Ignorance is bliss

[Mayflower53]

Has anyone else read the article in the Sunday Mail this weekend about how Urso....... Is extracted from brown bears in China under very cruel and inhumane conditions. I wish I hadn't seen it because now I feel I should stop taking these pills. I'd like to know what everyone else thinks?

[Val02]

Bear bile is used in Chinese medicine but not in western medicine. Don't worry, the URSO we take is synthetically manufactured and has no ethical issues.

Take care

[amanda3296 in reply to Val02]

Thank you for the clarification, my heart stopped for a second.

[Mayflower53]

Thank you for putting my mind at rest.

[PBCRobert Partner]

Mayflower, could you possibly point me in the direction of said article?

Many thanks,

Robert.

[Hidden in reply to PBCRobert]

found the posting as I too was interested.

dailymail.co.uk/news/articl...

[cazz22 in reply to PBCRobert]

Hi Pbc Robert.have you seen the explanation and usage of urso on Wikipedia?def enough to put you off it

[busylady]

I have not seen that article - do you have a link. My understanding is It's synthetic now- manufactured with no animal harvesting. Perhaps others can confirm?

[Hidden]

Was interested myself as according to other past readings on this it is now synthetically produced like a lot of modern medications these days.

[Mayflower53]

Hi, thanks for uploading the link to the article and I feel relived to know our Urso is manufactured synthetically. Although, after a quick search on the internet myself I found It wasn't exactly clear that it was all synthetic. However, the article does talk about the bear bile being used in Chinese herbal medicine.

[Hidden in reply to Mayflower53]

I think perhaps it was originally the real thing but like a lot of medications synthetics are then produced due to the need and more than likely the costings too. HRT was originally taken from pregnant horse urine and synthesized and I think I am right in saying that insulin for diabetics was once manufactured from pigs.

I haven't got the article now but a few wks ago I read about polar bears and how they intake high cholesterol levels but it mentioned bile acid in that article. Nothing connected to PBC and urso but I suppose it then figured somehow why urso for PBC as we use bile to break down and aid digestion of fats.

[PCBnPBC]

Logically it has to be synthetic, the amount of URSO that I have taken personally would have wiped out all the bears in China !! OK, a bit of an exaggeration, but I am sure you get my drift, they must make tonnes (literally) 7 days a week, 365 days per year, That is not to say that chineese medecine and other natural products seekers do not cause damage / pain <<what ever>> to bears in China, best sticking with the Western Synthetic route and campaign on behalf of the poor bears, students and unrepresented population of China!

[Calogia]

Mayflower - can you e-mail the article? I worked at a pharmaceutical company and the conditions in which the animals lived was deplorable.

[Brummi]

Hi. That,s true what Val02 says. Just to put a little smile on your face I take a capsule called Creon, this comes from pigs when they are slaughter for the food chain. It is made from pigs bile, but in the the box on the leaflet is a statement, if the pig has an ailment which can be passed on to humans I may get it. I have have taken this for about three years with no problem.. Can you move along the trough please I'm hungry oink! oink......lol

[Ohio82]

I know I also read some time ago has years that the Urso we take is synthetic

[Hidden]

I was worried about this and watched some horrific videos of bears in crush cages. I decided if that is how it is made then I would stop taking it. UDCA is made from bile collected at the slaughter yard from the carcass of cows and processed synthetically. Bear bile is illigal in Europe. There are thousands of bears kept in barbaric conditions in China, Vietnam,Laos and Thailand. There is pressure on these countries to ban it.