Since I began treating my patients with Bio-Identical hormone replacement therapy, I am frequently asked why I think someone should be taking hormone replacement therapy. My answer is always two-fold. It depends on which hormone replacement you are talking about, and as we grow older as individuals or as couples, it becomes difficult to maintain a good quality of life without them.
I qualified the first reason because not all hormone replacement therapy is created equal. There are definite differences between the effect and risks of bio-identical versus non bio-identical hormones. Bio-Identical hormones have the exact same chemical structure as the hormones that your body makes and this is important for several reasons. First, this means when the hormones are introduced into your system, they are immediately recognized for what they are by the body, i.e. an estrogen molecule for example, because they have seen this estrogen molecule since your were tiny in your mother’s womb. And because they have a strong chemical attraction to their intended receptor sites, they then go on to attach themselves to that receptor site in a perfect manner, because both the receptor site and the Bio-Identical hormone molecule are made for each other. A real match made in heaven so to speak. This results in the exact cellular response that the hormone was intended to produce for your body’s specific need. In non-bioidentical hormones there can be undesired effects, such as is the case with Premarin® and PremPro,® which can increase breast density up to 40%, making it possible to misread a mammogram.
Now that’s not the end of the story. As happens all too often, it becomes necessary for even the perfect match to have a break up. So when the Bio-Identical hormone and receptor part ways, the estrogen molecule is immediately recognized by the body as a “used up estrogen molecule” and now enters a process of breakdown and removal. This metabolic process is done by pathways that are innate to the body, and lead to the quick and natural elimination of the hormone from your body through the urine.
This is not the same love story for a molecule that is not bio-identical, such as medroxyprogesterone, a synthetic progestin (note: Not Progesterone!) that has been used in hormone replacement for many years. In this case the molecule enters the body and is not recognized at all. While circulating in the bloodstream, and because it is chemically similar to natural progesterone, it is attracted to receptors in the breast and uterus and becomes attached to them. Unfortunately because it is not progesterone, this match is not a match made in heaven as in the previous example. They are weakly bound, fall off easily, and do not effect as equal a response as the molecules that were made by nature. Now, once they have fallen off, again, the body does not recognize them. They are treated more like a toxin, and as the molecule slowly begins to break down over several days it’s by-products are eventually removed from the blood stream and broken down and excreted by the liver and the kidneys.
The question is what effects are these breakdown products having on the body while they are circulating around? It’s quite probable that they interact with progesterone and estrogen receptor and estrogen receptor regulators, producing some of the negative effects that were seen in the Women’s Health Initiative Study that showed an increase in breast cancer in women taking both non-bioidentical estrogen and synthetic progestin (Not Progesterone) hormone replacement. If one looks at the estrogen only group in that study, there was not an increase in breast cancer.
The moral of this story is that it does matter what you are putting in your body, how it gets there and how it’s getting back out. In addition, it appears that genetic tendencies, environmental exposure to xenoetrogens (bad estrogens and their byproducts), and diet are more important than the natural estrogen level inside your body in the risk of developing breast cancer. In fact there are at least 4 good studies that show there is no increased risk for breast cancer in the use of natural estrogen replacement in women who have had breast cancer, and some showed actual reduction in recurrence by up to 50%!
So, now that I’ve made the case for the safety of bio-identical hormone replacement, let’s look at the answer to the second part of the response to “ Why should I be on hormone replacement”. Unfortunately I am out of space, but I don’t want you to miss out on this very important , so I will direct you to (web site) for this discussion, but let me give you a hint of how important hormonal balance is: there are over 400 different receptors for estrogen throughout the female body!
We utilize state of the art pharmacies that custom compound these and other medicines in order to have your hormones individually tailored to your blood chemistry and hormones levels. If you want to improve your vitality, combat disease, and improve your quality of Life, BHRT Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy might be the solution.
Additionally at Buckhead Hair Restoration Our sister hair restoration office we offersBHRT Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy in Conjunction with NeoGraft Hair Restoration or as an alone standing Treatment Option for Men and Women that want to Optimize and Balance their Lives.
