Annapolis Integrative Medicine
1819 Bay Ridge Avenue
Suite 180
Annapolis, MD 21403
More Complementary & Integrative Healthcare Articles
Preserving and Enhancing Vitality Safe Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement
Our hormones determine and maintain our vitality, youthfulness, how we feel and how we look.
While hormone replacement is not for everybody, for those who do choose to use them an enormous difference can be made in health for both men and women.
Hormones are chemical messengers from one part of the body that travel to our tissues and organs to produce an effect. Without hormones, we could not live, could not function, and could not reproduce.
Examples of hormones include testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, DHEA, thyroid and growth hormone, and many others (like insulin).
As we age our hormone levels decline. However, another way of viewing this relationship is that as our hormone levels decline, the aging process is accelerated. Bio-identical hormone replacement is an approach to optimize the natural hormonal status of a man or woman to allow for health and well being in the safest possible way.
This is done by using hormones that are chemically and molecularly identical to the hormones that are already in the human body. It is important to draw this distinction because many of the hormones that have been studied and that (legitimately) aroused concern about the safety of hormone therapy have been hormones that are synthetic and do not necessarily belong in the human body and do not promote optimal health.
There are not as many studies done on bio-identical hormone therapy due to the enormous cost of medical studies that are only done when the pharmaceutical companies can make huge profits out of synthetic medications. It makes intuitive sense that the hormones that belong in the human body are the ones we were born with. And there are studies that do demonstrate the safety and benefits of bio-identical hormone therapy.
So, what are the benefits of BHRT? Treating the symptoms of menopause with safe and effective doses of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone can reduce the hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness often experienced. As well, judicious use of hormones can improve heart health, libido, sexual function, cognitive function, and bone health.
Even women with a history or risk of breast cancer can benefit from certain types of hormone therapy and live full lives and regain sexual function and pleasure.
Men with low testosterone levels are at a higher risk of dying than are men with normal levels of testosterone. As well, low testosterone can cause fatigue, loss of muscle mass, low libido, elevated cholesterol and can play a role in the development of diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. Optimizing testosterone levels to an optimal level helps men experience heightened vitality and well-being.
These hormones can be delivered by creams or by subcutaneous pellet insertion.
Hormone pellets can provide a sustained delivery of bio identical hormones to achieve optimal health. As well using a hormone called HCG in combination with a rigorous diet can produce significant weight loss in a short period of time.
