Hormone imbalances can cause hot flashes, weight gain, night sweats, etc. Many hormone creams, pills, and potions on the market are purchased and used indiscriminately. A more scientific way to deal with the regulation of hormones, however, is to measure their levels in the urine with a 24-hour lab test and then design a nutrition and hormone replacement program to bring the levels to normal.
The hormones measured include all the ovarian, adrenal, thyroid, and pituitary hormones, including growth hormone. Those needing hormone replacement are given bioidentical, non-drug formulations that can be filled at a compounding pharmacy. Both women and men can be tested and treated.
Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy can replace the hormones your body loses – the estrogens, progesterone, and other hormones – with hormones bioidentical in nature to those you lose.
Bioidentical hormones exactly mimic the structure and function of the hormones inside your body. Bioidentical hormones come from plant sources, and help women rebalance hormone levels in their bodies in a natural way.
Bioidentical hormones are hormones that are identical to what the human body makes. Why do drug companies seldom make and sell bioidentical hormones?
The reason is – since the late 1800’s, U.S. laws allowed medicines to be patented ONLY if they were NOT naturally occurring substances. If a drug company discovered a natural substance that could be used medically, anyone else could also use/make/sell that substance.
So what the drug companies do is to create synthetic hormones that are intentionally different. Examples are Premarin, Prempro and Provera – these synthetic drugs are different in their molecular structure from the estrogens and progesterone found in the human body.
And the problem with synthetic drugs is – since they are different from what occurs naturally in the human body, the body treats them differently and the result is often harmful side effects.
Even though bioidentical hormones have been around for a long time, the majority of doctors are not familiar with them. Today’s doctors are ordinarily schooled and trained in synthetic drug therapy, not natural medicine.
YES! A holistic doctors and naturopathic doctors are regular medical doctors with additional training and experience in using bioidentical hormones.
A holistic medical doctor uses a combination of conventional Western medicine and alternative medicine. A holistic doctor incorporates one or more types of complementary medicine into their medical practice.
This complementary medicine could be acupuncture, herbal therapy or homeopathy. For instance, while undergoing treatment for cancer using radiation, the patient might receive herbal therapy to strengthen the immune system.
Naturopathic physicians are medical doctors that work to restore and support the body’s systems by using medicines and techniques that are in harmony with natural processes.
A naturopathic physician will prefer treatments which keep the risks of harmful side effects at a minimum. Naturopathic doctors will use bioidentical hormones when appropriate, which are safer and with few or no side effects when used correctly.
They are trained to know which persons they can treat – they also know which patients should be referred to other health care practitioners. Since every illness has an underlying cause, a naturopathic physician is trained to find and remove the underlying causes of a disease.
That may include adjusting the diet or lifestyle of the patient, for example. A naturopathic physician will treat the whole person, taking all the factors into account.
