Hormone replacement news: read the fine print
So the coverage regarding the new findings in hormone replacement therapy (HRT), will strike fear in all women. The report is that women taking HRT had more advanced breast cancers and were more likely to die. Ready for the key piece of information buried in the study:
The treatment studied was the most commonly prescribed hormone replacement pill, Prempro, which contains estrogens from horse urine and a synthetic relative of the hormone progesterone.
These are the major issues with the conventional hormones: they are not chemically similar to the hormones that women have naturally. The fact is some women need hormone replacement for relief of menopausal symptoms. Regardless of whether bio-identical hormones are used or not the rule is still lowest dose for shortest duration. But for women who need hormones, this study should help support the need use bio-identical hormones so that the body knows what to do with them and not hormones from horses or synthetics.
It should be noted the importance of monitoring hormone levels during the course of therapy. Several studies have discussed the advantage of saliva for this monitoring as it is a better approximation of tissue levels of hormones. I have a number of cases, and they keep piling up of women who feel terrible and are taking large doses of hormones, as their doctors keep increasing the dose and finding normal blood levels. One of the main drivers of this is the fact that often lifestyle measures, like a whole foods diet and stress management never get implemented or suggested, it is much easier just to increase the hormone dosage. In these cases, checking the saliva hormone levels show significant toxicity as it just keeps accumulating in the tissues leading to fatigue, weight gain, water retention and cognitive changes.
Bottom line is that women who are having menopausal symptoms should be working with providers that use bio-identical hormones, focus on all other aspects of health like diet, sleep, and stress and will monitor the saliva levels regularly to ensure appropriate balance in being reached.
Contributed by:
Dr. Jeffrey Gladd
Owner
Dr. Jeffrey Gladd graduated from Indiana University School of Medicine in 2001. He then went on to train in family medicine...
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