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Estrogen
In light of 7/9/02 breaking news re: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) in America, called the Women's Health Initiative, women and the media are really confused about whether to prescribe HRT. Premarin (which is pregnant mare's urine-horse estrogen) is too strong, and Progesterone (which is really synthetic Progesterone called Progestins and Progestogens) are incredibly unhealthy in many ways. If you read the package insert, you will see for yourself. Integrative medical physicians have known this for years and prescribe differently.
The Progesterone which is usually prescribed is called Provera and is synthetic Progesterone. Provera is not real Progesterone. Synthetic Progesterone causes most women to get bloated and depressed. More importantly, synthetic Progesterone which is called Progestin or Progestogen also has a more damaging side effect which is that it constricts coronary arteries, and heart disease. Heart disease is the number one cause of death in women.
Medical doctors who are trained by European endocrinologists prescribe differently. They prescribe In a way that resolves the multitudinous symptoms of menopause and permenopause - hot flashes, night sweats, temperature dysregulation, loss of libido, vaginal dryness, difficulty achieving orgasm or decreased intensity of orgasm, depression, weight gain, mood swings, irritability, memory loss, hair loss, myalgias (muscle pain), fibromyalgia, insomnia with difficulty getting or remaining asleep (or both)... Most women receive an antidepressant, sleeping pills, a medication that supposedly helps you grow bone, a prescription to help you stop losing hair, and the list goes on.
Natural HRT is biochemically identical to the hormones you were making in your twenties, given in low doses (not every women needs estrogen, some would rather not live without it), monitored by hormonal testing (blood draw), and individually tailored. We are conventionally taught to prescribe 0.625 mg of Premarin to all women, regardless of their size. To date, no women has come to me with a real hormonal workup via blood or urine. Women do come to me with their FSH and LH levels drawn. A more complete workup would include Estradiol, Estrone, the aforementioned Estrogenic breakdown products which can only be obtained via a 24 hour urine, DHEA-S, Free Testosterone (yes, you may need a tiny bit of Testosterone), Progesterone, etc.
What we have is astounding lucid confusion. Women usually expect their gynecologists to be specialists in HRT. Gynecologists are trained as surgeons. Endocrinologists tell me the ovaries are not their turf. Women intuitively know they need hormones but have fears. Just know for now that Estrogen has positive effects on three hundred tissue systems at the moment - for your bones, memory, sleep, weight...........
Let me be the first to tell you that estrogen alone does not cause cancer. However, the type of Estrogen we are trained to prescribe is carcinogenic. The package insert tells us. You may be alarmed to know that even if you are not taking Estrogen, you are filled with Estrogen. Estrogen is stored in the fat cells in the form of estrone. And our environment and food supply is filled with estrogen and other hormones - which are called xenobiotic estrogenic compounds (bad estrogen). What you may not know is that there are hundreds of kinds of Estrogen. For those of you who think Estrogen is always bad you need to know that there actually a good kind of Estrogen called 2-Hydroxyestogen which is anticarcinogenic. Another kinds of Estrogen is call 16 alpha hydroxyestrogen which is carcinogenic. So when you hear the news telling you to take HRT for a short time, which kind of Estrogen are they talking about.
We are taught to prescribe 0.625 mg. of Premarin to all women, regardless of their size or medical history. HRT is not a one size fits all situation. Some women need a little bit of Estrogen, some women need a lot of Progesterone, and the way to prescribe is highly individualized after taking an extensive medical history.
So, Estrogen has over 300 mechanisms of actions (stuff it does). This isn't just about hot flashes and dry vagina any more. So you may be right that you require Estrogen. But you don't want cancer. These are called Bioidentical Hormones which are prescribed by a physician and made by a compounding pharmacist.
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