDIOCRACY levels, but...) with these mailed in faux nostalgic suck fests...http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/global/btn_submit_comment.gif
ITS A MOVIE FOR PETE'S SAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
It IS irresponsible of the writers of this movie to give the character Samantha breast cancer AND Hormone replacement therapy– it has been established that HRT is wrong for cancer patients! To the zillions of people who are writing "it is just a movie, it is just a movie"–the reason we no longer have as much smoking in movies is because people are influenced by movies! There was pressure put on filmmakers to lighten up on all the smoking. Rightfully so.
People who write and produce film should be held accountable for important issues such as this. Women are so desperate to remain young they will get "permission" from "Samantha" to put themselves in harm's way to remain young. THAT is why this article was written, and it is worth intelligent discussion.
It makes no difference whether it's a stupid movie, or whether an actress or porn star says it works. Why don't you try to study Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture and Western and Oriental Herbal Medicine for 20 years, and practice it all on yourself, and then find out for yourself that – 1) Wild Yam, indeed, is a Progesterone precursor; while Black and Blue Cohosh are all Estrogen; Nettles are Androgens, Saw Palmetto is all Testosterone, Mugwort is both Progesterone and Estrogen. And when you make a Tincture (2/3 alcohol; 1/3 water) using these herbs in equal proportions, then you take this tincture daily, you'll find that you can actually have a sex life after the age of fifty, long after fifty, in fact.
Bibliography: Energetics of Western Herbs by Peter Holmes, Chinese Materia Medica by Dan Bensky.
There are many other books, so start researching. Don't take the media's word for everything; they are always working on somebody's behalf...
geenie. vancouver, bc
Do these comments really make since who would get medical advice from a movie. You talk to your doctor and you see what works for you. Get a life people.
I think here the issue is not that we can take medical advise from a movie.I hope no one, who has health problems, would watch the movie and say to himself: fu$$ the doctors, SAM knows better. But as we know that HRT isn't healthy choice for ex-cancer patients, I can ask the question: Isn't this about these choices of life when we choose to live less years but feel more alive? Isn't this the real issue in this article?
Showing role models is good for Society and families.Projecting image of women here as sex symblas gives different image to people.As oil spill spoils the environment.So this immorale spill also
You would be shocked at how many people think just because they see it on TV that it's legitimate.
The most telling of experiences I had as a RN for 25 years was when we had a patient go into a cardiac arrest, and we resuscitated her.
It turned out the family was in the hallway, quietly witnessing the entire event.
As we were rolling her bed down the hallway toward the ICU, I overheard one of the female family members say, clearly with admiration, "It's just like as on TV!"
I thought, shocked, "No, TV is just like us, the real thing, if they are that much like us, what you saw, to make you say that! WE are REAL! THEY are NOT!" I was appalled. Shocked.
I still am, years later.
To Jim Smithers- Yeah, but what you don't realize is that your wife is thankful for the call so she can get her bit on the side out the door before you arrive.
SaudiROx- I loved this movie because it shows a path for the women in your country to overthrow your ridiculous ways. THey will soon get the right to drive and after that it will only continue. Your old world barbarism is on the way out.
SaudiRox- RIght, one more comment. SHe will get cancer from watching the movie. Well, maybe that is illustrative of the average intelligence of the doctors in your country, but everywhere else, your comment is just silly.
One more thing Jim- What you also might not realize is that your bit on the side might also have a bit on the side as well. And when she tires of you- you'll be gone.
It's a movie. It's make believe. Don't get your knickers in a twist over it! Samantha also has sex w/anything that moves & breathes. Doesn't mean we would all run out & imitate her lifestyle.
She was taking vitamins......docs to my knowledge are not a fan of these since they don't get a kick back.....they prefer script, I personally will try vitamin therapy before a synthetic pill, I have a long history of cancer in my family....and another thing if you can't relate to any of these gals you should not go and see the movie...it was just as good as the first one!
I just can't believe they made a second movie when the first one was so painfully awful. People should be bitching about the ridiculous plot (or lack of).
First of all, she is a fictional character.
Second, this proclamation suits her character perfectly.
AND, several of my patients insist on hormones for quality of life reasons, even if they have had breast cancer. It is a woman's right to decide how to care for herself. Many woman make bad decisions about their health: Anyone out there smoking? Over eating?
As someone who is currently undergoing chemo for breast cancer. Really? This is a movie, fiction, nothing more. I didn't find her comments offensive.
Were they seriously lacking for news articles or what. They had to dig long and deep for this one.
If people are stupid and ignorant enough to take anything from a fictional, comedic movie seriously, they have a bigger problem than they know. But seeing as how the average IQ in this country is probably down to about 80, nothing surprises me.
That's why we have to have printed warnings on hairdryers and curling irons, saying not to use them while in the bath tub.
And for you know it all herbal freaks out there, there ARE herbal products, unregulated that DO contain estrogen. Another example of idiocy.
It's fictional, not a ducumentary....if people are stupid enough to take advice from a movie script then they deserve the ill effects from that advice. So sick of the dummy down of freakin' America...
I loved the movie. It is a movie for adults, and adults should know better than to take a fictitious movie seriously. Anyone should take advice from their doctor's before taking certain medications anyway.
It is the same with alternative medicines and vegetarianism; Hollywood pokes fun at things that are different in order to get a giggle. Seriously, if we are going to get upset with Sex/City gals, lets examine their sexual partner numbers which young girls may not realize contributes to the excess viral load in a woman's body. How about we publish a manual for junior high girls examining all the Sex/City behaviors to NOT emulate.
Since I was old enough to reason ... I understood that movies were entertainment and that most things in them were not "real". I have been somewhat in amazement for most of my 65 years, that people would even think to believe something that was meant to be entertainment!
How can some Americans be so stupid not to realize the difference between Reality and Fantasy?
As all of the comments on this article show, people need to be educated. Plain and simple. That is what the Young Survival Coalition does: educate people about their risk of breast cancer in addition to supporting the thousands of young women who are diagnosed with it each year. Of course, everyone knows it's just a movie and does not substitute for real medical advice. However, to argue that anyone who takes medical advice from this movie deserves what they have coming is truly irresponsible. Hormone Replacement Therapy of any kind whether prescribed by your doctor or over the counter remedies are BAD if you have had estrogen positive breast cancer. Just because a therapy is labeled "natural" or "homeopathic" does not mean it is safe. These remedies have what are called phytoestrogens or plant based estrogens in them. And when it comes to cancer, all estrogen is estrogen. Believe me, I know of what I speak. As a two time cancer survivor before the age of 35 who struggles daily with the effects of early menopause due to a total hysterectomy to protect me from estrogen, I am most definitely paying attention.
Of course people should get medical information from their doctors. But do you really believe that every patient listens to what their doctor says? That every doctor tells every patient exactly what they need to hear when they need to hear it? I am reminded of a joke: "Somewhere there is a class graduating from medical school with the worst doctor in the world. And someone has an appointment with him tomorrow."
This movie will be seen by millions of women, many of them young women, and somewhere in that crowd of millions there are bound to be a few who do not have their facts straight. Clearly there are a few of them on here. So, I say, bravo for taking the opportunity to shine a light on misinformation and do the right thing.
After all, is any arguing that we should allow everyone on TV and in the movies to start smoking up a storm again? Because that did a lot of damage when it came to encouraging a whole generation of chain-smoking addicts who later developed lung cancer. But, I forgot...those were just entertainment too.
I'd like to know how she keeps those earrings from stretching her earlobes down to her waist!
So the writer of this article was not paying attention to the movie...Samantha says she is taking HERBAL hormone THERAPY. Their is a HUGE difference between prescription hormone replacement and HERBAL. I am a pharmacist and CNN should do their homework before they write the article.
If anyone looks to any fictional movie or tv show, including those about the medical field, for advice, they're an idiot. Take them for what they are...fiction.
I never like sex and the city it protrays a negative view on women and believe that now all women are the same. I think this series was made for the future generation of women where they are in control and have the men by the you know what. I personally believe that today's standards are way to over the top compared to back in the day. I am twenty five and in a relationship and we both try to reason with each other instead of one making all the decisions if you truly love the person then you will work all the problems out because it not like a movie where you can press rewind.
I think it's fascinating that almost every male commentor has only negative things to say about the series and movie. Could it be that men feel threatened by women who emulate their own promiscous, me-first mentality and lifestyle? If guys can go around banging all kinds of women and get the respect of their male peers for doing that, why can't women? What is the male equivent of 'whore'? Get off it guys. Women aren't under men's control anymore. Last names should be from the mother as we never really know who the father really was. Jim Smithers, a poster from above, illustrates this nicely as he may father a bastard child tonight. Guys, you are the problem too. If you sleep around, we sleep around ('cause who are we sleeping with if you're knocking around with us?). Don't like that? Stop sleeping around.
Also, HRT can be prescribed synthetic hormones or 'homeopathic remedies'. Guess what people: those soy-based remedies are loaded with estrogens from soy. That means it's a drug too but not under quality control. Don't delude yourselves. There is no such thing as something you can put into your body that will only do good or no harm. If it can do good for some, it can do bad for others. 'Drugs' are compounds designed to effect a biological change whether you get them out of an extract or as a purified pharmaceutical. Drugs come from extracts but are pure. Why don't people understand that?
1. HERBAL HORMONE THERAPY is in the movie. Not Prescription. Maybe thats why she's a medical correspondent and not a movie critic.
2. If any grown woman going through menopause tries this JUST because some made up character did, they have a LOT more problems.
3. A woman probably couldn't get PRESCRIPTION hormone therapy WITHOUT SEEING A DOCTOR!!!! Who would be the one to send her in the right direction after reviewing her medical history.
How hadn't this completely useless never trustful woman died of recurring syphillis or herpes breakouts + complications by now?
Dr. D- She had Susanne Sommers book and that promotes bioidentical hormones. Just because something is an herb doesn't mean it couldn't also have hormones in it. These things are not regulated very well. Further, I think that if this is the type of therapy that women can get OTC the warning is not unwarranted because they probably won't be seeking medical advise before using it.
As for Mr. Smithers- don't catch any diseases with your skank. Hope your wife finds someone soon because she has a nobody now.
Anyone who was going to take medical advice from Sam Jones in "Sex and the City" isn't going to be reading CNN for an article telling them it's a bad idea.
Stoooopid
Whats funny is that there is a significant amount of women out there who think Sex and the City is reality in every way shape and form. You know some women are going to take this medical advice as gospel. In fact, if this story hadn't come up then who knows how many would have been affected.
Now if they'll only remind them that love doesn't equal money. Material things will not fill that void you feel in your heart. Neither will some guy's bank account. But they'll keep dating looking for their Mr. Big, dismissing all that don't fit that perfect idea without so much as knowing their name. Those who do that are incapable of love in the first place. Its a curse they place on themselves.
I understand all points of view, but from an advertising POV, there is a lot of product placement in that movie, and as silly as it may be, people many times are "SEDUCED" to purchase many of these products; therefore, YES it is fictional, and NO, you should not take medical advice from Samantha Jones, but it does raise a valid point over product placement in movies (they have censored smoking, why not hormones?)
This movie is not a documentary on breast cancer and hormone replacement therapy, it's a movie not reality based. It's for fun and enjoyment to get you out of the house and have some laughs. Regardless of what is said in this movie, and there is some woman or women that go to their Dr. and ask for hormones after they themselves have had breast cancer, do you honestly think their Dr. is going to give them hormones because Samantha said it's good for their sex lives. Do you honestly believe women and Drs. are that stupid. Just enjoy the movie for what it is. FUN. Why can't we enjoy things for what they are, and not look for things to cause controversy and upset people.
are you saying I shouldn't take Samantha's advice? I don't get it. Doesn't she know all?
Baliji- No, allowing men to rape women and then do nothing to them if they marry the woman in three days is immoral. Now who allows that? Allowing men old enough to be great grandfathers to marry underage girls is immoral. Now who allows that? Not allowing women to go to the doctor or stoning them because they wear whatever is immoral. Now who allows that? Sounds like your sense of morality is depraved.
I saw Sex and the City 2. It was the most ridiculous move I have ever seen and I loved the series when it was on TV. If anyone takes medical advice from Samantha or Suzanne Somers (Sam was reading her book), they have to be out of their minds.
But with regard to this stupid movie, didn't Samantha go through early menopause when she was taking chemo for breast cancer? Also, the conspicuous consumption during this recession was ridiculous. Samantha walking through a Muslim country with shorts and a tee shirt, while the rest of the girls walked around with their cleavage hanging out was disrespectful. If you don't like the rules of a country, don't go there.
Sex and the City has seen better days. Hope they don't further embarass themselves by making a third movie.
Its just a movie and we all know that you cant believe everything that you see on a movie..RIGHT!?!?
Using SATC for medical advice is absurd when clearly Grey's Anatomy is a much better choice... In fact, just last year I was able to diagnose myself, and following along with the diagnostically appropriate episode, I was able to perform major surgery on myself using common kitchen utensils, saving a fortune on hospital bills...
Repeat after me.
IT'S. A. MOVIE. And in the movie, she gets her advice from a SUZANNE SOMMERS book.
What's next, are people going to start confusing doctors on TV and in movies with real ones? I hope no one is taking the advice of House or the people on Grey's Anatomy either.
Good grief.
I love the move, but if you are going to use Samantha as your expert, you're not too bright. And if you do follow her lead, don't think you'll be able to sue because the show made you do it. I guess there are idiots in the world. Breast cancer survivors, I'm proud of you – so instead of bitching about the movie, continue your anthem to educate young women about taking care of their bodies. Don’t let the stress of the movie consume you because it’s only a movie.
Wow, over 100 comments – the majority blasting the author for failing to note the Sam was taking "natural" supplements and stating that "no one takes their medical advice from tv or movies!!!" YES, they do- people without health care who can't afford to see a doctor, people who don't read medical info or know how to search online, people who get their advice from friends and magazines. That's why production companies have a medical consultant on staff to ensure that the medical stories they portray are reasonably accurate. And this movie failed on this count. Women with a history of breast cancer would never receive a recommendation to try hormone replacement therapy either synthetic or natural – they would be advised to avoid even natural sources of estrogen beyond a very low limit. These recommendations would be similar from an integrative medicine doctor or naturopath. or a regular oncologist being paid by a big pharma company. Of course, "it's only a movie", but even ER and Grey's anatomy try to make their medical scenes correct. Or maybe the producers WANTED us to view Sam's character as so superficial that she would rather have a sex drive and risk a cancer recurrence which means certain death than pull up her big girl panties and age gracefully.
Suzanne Summers' book received a huge plug from this movie - that was my only objection. If they had left that book out of the movie, the hormone therapy would not be validated. However, before trying Ms. Summers' methods please talk with a medical Dr.
Dr. D. Of course you realize that many drugs are made from 'herbs'. And you do realize that some herbs can and DO mimic hormones in the body. Read the book Dr. D. Then talk to a friendly oncologist. Extensive studies are ongoing regarding hormones and cancer, including dietary hormones. Are you a RPH? Hummmmmmmmmm.. Not all 'hormone replacement therapy' comes from horses.
I've taken bioidentical hormone replacement therapy for almost four years, and the improvement in my health is nothing short of astonishing-lost weight, cholesterol dropped 65 points, the hormones cured my hot flashes, restless leg syndrome, acid reflux and seasonal allergies in less than a week. This went way beyone menopausal symptoms for me, and I plan to take the hormones for the rest of my life. I wouldn't take the synthetic hormones on a bet-and thank goodness, thousands of other women are becoming aware that there are alternatives. If anyone would like a list of resources to help you find a doctor/compounding pharmacy in your area who uses the BHRT protocol in his/her practice, please drop me an email at holyhormones@gmail.com and I will send the list to you. It also includes a list of recommended reading -- there are other books out there besides the ones written by Ms. Somers. Best to all for hormonal health!
sadly enough a lot of stupid chicks emulate these broads. when i was in college we watched this crap on dvd constantly and then went out at night all dressed cute and thought it was normal to hook up with whoever looked good.
i don't know any girls who benefited emotionally from behaving like these women. its not empowering to be materialistic and, well, act like a s***. I'm sorry to say that but we honestly all thought it was normal and cool to act like that when we were 18. Now that I'm 25, I realize how stupid I was and how bad it made me feel and I'm glad I don't idealize people like that anymore.
Many women don't realize this and will listen to what these stupid screenwriters have to say.