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What are bioidentical hormones?
Bioidentical or natural hormones despite the name are actually made in a laboratory. They
are made from compounds found in plants that need to be chemically altered in order to
produce hormones that are identical to those our body produces.
Plant extracts and creams made from wild yam do not contain bioidentical or natural
hormones.
How do these differ from other hormones that are prescribed?
Bioidentical hormones, as it's name implies are hormones that are identical in chemical
structure to human hormones.
Synthetic hormones such as Premarin, whose name is derived from its source ("Pregnant
Mare's Urine"), consists of estrogens collected from the urine of horses. These estrogens are
converted into metabolites (metabolic by-products) that are thought to be cancer causing (1).
Premarin contains almost 100 different estrogens with few natural to the human body (2). In
short, our bodies are not meant to use the estrogens derived from a horse's urine!
In regards to synthetic progesterones, there really isn't such a thing. The "progesterones" that
are on the market are actually progestins. Progestins are chemicals that can bind to
progesterone receptors and stimulate a response that mimics progesterone. The problem
being that progestins often result in more side effects than natural progesterone (see the
bottom of this page for a list of side effects).
(1)Carcinogenesis. 1997 May;18(5):1093-101
(2) JANA. 2000 Fall;3(3): 36-44
Do I necessarily need hormones?
We will often give our patients that choice. There are cases in which we will actually refrain
from prescribing hormones for our clients, these include:
What other treatment options do I have?
Botanical or herbal medicines can work to effectively treat hormonal imbalances and
alleviate menopausal symptoms. We find this to be one of the least invasive, gentle, yet
effective means of treating our clients with menopausal symptoms including:
Side effects associated with progestins (not seen with natural
progesterone):
Natural Progesterone's benefits include:
Click here for more information on menopause
Bioidentical or natural hormones despite the name are actually made in a laboratory. They
are made from compounds found in plants that need to be chemically altered in order to
produce hormones that are identical to those our body produces.
Plant extracts and creams made from wild yam do not contain bioidentical or natural
hormones.
How do these differ from other hormones that are prescribed?
Bioidentical hormones, as it's name implies are hormones that are identical in chemical
structure to human hormones.
Synthetic hormones such as Premarin, whose name is derived from its source ("Pregnant
Mare's Urine"), consists of estrogens collected from the urine of horses. These estrogens are
converted into metabolites (metabolic by-products) that are thought to be cancer causing (1).
Premarin contains almost 100 different estrogens with few natural to the human body (2). In
short, our bodies are not meant to use the estrogens derived from a horse's urine!
In regards to synthetic progesterones, there really isn't such a thing. The "progesterones" that
are on the market are actually progestins. Progestins are chemicals that can bind to
progesterone receptors and stimulate a response that mimics progesterone. The problem
being that progestins often result in more side effects than natural progesterone (see the
bottom of this page for a list of side effects).
(1)Carcinogenesis. 1997 May;18(5):1093-101
(2) JANA. 2000 Fall;3(3): 36-44
Do I necessarily need hormones?
We will often give our patients that choice. There are cases in which we will actually refrain
from prescribing hormones for our clients, these include:
- a personal history of hormone sensitive cancers
- a strong family history of a hormone sensitive cancers
- a personal history of other hormone related or sensitive conditions
What other treatment options do I have?
Botanical or herbal medicines can work to effectively treat hormonal imbalances and
alleviate menopausal symptoms. We find this to be one of the least invasive, gentle, yet
effective means of treating our clients with menopausal symptoms including:
- Hot flashes
- Mood swings
- Irritability
- "Brain fog", poor memory
- Sleep disturbances
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Heart palpitations
Side effects associated with progestins (not seen with natural
progesterone):
- Increased appetite
- Weight gain
- Fluid retention
- Depression
- Irritability
- Headaches
- Breast tenderness
- Bloating
- Decreased sex drive
- Hair loss
- Insomnia
- Increased LDL & decreased HDL
Natural Progesterone's benefits include:
- Sleep improvement
- Natural calming effect, helpful for anxiety
- Lowers cholesterol
- Natural antidepressant
- Helps treat insomnia (when taken orally...not seen with transdermal creams)
- Helps balance estrogen
Click here for more information on menopause
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