Unlike the hormones used in traditional hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which are made from the urine of pregnant horses and other synthetic hormones, bioidentical hormones are usually derived from plants and are chemically identical to hormones made in the human body.
Synthetic hormones are not a natural fit into the body’s estrogen receptors, and waste energy by giving incomplete messages to cells, failing to produce a balanced hormone response. Additionally, they generally take longer to eliminate from the body.
It is estimated that as many as one-half of women quit taking their synthetic hormone replacement therapy after one year due to their inability to tolerate the numerous side effects including increased blood pressure and gallstones. For these reasons and more, treatment using bioidentical hormones is the superior option.
Hormones and Aging
As humans age, we experience a natural decline in hormonal balance. Endocrine function also declines with age due to the loss of sensitivity among hormone receptors. In women, estrogen levels generally begin to drop between the ages of 40-55 and the decline of testosterone in men has already begun by the time they reach age 35. Once hormone levels begin to decrease, they continue to decline without intervention.
Menopause and Andropause
Most of us are familiar with the term menopause, which Webster’s dictionary defines as, “the natural cessation of menstruation that usually occurs between the ages of 45 and 55, or the period during which such cessation occurs.” But, few may be aware that men also experience something called “male menopause.” The term andropause is also often used to describe this natural decline in levels of testosterone that comes with ageing.
Not having an optimal balance of hormones is linked to a myriad of conditions including:
- Fibromyalgia
- Osteoporosis
- Adrenal and other thyroid disorders
- Diabetes mellitus
- Erectile Dysfunction
- Decreased Libido
- Sexual Dysfunction
- Acromegaly (overproduction of growth hormones)
- Addison’s disease
- Cushing’s syndrome
- Graves’ disease
- Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
- Hyperthyroidism
- Hypothyroidism
- Prolactinoma