“A lot of our viewers don’t know the difference between bioidentical hormones and synthetic hormones,” says Suzanne before explaining how dangerous synthetic hormones can be for your body.
Bioidentical hormones are created from soy and yams and biologically identical to the hormones within our body.
If you were to look up the leading causes of death in the United States, you wouldn’t find osteoporosis on the list. However, that does not mean that this silent disease is innocuous to ones overall health.
In fact, osteoporosis is the leading cause of disability for post menopausal women in the United States. Subsequently, it is this disability that often leads to mortality.
For instance, 25% of individuals die within one year of breaking their hip, and this number increases to 50% by year two.
In total, ten million americans have osteoporosis and thirty million suffer from low bone density levels called osteopenia. Women are more likely to have osteoporosis with one in every two women over 50 suffering from an osteoporotic related fracture in their lifetime.
However, it’s not just women that are affected by osteoporosis; men are also subject to this debilitating condition, with up to 12 million men at risk, and 2 million suffering from osteoporotic fractures each year. What makes osteoporosis such a serious condition is that many individuals do not recognize the signs of osteoporosis until something serious occurs, such as a broken hip, and often its to late at this point to reverse the effects. So why not take care of yourself now?
Long-term use of corticosteroids, such as prednisone or hydrocortisone for inflammatory conditions, or anticonvulsants, such as carbamazepine (Tegretol), phenytoin (Dilantin), or gabapentin (Neurontin) for pain or seizures.
So what can one do to prevent osteoporosis? Well, one way is to supplement you body with the building blocks it needs to maintain strong healthy bones. We reach our maximum bone density around age 30, after which time our bodies head down the slippery slope towards osteoporosis. Now there are some measures we can take to maintain bone health such as diet, exercise, taking calcium and Vitamin D supplements. However, research indicates that this decline in bone density corresponds closely to a decline in our hormone levels. As we age, our sex hormones decrease, and both estrogen and testosterone are vital to maintaining strong, healthy bones.
Estrogen helps the body absorb calcium and as estrogen levels plummet in menopause; so does calcium absorptions. Estrogen also plays an important role in promoting enzymes that nourish osteoblast health. In addition, calcium levels do not just affect bones, it also affects our teeth. We often experience symptoms of this as we age, the result of which leads to more and more dental concerns.
Testosterone deficiency also plays a role in osteoporosis. As our body age we fail to form new bone and/or too much old bone is reabsorbed. Testosterone decreases bone reabsorption and stimulates bone mineralization helping to promote strong bones. Testosterone also helps increase energy levels so we can maintain an active lifestyle, which in turn helps keep our bones strong.
Bioidentical hormone therapy is a safe and easy way to support bone health and prevent osteoporosis. Supplementation can extend optimal health as one ages, decreasing the risk of debilitating fractures. To find out more click on the links in this blog, check out the articles below, and contact Vitali-T Medical Clinics to find out if bioidentical hormone replacement therapy is right for you.
“The potential lethal consequences of osteoporosis are overwhelming. Estrogen is protective but only when certain serum levels are maintained.” Female Patient Oct. 2004;Vol. 29:40-46.
”The largest study to date, the Nurses’ Health Study, demonstrated a 100% decrease in heart disease and cancer for estrogen users. It is never too late to initiate estrogen therapy to arrest the progression of osteoporosis and hip fractures.” Female Patient 2004 Oct;Vol 29: 35-41.
”In the final analysis of the estrogen only arm of the WHI; there was no increased risk of breast cancer or heart disease. There was a 35% decrease in hip fractures, 35% decrease in diabetes and a 60% decrease in urinary sepsis. This leads to a significant decrease in all causes of mortality. J Gen Internal Medicine 2004;19(7): 791-804
“Loss of testosterone causes loss of libido, energy, strength, sexual function, memory, cognition, muscle and bone. Testosterone replacement, as far as quality of life is concerned, is tremendous.”Medical Crossfire 2001Jan;Vol.3 No.1:17-18
“Testosterone replacement improves muscle mass and strength, libido, erectile function, bone density, memory, cognition, myocardial function. It is unconscionable for physicians not to treat men with testosterone.” Medical Crossfire 2001Jan;Vol. 3 No.1:47-50.
Katznelson et al. Increases in bone density and lean body mass during testosterone administration in men with acquired hypogonadism. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism Vol 81(12), December. Pages 4358.
There is no medical evidence that natural, bio-identical hormone therapy in women and men will cause or induce cancer.
So, where does this myth or falsehood come from?
The problem arises from the use of synthetic or chemically altered hormones which have been shown to have deleterious effects including increasing cancer risk.
Allow us to clarify:
“Fear of breast cancer is the strongest factor limiting postmenopausal hormone use. The most powerful study to date definitively demonstrated that estrogen does not cause an increase risk for cancer. The increased risk was associated only with taking the progestin (Provera®) and not estrogen.” JAMA 2004;291(24): 2947-2958.
There is a drastic gap in communication between the hormone replacement therapy studies that have been conducted, and what’s been reported in the news. Synthetic hormones were used in the highly publicized Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) and are still in use and referred to in studies today. Many news articles and reports reference the WHI report because it was such a large/ highly funded study. These reports have been misleading consumers to believe that all types of hormone therapy are harmful. Let’s take a look at an example of this from a CNN report:
“In 2002, one arm of a large U.S. study – the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) – set out to confirm that hormone replacement therapy helps prevent heart disease. It was halted when it was discovered that women in the study taking estrogen plus progesterone actually had an increased risk for invasive breast cancer, blood clots, strokes and heart disease after about five years. While combination hormones showed some benefits including reduced hip fractures and colon cancer, the researchers determined that “harm was greater than the benefit.”
This article leads you to believe that hormone replacement therapy is bad, and can result several deleterious effects possibly leaving you with a great deal of trepidation towards seeking hormone therapy. However, this is an excellent depiction of the miscommunication that takes place around hormone replacement therapy. The author of this article writes that patients were provided “estrogen and progesterone” hormones. However, this is not necessarily correct. If we take the time to read the WHI study, we find that patients were not taking progesterone, but instead received a progestin called Provera. In short, Provera has been banned in several countries for its carcinogenic (cancer causing) effects. Therefore, it is no wonder that the use of Provera resulted in an increased risk in breast cancer in this study.
This CNN article also references estrogen, but does not inform the reader that the estrogen given, conjugated horse urine, is natural to horses and not humans. Last of all, Participants the WHI study were taking hormone replacement therapy orally.
Taking hormone replacement therapy orally can cause liver damage and increase the risk of stroke and blood clots, while other methods of delivery do not. Therefore, the results are much different from those of individuals taking natural bioidentical hormones with a different method of delivery. What we are really referring to is a matter of semantics. Terms such as bioidentical, estrogen, and progesterone are often lumped into categories when in actuality we are comparing very different items. This process of “generalizing” leads to the misinformation we see in the aforementioned CNN excerpt.
The WHI study can be summed up in three quotes from the journal of The Female Patient, Family Practice News, and Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.
”Because of the design flaws, the WHI trial should be discredited as it used only 2 synthetic hormones that were already known to be harmful. The positive effects of many different hormone methods studied over the last 50 years should not be discounted due to one poorly designed and flawed study (WHI) trial.” Female Patient 2004 Oct;Vol 29:40-46.
“North American Menopausal Society (NAMS) position statement: The WHI results do not apply to the majority of women. The WHI trial does not negate 40 years of study demonstrating HRT benefit. Five recent studies demonstrate overwhelming evidence that HRT prevents atherosclerosis.” Family Practice News 2003 Oct;1-2.
“Estradiol and progesterone demonstrated no increased risk of breast cancer. Synthetic estrogen (Premarin® ) and synthetic progestins (medroxyprogesterone and noresterone) all dramatically increased the risk of breast cancer. This was a ten-year study of over 100,000 women, the largest and longest study to date comparing natural hormones to synthetic hormones”. Breast Cancer Res Treat 2007;101:125-134.
What’s even more surprising is that a second report from the WHI study, estrogen only hormone therapy, was later released, but not highly publicized? The results indicated that estrogen alone offered many beneficial results.
”In the final analysis of the estrogen only arm of the WHI; there was no increased risk of breast cancer or heart disease. There was a 35% decrease in hip fractures, 35% decrease in diabetes and a 60% decrease in urinary sepsis. This leads to a significant decrease in all causes of mortality. J Gen Internal Medicine 2004;19(7): 791-804
Estrogen, when administered appropriately in a bioidentical form, has been show to protect against heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, dementia, memory loss, vaginal atrophy, urinary incontinence, and osteoporotic fractures. Individuals who fall and break their hip have a 50% chance of dying within the next two years!
“Estrogen deficiency greatly increases mortality from cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. Over 90% of women will die from cardiovascular disease which estrogen can prevent”. Over 40 years of study have well documented the cardiovascular protective effects of estrogen”. Obstet Gynecol 1996 Jan;87(1):6-12.
“The potential lethal consequences of osteoporosis are overwhelming. Estrogen is protective but only when certain serum levels are maintained.” Female Patient Oct. 2004;Vol. 29:40-46.
Bioidentical Estrogen Decreases The Risk Of Breast Cancer
Estrogen also prevents against hot flashes, temperature deregulation, urogenital atrophy, sagging skin and breasts, increased skin wrinkles on face, fatigue, depression, mood swings, and decreased libido. Recent studies done with bioidentical estrogen hormones have even been shown to decrease the risk of breast cancer.
Hormone Therapy Mis-Representation
As you can see, estrogen deficiency is detrimental to a women’s health and due to the misrepresentation in the media, millions of women have gone untreated and left to suffer the consequences. At Vitali-T Medical Clinics we believe that no individual should be left to suffer. We are dedicated to providing natural, bio-identical hormones and supplements that have gone through are proven to be safe and effective.
For more information on the topics discussed above, please reference our previous blogs and visit our resources page. You may also contact Vitali-T Medical Clinics if you have any further questions or would like to find out if hormone replacement therapy is right for you.