The Ups And Downs Of Bio-identical Hormones

This French E3N study is the first to provide evidence that bio-identical combinations of estrogen and progesterone may be the least harmful hormone replacement therapy with regard to breast cancer risk. Anyone with a hormonal imbalance can benefit from treatment, but as with all therapies, it is not for everyone. We will follow a medical history at your first appointment and determine if you have any medical conditions that can interfere with the way your body responds to hormones. If we determine that you are not a candidate for bio-identical hormone replacement therapy, we will offer you other treatment options. Interest in bio-identical hormone therapy started to rise in 2002 when a large study called the Women’s Health Initiative stopped after researchers discovered an increased risk of breast cancer, heart attack, stroke and other problems in postmenopausal women using hormone replacement therapy. Bio-identical hormone replacement therapy can help men and women balance irregular hormones.

Steroid hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone, do not meet these criteria and therefore do not require individualized tests. Bio-identical hormone therapy is sold as a “natural” alternative to hormone replacement therapy and is a combination of estrogen, progestin and other hormones. This study, called the Women’s Health Initiative, was promoted by the U.S. It included three major clinical studies and one observational study to address the major health problems related to mortality in postmenopausal women. Clinical studies focused on how hormones affected cardiovascular disease, cancer and osteoporosis. After the study was conducted for some time, it became clear that the risks of hormone replacement were much greater than the benefits and the study was discontinued.

Very often, doses are adjusted to the patient’s symptoms and needs to minimize the dose needed to achieve their goals. Depending on your doctor, you may undergo routine blood, urine or saliva tests to check your hormone levels. It should be noted that the FDA recommends not to use hormone levels to control the dose of hormone therapy in women, as normal levels fluctuate from day to day and vary by patient.

Composite bio-identical hormones are sometimes promoted as “all natural” and safer than standard hormone replacement therapy. Some famous celebrities swear by them and say they feel younger than decades. However, according to the United States Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, there have been no major long-term clinical studies that have studied their safety Hormone Specialist and effectiveness. ACOG believes that composite bio-identical hormones should be considered as the same risks as FDA-approved drugs, as discovered in the WHI study, and possibly even more. That said, there are some benefits for patients to have their hormones put together. The practice of using bio-identical hormones to supplement hormonal deficiencies is not new.

A “bioid hormone” is defined as a molecule identical to a hormone produced by the human body (although not all so-called bio-identical hormones sold by pharmacies and which are necessarily molecularly identical to endogenous people). The FDA considers “BHT”, as currently used by BHT advocates, as a non-scientific marketing term and does not recognize its use. The meaning of “plant drift” is also associated with the term “bio-identical” and may also mean that hormones are “natural”; In the 1990s, compound hormones from plants were called “natural hormonal therapy”. However, the term “natural” can be applied to all products whose main ingredient comes from an animal, vegetable or mineral source, and bio-identical and non-bio-identical hormones can be produced from the same plant sources. Sellers sometimes use the word “bioidentics” to describe hormonal preparations containing estrogens and progesterone with the same chemical structure as naturally found in humans. Sometimes the amount of hormones a woman uses is adjusted based on blood tests with hormone levels.

In particular, saliva hormone levels are known to fluctuate widely and have not been shown to be related to menopause complaints. Bio-identical hormones are expected to present the same risks and benefits as their non-bio-identical counterparts, but no studies have been conducted that directly compare composite bio-identical hormones with their non-bio-identical counterparts. Hormones, as used in CHRT, have been studied for years and their risk, benefit and effectiveness profiles have been known and demonstrated by significant research. A low sexual desire can certainly be caused by things other than a low testosterone level.

Marketing specialists often describe bio-identical hormones as “natural” and buyers often think they are safer than other forms of estrogen and progestin used to control menopause symptoms. However, there have been no long-term studies on bioidentical hormones so far, and no study has shown that women taking bioidentical hormones have less serious side effects than women taking other forms of these hormones. For this reason, it should be assumed that bio-identical hormones have the same health risks as any other type of hormone therapy. Bio-identical hormones are defined as artificial hormones that are very similar to hormones produced by the human body.