Balancing Your Hormones Naturally
Are you sure you want to keep taking those Birth Control Pills, Hormone Replacement Therapy or ART drugs?
All synthetic hormone drugs are non bio-identical in the human body, meaning they can never act in the same way that our body produced hormones can. This also means that, though they may cover up or eliminate some inconvenient symptoms they may also cause other symptoms or even life threatening diseases, either immediately or in the future.
Synthetic drugs have chemical molecules that have been forceably joined together via laboratory synthesis so that pharmaceutical companies can patent them and make a profit.
Bio-identical hormones on the other hand have a molecular structure that exactly matches the molecular structure of the hormones produced by the body.
Why doesn’t your doctor offer you bio-identical hormones?
#1 Because doctors are uninformed, too busy seeing too many patients to educate themselves or misinformed by the drug companies who are selling synthetic hormone drugs and coincidently funding specialty forums and continuing medical education meetings for doctors. The pharmaceutical industry makes well over $1 billion a year on one HRT drug alone. Profit exceeds the desire to protect patients safety.
#2 Doctors are simply ignoring the wealth of research stating synthetic hormones are doing more harm than good.
What does the research say about synthetic hormones?
HRT drugs were first developed in the 40’s. HRT drugs were prescribed for relief of hot flashes, vaginal dryness and night sweating symptoms. Actually they did relive some of these symptoms for some women. It soon became apparent that HRT drugs should not be taken long term due to the risk of potentially terminal health problems that overshadowed their short term benefits of symptoms relief. A double blind study assesing the safety of these drugs was not done until 1993 when the National Institutes of Health initiated the Women’s Health Initiative. Not a single study to date has reported positive disease prevention benefits of synthetic hormones bu they have reported deisease causing effects of the drugs.
Common HRT Drugs:
Premphase, Femhrt, Activella, Ortho-prefest, Combipatch, Cenestin, Menest, Ortho-est, Ogen, Estratab
1. Premarin – made from equine, pregnant mare-horse urine
(In-humane procedures for exctracting the urine)
· Link between equine derived estrogen and uterine (endometrial) cancer established
· The “unopposed estrogen” (estrogen without the balance of progesterone) in estrogen only drugs causes the growth of estrogen sensitive tissue such as in the uterus and breasts and has been acknowledged even by the pharmaceutical companies as having a carcinogenic effect.
· Once broken down in the body it becomes toxic to the very DNA that keeps us healthy.
Progestogens-
Estrogens are known to block one of the enzymes (monoamine oxidase - MAO) which degrades serotonin with the result of elevating mood. Progestogens, probably more so than natural bioidentical progesterone, increase MAO concentration thus producing depression and irritability. Pure progestogen treatment without estrogen, such as DepoProvera® is know to worsen depression in women who already have a tendency toward or clinical signs of depression.
What action did the pharmaceutical company take with this knowledge?
· A warning of this “side effect” is now included in the drugs package insert.
· They decided to develop synthetic progesterone, “progestin” or Provera, so that it could be prescibed to women along with synthetic estrogen. Synthetic progesterone has its own negative health effects and Dr.'s are still ignorantly prescribe synthetic estrogen by itself.
2. Prempro and Premphase- synthetic estrogen and medrox-progesterone combinations
· Prescribed to treat (not remedy the source of the problem) symptoms of hot flashes and night sweats
· Marketed as preventative drug for uterine cancer, osteoporosis, cardiac concerns, and Alzheimer’s disease. (WHI study found the drugs cause an increased risk of these diseases)
· The WHI study was done using this combination drug “Prempro.”
Findings of the WHI study
· In 2001 representatives from the National Cancer Institute voted to put synthetic estrogen on the nations list of cancer causing agents hoping to stop the study and the harmful effects to the participants.
· In 2002 data from the study revealed that the number of invasive breast cancers in the study participants had crossed the established signal for risk to the participants and the study was halted. A 26% increased risk of breast cancer.
· It was revealed that synthetic estrogen and progesterone caused increased breast density and thus breast tumors were harder to find and diagnose. Women who did have breast cancer from taking these synthetic hormones were not diagnosed until the cancer was already in very late and untreatable stages.
· The study also showed that women taking synthetic estrogen and progesterone have increased risk of heart disease, stroke and blood clots along with the increased risk of breast cancer. A 54% increase in the risk of ovarian cancer in women taking the combination hormones and a 43% increase in women taking synthetic estrogen only, was reported as well.
· Women over 65 taking the drug have increased risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
· Synthetic hormones have also been shown to increase a woman’s risk of endometriosis, fibrocystic disease and uterine fibroids.
Why then is the most commonly prescribed treatment for these concerns synthetic hormones? Great question!
· It was found that Prempro provided no measurable relief or benefit of sleep disturbance, emotional health or sexual satisfaction complaints.
· Prempro did seem to provide relief of hot flashes and night sweats, but was it worth that relief?
Why are synthetic hormones still being prescribed as HRT, birth control, and ART drugs?
Good question!
According to Dr. C.W. Randolph, Jr, M.D. “It is almost criminal for physicians to continue to plead ignorance and as a result prescribe synthetic hormones.”
Problems with how Dr.’s Prescribe Synthetic Hormone Drugs
· Prescribed as a “one size fits all” treatment. Each woman is different and has individual needs for specific hormones and doses.
Human Identical Hormones
Human-identical hormones cannot be patented, therefore, they are prescribed to fit the individual patients needs and are compounded (made from scratch) in a compounding pharmacy from plants, with relatively little financial gain to the pharmaceutical companies.
· Inserts in human –identical hormone products also warn against using estrogen only. Progesterone is important, its must be prescribed alongside estrogen, but progesterone alone is safe.
· MORE INFORMATION TO COME!!!!!!!!
Hormones Role in the Health of the Female Body
According to the traditional medical community the distress typically associated with hormone imbalance is unavoidable. This is absolutely false.
In my opinion women should educate and inform themselves about their bodies functioning, prevention of disease and hormone imbalance and the signs / symptoms of imbalance at or before puberty. In this way much dis-ease is avoidable and treatable.
Hormones affect every cell in the body, including the brain. The endocrine system is the operation center for regulating hormone production. If any gland within this system is imbalanced the whole body will suffer.
The pituitary and hypothalamus regulate estrogen and testosterone as well as neurotransmitters that regulate mood.
The hypothalamus produces GnRH and the pituitary FSH (Follicle stimulating hormone to stimulate your ovaries to ovulate, release an egg) and LH. At puberty a woman has approx. 400,000 eggs at age 30 25-30,000. (This is why it is so important for women to understand and keep their body’s hormones in balance especially in this era when women want to start families later in life.) These hormones stimulate the rise of estrogen and progesterone during a woman’s cycle.
The thyroid gland plays a role as well regulating metabolic function. 26% of women are diagnosed with hypothyroidism (underactive) at middle age. Thyroid imbalance symptoms range from low energy, weight gain, mood disturbance, and mental confusion to sleep disturbances. Most blood tests for thyroid function only detect when the gland has become unbalanced not when it is on the verge of imbalance. Thus many thyroid imbalances can be prevented if only the body were looked at as a whole.
The adrenal glands also play a role in hormone balance and regulating the sympathetic nervous system. Relentless, debilitating fatigue is the sign of imbalance.
The ovaries produce three kinds of estrogen they regulate the menstrual cycle. Body fat can be a source of estrogen for a woman, this is why women who have little body fat can have very imbalanced hormones and even stop menstruating. Believe it or not cholesterol is the building block molecule from which all sex hormones are derived, so keep those good fats in your diet, like eggs. Low fat and low cholesterol diets have been shown to throw off hormones.
The ovaries also produce progesterone (the “feel good hormone”), testosterone, and androgenic hormones (building blocks for estrogen and testosterone).
Progesterone maintains the uterus and prepares it to conceive. Progesterone also supports the brain’s mental acuity and emotional stability promoting calmness and healthy sleep patterns thus, the “feel good hormone.”
BTW: PMS symptoms (bloating, anxiety, irritability, back pain, nausea, cramping, lethargy) are a sign of hormone imbalance and not a cross that women have to bear because the have a uterus. PMS symptoms can easily be treated with bio-identical hormone treatments.
The body’s process of making its own hormones is carried out with the help of enzymes. Research enzymatic foods and supplements and make them a part of your daily diet.
Early Reproductive Stage menses to 30 y/o
Pre-Menopausal mid 30’s to late 40’s
· Estrogen is declining
· Progesterone is declining even faster 120times faster
· As a result estrogen begins to dominate
Estrogen Dominance (body’s estrogen is not balanced with progesterone production) Symptoms
· See “From Hormone Hell to Hormone Well” pg 32
· From their mid 30’s on almost all women are estrogen dominant
Peri Menopausal
· Around menopause
· Can last 2-8 years
· Typically late 40’s to early 50’s
· Ovulation irregular
· It is still possible to conceive
Menopausal
· No period for 12 months
· Average age of naturally menopausal women 51
Symptoms of hormone imbalance:
Vaginal dryness, hot flashes, hair loss, night sweats, depression mood swings
· Testosterone production depletes slower than the other hormones a woman can become testosterone dominant (older women with a full beard and a deepening voice display testosterone dominant symptoms)
· Treatable with bio-identical hormones
Absolutely!
Artificial Menopause
One in every four women will be forced in artificial menopause.
Surgical-
90% of the time the problem could have been treated by non surgical approaches!
· Complete Hysterectomy
a. Removal of uterus, tubes, ovaries
b. Body goes into a state of shock
c. Dr.’s commonly prescribe estrogen only HRT which has been shown to foster estrogen dominance a very dangerous state of imbalance.
d. Estrogen, progesterone and testosterone will need to be replaced artificially (from outside the body since the organs are no longer inside to produce the hormones).
Partial Hysterectomy
1. If only one ovary is removed the other ovaries blood supply is compromised and the production of hormones reduced, hormones should be monitored and replaced bio identically if needed.
Synthetic
1. Hormone Induced
a. ART
b. IVF
2. Chemotherapy and Radiation
After these hormone treatments a woman’s body can go into a complete state of menopause due to the body’s natural hormone balanced being shut down and artificially restarted with synthetic hormones or chemicals.
