We received a very nice update from USP on the revision history of the Estriol monograph in the USP as follows:

1943 -- Admitted to USP 12, Supplement 1
1955 -- Removed from USP and added to NF X
1979 -- Readmitted to USP XIX Suppl. 5 Feb. 1979, official May 1, 1979.

As is evident, Estriol was actually admitted to USP XII in 1943, right after Estrone and before Estradiol and Progesterone. While still official, it was moved from the USP to the NF in 1955. When readmitted to the USP, it became official in the USP XIX Supplement 5 on May 1, 1979 and appeared in the hardback version of the USP XX (1980). An update of the chronology is as follows:

It is interesting that both Testosterone and Testosterone Pellets became official at the same time in USP XIV (1950).

It is also interesting to read an article published in 1938 entitled "Some Clinical Applications of the Male and Female Sex Hormones" that was read before the Bristol Medico-chirurgical Society on Wednesday, February 9, 1938, by G.L. Foss (available on Europe PMC). He discusses the use of estradiol, estrone, progesterone, and testosterone. In females, he lists over a dozen uses including "menopause" with the following quote:

"Most of the symptoms of the climacteric, including hot flushes and even endocrine arthritis, have been controlled by the smaller or moderate doses given by mouth or by injection."

Also in the paper is the statement:

"As a local application which is of considerable help in some cases, it may be prescribed as a cream or vaginal suppository for women and for small children in the form of vaginal capsules."

These hormones have about a 70- to 90-year history of safe and effective use as appropriately prescribed and properly compounded and manufactured.

Next week, we will begin looking at the "Conclusions" from the findings of the Report.

Did You Know ...

...that Warren Wiersbe said the following regarding the conscience?

"You may stifle it; you might even quench it - or defile it. But you will never be able to escape it. It will always be there attaching itself to the highest standard you know. And the standards you adopt will determine whether you have a strong conscience or a weak conscience."

Thought of the Week

It has been said that "conscience" is that inner knowledge that helps one to know oneself...it is the pain you feel when you do wrong. An American Indian once said, "In my heart there is an arrowhead with three points to it. If I do wrong, the arrowhead turns, and it cuts me. If I do wrong too much, I wear out the points and it doesn't hurt me quite so much. But when the pain is gone, watch out!"

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Looking Back

Soldier, Sailor
And Marine,
Now get a shave,
That's quick and clean!
     Burma-Shave