Menopause Symptoms - Is HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) A Good Thing?

"I can't take these hot flashes anymore!" This is a common reaction to most of the symptoms associated with menopause. While some women have been unscathed by the effects of menopause, there are more who are experiencing severe menopause symptoms and want them alleviated. There will come a point when the question will be asked, "Is hormone

replacement therapy a good thing?"

Many women have chosen this course of treatment to decrease menopause symptoms. However, there are issues to consider. While HRT can be a blessing for some, it can also be a curse for others. Although it is reported to maintain strong bones and prevent heart disease, it can also increase the risk of breast cancer. In addition, it may assert itself by invoking side affects which can affect a woman's life.

Because the production of estrogen ceases during menopause, the loss results in the symptoms commonly associated with menopause. Thus, many women decide to replace the lost estrogen through HRT in order to reduce these menopause symptoms. However, there are contradictory reports about the long-term effects, leaving women in an uncomfortable position as to whether or not replacement therapy is right for them.

There are two schools of thought on using HRT as a menopause treatment. While it has been documented that Hormone Replacement Therapy is an effective remedy in reducing symptoms such as: hot flashes sleep disturbances, and vaginal discomfort; others believe women who did not have menopause symptoms had worse physical function and lower energy levels when taking hormone therapy.

Many women decide against using HRT because they are concerned about the risk of developing cancer. Often, they prefer to take other steps to reduce their risk of osteoporosis and heart disease. Studies are on-going to determine the effectiveness of hormone replacement therapy over a long period of time. While some women and their doctors feel that HRT's beneficial effects on cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and general quality of life outweigh the risk of developing cancer; others are concerned about the possible negative effects of long-term HRT use. Many women choose to reduce the risks of osteoporosis and heart disease by exercising regularly, avoiding tobacco products, eating a balanced diet, and/or taking dietary supplements or other medications.

Whether or not to take HRT is a decision you ultimately have to make. In recent years, there have been reports of health risks associated with hormone replacement therapy. If you have been prescribed either Primpro or Premarin, you may choose other alternatives, such as utilizing a natural form of estrogen. By establishing a balance a proper diet, stress management and using natural progesterone supplementation, the hot flashes, night sweats and other menopause symptoms are either significantly alleviated or completely eliminated.

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A Horrific Prescription for Menopause

A friend of mine believing she had finally reached menopause because of frequently occurring hot flashes that were driving her nuts, made an appointment at her doctor. The doctor set her up to have a hormone panel done. With the positive results of the tests, her suspicions were confirmed, she had indeed reached menopause.

Before we go any further in this article, let me tell you a little about my friend. She is a very joyful woman, is very happily married, has two wonderful kids and a great attitude towards life. Enough about my friend.

Let me tell you her horror story.

So she went to her doctor to discuss her hormone panel results and, after enough reading the research, she decided she wanted to get bioidentical hormones. Her doctor refused and told her they don't work. What her doctor prescribed for her was a rather horrific solution for menopause. Her doctor prescribed Premarin (pregnant horse's urine), a D&C and anti-depressants.

Horrified, my friend left the doctor's office.

We are asking, why would a doctor prescribe anti-depressants to a happy woman? Anti-depressants cause among other side effects: suicidal thoughts, dry eyes and dry vagina. My happy girlfriend said the last thing she wanted was a dry vagina and suicidal thoughts.

We ask also, why would a doctor prescribe a D&C?

The problem overall is that very few doctors understand menopause. Not many doctors stay up to date with the latest findings on menopause and other research. Many ordinary people believe that most doctors finish their Med school and that's it. This particular doctor is in her late 50s, so this doctor would have completed her training about 20 to 25 years ago.

A further problem is that there is not the money to do more research into bioidentical hormones. A further problem is that the all-powerful pharmaceutical companies have seen their profits decline because of the latest negative research on traditional HRT (chemical hormone replacement theory) and would not profit from BHRT because its mixtures cannot be patented. One pharmaceutical giant has even launched legal action against the makers of compounded bioidentical hormones.

So, millions of women in North America and Europe do their own research, find a compounding pharmacy and find a doctor capable of prescribing and monitoring their hormones with BHRT. It's time that governments do the official research. Women are rebelling.

T.K. Robb became an anti-aging expert over the last few years from an interest which led to serious study on the subject, which in turn, led to the development of the PureAgeless.com website. Her research led to the writing of articles, reviewing organic products and services for companies which provide health and wellness services. Her website is based on the organic approach to fighting the diseases of aging, from bioidentical hormones to nutritional supplements. Check out the website: http://www.pureageless.com

Hormones: Can They Help?

In menopause, a woman's ovaries stop producing the "Female" hormones estrogen and progesterone. Levels of the "male" hormone Testosterone fall more gradually, so that a woman in her 40s has only about half the Testosterone she had in her 20s. These hormonal shifts can add up to a loss of sexual desire, or vaginal dryness that makes sexual intercourse an ordeal. Some women get relief from hormone creams, pills, or other preparations, including the following:

Bioidentical hormones

What they are: Plant-derived hormones with the same molecular structure as the hormones secreted by the body.

What they do: Ease vaginal dryness and boost libido (and relieve other menopausal symptoms).

Prescription required? Yes.

Risks: Long-term use of bioidentical hormones has not been well researched.

Estrogen

What they are: Vaginal creams (Estrace Cream, Premarin Cream), vaginal rings (Estring, Femring), and vaginal tablets (Vagifem) containing estrogen.

What they do: Makes sex more comfortable by building estrogen levels in the vagina to thicken vaginal tissue and increase natural moisture.

Prescription required? Yes

Risks: Estrogen may affect breast and uterine health. However, with these preparations, little estrogen should be absorbed into the bloodstream, especially as treatment progresses and vaginal tissue thickens.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

What they are: In women who haven't had a hysterectomy, estrogen plus progestin in pill form. In women who have had a hysterectomy, estrogen alone in pill form.

What they do: Relieve hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms, including vaginal dryness.

Prescription required? Yes

Risks: The Women's Health Initiative, a large study funded by the U.S. government, found that long-term use of HRT increased the risk for stroke and other serious illnesses. For complete study results, go to: www.nhlbi.nih.gov/whi/. Most doctors recommend that women who use HRT take the lowest dose for the shortest period of time.

Testosterone

What they are: Creams and gels compounded by a pharmacist; the FDA recently determined that an experimental patch (Intrinsa) made by Procter & Gamble needed further study.

What they do: Increase sexual desire. Prescription required? Yes Risks: Can cause a woman's voice to deepen and facial hair to grow.

BOTTOM LINE: If you're considering using hormones, talk to your doctor about the benefits and risks for someone with your health profile.

Carol Weeg is a freelance health, wellness, and medical writer, and yes indeed, is over 40. The newsletter Finding Our Way and now the website focus on issues that are important to women in midlife. A forum is provided where women can share feedback, ideas, advice, and their own experiences. http://www.findingourway.com

Bioidentical Hormones - The Truth About Usng Them During Menopause

Can menopause symptoms be safely comforted with bioidentical hormones? Recent research suggests that menopause can be treated with bioidentical hormones, a natural replacement for a woman's body, with no reported side effects.

In the past, menopause has been treated like a disease - primarily with Hormone Replacement Therapy or HRT (including Premarin, which is made from pregnant mare's urine, Prempro and Provera), which meant ingesting synthetic chemicals on a regular basis. Now we know that these drugs are causing the very problems we're trying to avoid including breast cancer and heart attacks.

Bioidentical means the hormone molecule in the product, for example progesterone cream, acts exactly like the molecules produced by the Female body. They function in your body in a natural and normal way unlike synthetic chemicals. A "natural hormone" is really a compound synthesized in the lab from a natural source (such as soybeans used for estrogens and Testosterone; or wild Mexican yam in the case of progesterone and sometimes Testosterone).

Synthetic hormones are typically only available in oral form, but bioidentical hormones come in a variety of delivery systems such as oral, transdermal patch, cream, lotion or sublingual drops. Bioidentical hormones recently caught mainstream attention in part because of Suzanne Somer's new book, The Sexy Years

Typically a successful approach to dealing with a woman's menopausal symptoms is to begin with laboratory tests of hormone levels called a "hormone panel." The doctor can then prescribe a precise dosage of bioidentical estrogens, Testosterone or DHEA that can be made for you at a Compounding Pharmacy This is contrary to HRT treatments that are typically "one size fits all."

Most doctors prescribing bioidentical hormones find that a large percentage of women find some relief by using medical-grade supplements, over-the-counter bioidentical progesterone, and dietary and lifestyle changes (including the proper nutrition and exercise). And, for the percentage of women who need a little more help, most doctors don't support the idea that bioidentical hormones should be used indefinitely as some kind of fountain of youth.

Is it right for you to treat your menopause with bioidentical hormones? First you need to consult with a doctor to get the right answer for you. Once you know what you need, your doctor and you can work out the best alternative for your body.

To learn exactly how to eliminate menopause symptoms visit http://www.howtoconquermenopause.com
To learn more about bioidentical hormones and everything you need to know about other menopause symptoms, go to http://www.everythingmenopause.com/articles/bioidentical.htm

Why Is There Media Hype Surrounding Menopause And Hormones

There are over 40 million women in the United States between the ages of 40 and 60. Worldwide, about 25 million women enter menopause annually. Estimates show that by the year 2030, that number will increase to 47 million women per year. Relief of menopausal symptoms such as improved sleep could translate into a more productive woman whether she works or is a mother or spouse. Healthcare dollars could then be spent more wisely than in Medicare reimbursements for constant doctor visits and endless prescriptions and procedures. Quality of life would improve for most symptomatic women. How? By way of hormone replacement, an important choice for women, since estrogens are known to be the only effective treatment for estrogen-depleted states.

In the wake of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), getting hormones is difficult. Doctors are leery of even the "Standard of Care" approved synthetics in this time and place. Getting legitimate insurance-covered physicians to prescribe even bio-identical hormones is a challenge.

The majority of Western medicine has been on a wild goose chase for the elusive proof that being completely hormone-less will save our lives, in the face of massive evidence that even with all of our estrogen blocked at every turn, we still keep dying of cancer. In the burst of the Baby Boomers becoming menopausal, doctors from all specialties have clamored to the forefront to be of service. Few doctors have any idea how hormones should be prescribed for women.

Since 1900, in the developed countries, the life expectancy of women has increase from age 47 to well over age 80, however, the average onset of menopause has remained at 50 as recorded for the last 150 years. That means most women are living at least thirty years longer than they did at the turn of the century. It's estimated that eighty percent of women experience a variety of transiently debilitating symptoms in menopause and 30 percent of those are classified as severe.

About ten years before women ever have a hot flash or a migraine, we have odd, too-short menstrual periods, we're up half of every night and we start to look and feel old. Exhaustion coupled with plummeting sex hormones creates a life in tatters. Our joints twinge and we can't stay asleep. The symptoms of menopause, which can begin for women as early as their late thirties, are the same as the daily challenges the elderly face, and in fact, we get "old and sick" when our hormones start to plummet.

The sick and old in our culture means usually means cancer, diabetes, heart disease, glaucoma, depression, even Alzheimer's. If menopause might really equal cancer, diabetes, heart disease, glaucoma, depression, and Alzheimer's, why is it, then, that no one ever mentions any of the life-threatening disabilities associated with hormonal decline and urges women to accurately replace those hormones that are now missing?

Instead, women are told that the FDA sanctioned hormones from Big Pharma are really way too dangerous to take (WHI) and bioidentical compounded hormones have never been studied (AMA). That's what women in 2003 got from the WHI historic report on synthetic drugs with hormone-like effects, PremPro and Premarin.

These substances were donated by the pharmaceutical company that had sold them since 1942 because the assumption was the drugs would be found safe and effective. Nothing could have been further from the truth. After nearly 800 million taxpayer dollars and 14 years later, the overly emphasized negative results of the Women's Health Initiative were released in May 2002. This study was poorly designed, strangely monitored and incompetently analyzed.

Interestingly, the WHI never looked at hormones, only drugs with "hormone-like" effects that were dosed in a regimen far from that of human replacement. This study has led us to believe that conjugated equine estrogens (from pregnant mare urine) and a synthetic progestin (Prempro) dosed on a daily basis in static doses is clearly very harmful to women after only a few years, and yet, in contradictory reports from the same agency, PremPro seemed to have had positive effects as well. The other drug studied, daily Premarin, seemed to show substantially less harmful effects. Even though the death rate for all arms of this study was equal, the study was dramatically halted early in a very public effort to "save lives."

This confusing and frightening media spin caused millions of women to immediately stop taking their Premarin or Prempro, or any other product deemed a hormone. Physicians also threatened by the negative media reports stopped prescribing them, thus leaving millions of symptomatic women without any reasonable clinical guidance, except the ludicrous exception to the bad news, that lower doses of Prempro, the killer drug, taken for less years is safer. This advice has not left women feeling safe.

What if real hormone replacement could really mimic youthful hormone levels and therefore; was a cure for those diseases? After all, young women don't have those diseases and the difference between young women and old women is reproductive capacity and the attendant hormones. It's logical that the majority of women with normal hormones don't have those diseases.

Common sense is that natural (not synthetic drugs with hormone-like effects) hormone replacement, in and of itself, could not cause cancer. If estrogen and progesterone, or even Testosterone, caused cancer, all young women would be dead. So if logic tells us that estrogen doesn't actually cause cancer in and of itself, then there must be more to the story-like what kind and how much estrogen and when to take it.

It's not up for debate whether or not women should replace their missing hormones. Living without them is far too miserable and dangerous. So then, the question becomes "how"?

One Santa Barbara California researcher and author named T.S. Wiley asked, "What if hormone replacement was made of real bio-identical hormones and dosed to mimic the ups and downs of the hormone blood levels in a normal menstrual cycle in a 20 year-old woman, would all of the symptoms and disease states of aging decline or even, disappear?"

Shortly thereafter, she developed a trademarked patent pending delivery system consisting of bio-identical estradiol and progesterone in topical cream preparations dosed in a rhythm to mimic the natural cyclic hormone levels replicated in serum blood produced by a twenty year-old woman.

Kristin Gabriel represents author T.S. Wiley, who is the developer of The Wiley Protocol, a trademarked patent pending delivery system consisting of bio-identical estradiol and progesterone in topical cream preparations dosed in a rhythm to mimic the natural cyclic hormone levels replicated in serum blood produced by a twenty year-old woman.

Alzheimer's - Fight It Before It Becomes A Living Death

Are you getting increasingly forgetful? Do you forget where you kept keys of your car keep your car keys usually? Is this all happening too frequently and you are forgetting things that you never forgot earlier and which a normal person would not ordinarily forget?

This may be the beginning of what has been describe as 'living death'. It's called the Alzheimer's. It robs you of your life much before you breathe your last. One dies a thousand deaths every moment without even coming to know of it.

Alzheimer's is a kind of dementia. To put it in simple non-medical terms, dementia is a progressive degeneration of brain. This degeneration causes one to lose memory and reduces one's mental ability. Nearly 70% of dementia sufferers suffer from the Alzheimer's.

Diagnosis of Alzheimer's is not a difficult process and after a series of test, a physician could easily conclude whether or not one is suffering from the Alzheimer's. However, the disease affects different people differently and while some might live for a few years after the diagnosis, the others could survive for even twenty years or more. The number of people diagnosed in the US alone stands at around 4 million.

The causes of the disease are, by and large, unknown though how it affects human beings has been thoroughly researched. The cure, however, is yet to be developed.

There have been several rumors about the cure of the disease. So, you need to understand that Premarin hormone therapy does not prevent the Alzheimer's, neither could ginkgo (a herb) reduce one's chances of falling prey to it. Though gingko might reduce the chances to some extent but the research on its effects is still on, and all conclusions drawn are premature.

Those who have been diagnosed with the disease are advised to keep themselves as active as possible because activity keeps the brain cells from degenerating fast. Social interaction has also been found to help retard the progress of the disease.

The Alzheimer's is indeed a terrible disease, but it has to be dealt with because there is nothing more one could do. So, if your loved one has been diagnosed with it, it is not only him or her who has to fight. You, too, have to stand by him or her throughout.

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Weight Loss Secrets of Armour Thyroid

As people continue on their search for easy weight-loss remedies, products which are made for other purposes other than weight loss are now being used to satisfy this need. One of these products is Armour Thyroid.

Armour Thyroid is a brand of thyroid extract made from mixed pork and beef thyroid glands used for the treatment of goiter and hypothyroidism (a disease where the thyroid doesn't produce enough hormones). All brands contain a mixture of the T4 (thyroxine), T3 (triiodothyronine) thyroid hormones in the proportions usually present in pig thyroids (approximately 80% T4 and 20% T3). Armour is made in the following strengths: 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2, and 3 grain as well as 4 and 5 grain tablets.

Armour Thyroid speeds up one's metabolism which makes it attractive to people who want to lose weight. However, many experts discourage its use for this purpose because not only is the drug meant to treat a different ailment, it is also ineffective as a weight loss drug. Health experts instead recommend maintaining a healthy diet and exercise regiment as an effective weight loss strategy.

Also, experts warn against the use of the drug when taken with appetite suppressants. Doing so would up the risk of getting some serious side effects from the use of Armour Thyroid.

Taking too much of the drug may lead to the overproduction of hormones in the thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism). Symptoms of thyroid gland over stimulation include sleeplessness, nausea, diarrhea, headache, irritability, nervousness, sweating, fever and an increased heart rate.

Armour Thyroid also tends to aggravate diabetes symptoms and under active adrenal glands. People who are also suffering from angina are also cautioned about using this drug.

Using Armour Thyroid along with other drugs can increase, decrease or alter the effectiveness of either drug. It is very important to check with your doctor first before you take Armour Thyroid with the following:

Asthma medications such as Theo-Dur


Oral diabetes drugs such as Diabinese and Glucotrol)


Blood thinners such as Coumadin


Estrogen preparations (including some birth control pills such as Ortho-Novum and Premarin)


Insulin

Phillip England is a weight loss expert and Author of the popular report "The Ultimate Weight Loss Secret". To receive your free information on the secret that doctors, and health companies either don't know, or don't want you to know, please see http://www.theultimateweightlosssecret.com/secret

Let's Talk About Hormones - What Every Woman Needs To Know

I have recently observed a number of women friends and acquaintances, who have had their HRT therapy - a combination of the pharmaceutical drugs Premarin (pregnant mares urine) and Provera (medroxyprogesterone acetate) - discontinued by their physicians. Suddenly, women ranging from their 50's to late 70's are suffering from hot flashes, vaginal dryness, weight gain, fatigue and worse.

Another group are told not to worry about HRT as long as they only use it for three to four years. This confusing position has resulted from the information published in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study on HRT published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, (JAMA), July 17, 2002, Vol. 288, No. 3. For women who think that the risk factors that have shown up in the WHI-HRT study are new, I would encourage them to locate a women's magazine that dates prior to July 2002 and have a look at the back of the Premarin and PremPro ads that were often found in those magazines. Be aware that the print is very small. The topic "Dangers of Estrogen" is very prominent as is the topic "Side Effects".

The WHI-HRT study just validates that those dangers and side effects are real and actually effect women, women who are our friends and our relatives. In revisiting the WHI Study at www.whi.org a few interesting things came to light. The WHI study recruited 16,608 healthy women to participate in the study of Premarin and Provera. Forty-two percent (42%) on HRT and thirty-eight percent (38%) on the placebo group left the study before the end of 5 years! Those in the HRT group left because of side effects according to the study.

Others left at the two and one-half mark when a letter was sent to them encouraging them to stay in the study even though the results showed an increase in blood clots, stroke and heart disease at that point. Many believe that the results would have been much worse had these women continued in the study. "An incredible forty-two percent of those healthy women chosen to participate in the WHI fell out of the study in the first couple of years because they didn't like the side effects of the drugs. If all those women had continued, or if they hadn't limited the study to healthy women, there would have been a much higher rate of all adverse events (breast cancer, heart attacks, thromboembolism blood clots).... says Dr. David Zava, PhD., breast cancer researcher.

The JAMA call it a "large randomized trial". It could also be considered a well-controlled study of healthy women of our day. WHY? - because only healthy women were allowed into the study. They controlled the number of women who were over weight - the average body mass index being 28.5. They did not accept a representative number of women who had been treated for diabetes, women that had or were using hormones, women who had given birth during the higher risk years - before twenty or after thirty, women who had heart problems or a history of any heart problems. They even controlled the number of women who had relatives who had breast cancer. Remember, we are talking about women between the ages of 50 and 79 who participated in the study, not 35 to 40 year old women! How many women in that age group do you know who would qualify for this study? In fact this study represents less than twenty percent of the population.

According to Dr. David Zava " you can't extrapolate study results from a population of healthy women to the entire population. The results are actually much worse than they appear to be because of the selection bias. The downplaying of the risk of using HRT is a travesty. The late John R. Lee MD and author of "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer" suggested that it has become "unethical" for doctors to prescribe HRT to women. To suggest as some do to use HRT for only two or three years seems ridiculous in light of the fact that the study was only a five-year study. The study clearly shows that heart attacks, strokes and blood clots affecting women began from day one of the study and continued though out the study. That would mean that the risks would always be present for anyone who goes on short term HRT. While it is tempting to say that this is all the healthcare system's problem or that it is the fault of the profit driven pharmaceutical companies, the solution may lay closer to home.

It appears that we are being told what we are eager to hear and only being sold what we are eager to buy. A pill to solve our hot flashes, make us beautiful as we age and prevent our diseases all without effort on our part. We want shortcuts and we want them now! The WHI-HRT study was a good thing, maybe even a great thing. What it truly told us is that a large percentage of healthy women who use drug therapies to deal with hormone challenges will get sick...breast cancer, heart attacks, strokes, blood clots in their lungs just to name a few. Women who are not healthy... should not go near HRT because of the potential for life threatening drug induced disease.

The good news for women who decide to discontinue traditional (synthetic) hormone replacement therapy is that there are a number of safe, effective and natural alternatives to choose from. It is critical that women become informed and take control of their own hormone health. The decision is up to us and it may be the most important decision we will ever make!

This Article Is Copywright 2006 Jackie L. Harvey & Saliva Testing com

Jackie Harvey is an International speaker, radio program host, seminar leader, business trainer, and a mother of seven. She works in partnership with nurses, medical doctors and health care practitioners.

Jackie is a men & women's health advocate specializing in hormonal and menopausal health. Thousands of men & women have watched her informative DVD "Let's Talk About Hormones". Jackie is committed to making a positive change in peoples lives.

Visit SalivaTesting.com for more information Saliva Hormone Tests Kits & her Best Selling 1-hour DVD "Let's Talk About Hormones with Jackie Harvey". Click For More information on Men's & Women's Saliva Hormone Testing and Saliva Test Kits.

Hormone Patch Found To Be Safer Than Pills For Menopause

A recent study shows that women who struggle from the symptoms of menopause should use a hormone patch or gel before resorting to pills in order to protect themselves from the dangerous blood clots.

Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston said, "The French study, while not the final word, is the strongest proof yet that this may be true."

The French study compared Wyeth's Prempro and Premarin, which contain synthetic estrogens made from the urine of pregnant horses. Two hundred and seventy-one women from forty-five to seventy years old suffered blood clots while on the patch compared to six hundred and ten women taking hormone pills.

Dr. Karen Bradshaw, director of women's health and an endocrinology speCialist at UT Southwestern Medical Center said, "Part of the reason we think oral estrogens do cause clots is that they pass through the liver and can cause some clotting factors to be produced, hormones through skin patches are directly absorbed into the bloodstream, and therefore can be given in far lower doses to be effective."

This comes as a sigh of relief to the millions of women that experience painful menopause symptoms who abandoned the medication after a 2002 review which stated that hormone pills increased the risk of blood clots, as well as breast cancer and stroke. Patches and gels are already known to an affective means to treat symptoms such as hot flashes and sleep-interrupting night sweats that plague menopausal women.

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Joshua Daly is the author of many health related articles as well as the President of ePharmacies.com. Joshua's goal is to help consumers save money and make better informed decisions. Click here for more information on ordering from a discount online pharmacy.

Hormones - Friends or Foes?

Yesterday was a gift of opposition. After stopping her bio-identical hormone therapy a few years back and now on the verge of menopausal crisis, a former patient returned to my care. Why did she stop her HRT-hormone replacement therapy? Because of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study which reported an increase risk of cancer in those subjects using "progesterone" with "estrogen".

First of all let's make it very clear, comparing the hormones used in the WHI study with botanically-derived bio-identical hormones is like comparing apples to oranges.

The WHI used Premarin derived from pregnant mare's urine as the "estrogen" and Provera, synthetic medroxyprogesterone, as the "progesterone".

Years ago when WHI first began to study HRT's effectiveness in preventing heart disease, I was asked to by the American Heart Association to be part of a panel of local experts to answer women's questions on the hormones. As a nurse practitioner who had been treating menopausal women for years with natural hormones, I was honored to be part of the medical panel which included cardiologists and endocrinologists, but the WHI researcher was not too thrilled when I began questioning her terminology. I argued that WHI was not using "progesterone" but a synthetic derivative and that the study would show an increase in cardiovascular disease for two reasons:

1. the hormones were oral which would create havoc in the liver's production of clotting factors (just as oral contraceptives increase the incidence of blood clots) and

2. not using real progesterone would put the subjects at risk for breast cancer.

Now what I had to say was not well received, but the cardiologist covertly asked about what I knew. Although I explained, the doctors, too fearful to break away from protocol, continued following the pharmaceutical sponsored protocols until...the study was stopped. Why? Because the subjects had significant increases in...

1. blood clots leading to stroke and heart attack

2. and breast cancer especially in the subjects that were given Provera.

Guess what? The endocrinologist on that panel is now using natural hormones.

How many women must suffer before health care providers make the switch to alternative therapies?

Needless to say, my former patient gladly went back on bio-identical hormones. I also recommended Genesis Gold(R) to help metabolize the hormones as safely as possible and to balance adrenal, thyroid, and hypothalamic function as well as glucose metabolism. Finally I counseled her on nutritional and lifestyle changes to encourage healthier body composition and promote safer estrogen metabolism.

The WHI study researched the effects of Premarin and Provera on cardiovascular disease in menopausal women and closed down because they erroneously determined that using hormone replacement therapy over five years increased the risk of cardiovascular disease and breast cancer. Why is this an erroneous assumption? Because lumping all HRT including bio-identical estrogen and progesterone with Premarin and Provera use is like saying that eating fruit causes cavities because it has "sugar" in it!

Most of what we know about hormones is based on the oldest pharmaceutical-Premarin-which is in fact equine estrones-the bio-waste of pregnant mare estrogen metabolism. Humans convert Premarin primarily into 4OH estrone, one of the most toxic forms of estrogen.

I will illustrate estrogen types and their metabolism in detail, but first let's examine the "progesterone" used in the WHI study. They used Provera a synthetically derived progestin. Yes, its chemical name is medroxyprogesterone named by its inventor-not natural, but man-made. What's the problem with Provera? Well, progesterone is a 21 carbon molecule, one of the largest steroid hormones. Don't let the word steroid alarm you. All hormones that are made up by sterols (cholesterol) are called steroids. That includes naturally occurring 21 carbon pregnenelone, 19 carbon DHEA and Testosterone, and 17 carbon estrogen and cortisol.

Medroxyprogesterone or Provera-a 19 carbon molecule-is more closely related to Testosterone than 21 carbon progesterone. In fact the side effects of Provera are androgen related (male hormone)....elevated cholesterol and mid-line weight gain. Yes, Provera reverses estrogenic effects on the uterine lining to prevent hyperplasia or uterine cancer, but guess what? So does natural progesterone!

What man-made Provera cannot do, that progesterone was created by nature to do, is protect against estrogen fed cancers. Think of estrogen as fertilizer feeding both the roses and the weeds. If estrogen fertilizes or promotes cell growth, than progesterone is like the gardener which picks the weeds and leaves the flowers. Progesterone turns on a very handy gene called P53 which is the cell death gene. It tells the cells when they have out lived their welcome, like breast cells or uterine cells that grow in preparation for a potential pregnancy. At the end of a menstrual cycle if the woman is not pregnant those cells, under the influence of progesterone, deteriorate (in the breast) or slough off (menstruation).

You see Mother Nature has it all figured out.

Now let's go back to Premarin. Why would our bodies convert equine estrones into the most dangerous kind of estrogen? Because Premarin is the waste product of horse estrogen metabolism and our human livers can do nothing else with it. Garbage in, garbage out.

Now estrogens are not all created equally. The human ovary produces estradiol (known as E2 because it was discovered after estrone or E1). Estradiol is a powerful growth promoting hormone. It nourishes blood vessels, nerves, skin, hair, nails, lining of the gut as well as promotes Female secondary sexual characteristics like breast development and wider hips than men, and enriches the uterine lining for potential pregnancy. Studies have shown that estradiol stimulates the thymus to promote proper immune programming so that reproductive women produce sufficient antibodies to pass on to their offspring.

Since estradiol is short-lived, the body has a back up system of enzymes in the fat cells that can convert estradiol to long acting estrone. Now there are three main types of estrone named by which carbon molecule carries a hydroxyl molecule.

- 2OH estrone is the safest form made in great quantities in young women of healthy body weight. The enzyme that promotes 2OH estrone conversion uses the micronutrients found in flax soy, fatty fish, and cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts).

- 16OH estrone is inflammatory and has been associated with breast and gynecological cancers. Overweight women, sedentary women, women who drink too much alcohol or who have been exposed to xenoestrogens (man-made estrogenic toxins like DDT) and certain drugs like Cimetidine make too much of this dangerous estrogen. 16OH estrone can be converted to estriol.

- 4OH estrone, the most volatile of the three, is associated with the most aggressive forms of breast and ovarian cancer. All the factors that influence 16OH conversion affect 4OH especially age.

Estriol-the pregnancy hormone is the third estrogen and seems to be the least inflammatory and the most nourishing to vaginal and urethral tissues. Estriol is my favorite bio-identical used topically to make a dry atrophic vagina lush.

Unfortunately, getting older increases poor estrogen metabolism, which is why I do not agree with high dose hormone replacement. The levels of hormones produced by young women are safe for them because they have the means to safely metabolize the hormones. Most older women do not have the means to metabolism the hormones safely. Although they can take lots of IC3 indoles (the active ingredient in cruciferous vegetables) and lots of EPA (fish oils), keep their weight down and drink alcohol in moderation, I believe reversing age related metabolic enzyme activity takes a multi-pronged approach.

A holistic approach to hormone replacement therapy includes complete neuro-immune-endocrine and metabolic evaluation. Functional medicine testing is available to assess genetic and metabolic capabilities of an individual. There is no one size fit all prescription for hormone replacement or anti-aging therapies.

Deborah Maragopoulos MN APRN, BC FNP is a holistic family nurse practitioner, author of LoveDance: Awakening the Divine Daughter, founder of DMAR Pyramid of Health(TM), and creator of Genesis Gold(R). http://www.lovedance.com

Hormone Natural Menopause

When it comes to menopause if you haven't experienced it yet, chances are you

may know someone that has experienced it or may be experiencing it right now.

There are a lot of hormone drugs out there to take during menopause but will all

of them cause a hormone natural menopause? When you are looking to take a drug

for your menopause you may want to look into it and find out what you want it to

do.

If you are wondering just what type of hormone to take for your hormone nature

menopause you may want to consider doing a bit or research on this or consulting

your doctor. If you consult your doctor about it chances are they will prescribe

to you the best type of drug that will make it seem to you like a hormone

natural menopause.

What Is Natural Menopause?

As you may already know a natural menopause is when your monthly cycle comes to

an end. This means you will no longer be ovulating any longer.

What Is Perimenopause?

Perimenopause is what happens before you actually experience menopause. It is

like a warning that you are nearing menopause. Perimenopause can actually last

anywhere from five to fifteen years.

Functions that are actually responsible for causing the symptoms of

perimenopause involve the brain actually sending out hormones that are trying to

stimulate the development of the ovarian follicles. In this case it is actually

common for a woman's ovaries to respond erratically. When this happens the

hormones are known to fluctuate from month to month.

Are There Any Risks In Natural Hormone Menopause?

With everything you know that there will be at least a few risk factors.

- If a woman is taking estrogen for her natural hormone during menopause she

will have an increased risk of endometrial cancer.


- If a woman combines oral estrogen along with progestin her risk of breast

cancer will slightly go up. Also this may make a woman's mammograms more

difficult to interpret.


- When taking natural hormones during menopause you will be slightly increasing

your risk when it comes to ovarian cancer.


- When taking oral estrogens such as Premarin you may actually be slightly

increasing your risk of blood clots.


- Also when you take oral estrogens such as Premarin you will have an even

higher risk of gallbladder disease.


- Women who take natural hormones can also experience breast pain. But this will

go away later on.


- When taking oral estrogens women may experience a bit of nausea


- When dealing with progestins you may feel bloated


- Progestins can also put you in a bad mood and make you feel down.

What it all comes down to is, all women have to go through menopause some time

in their life so they should do a bit of research ahead of time before menopause

actually begins to take over their bodies so that they will have an idea on the

types of medicine to take along with the type of pain they will be going

through. Menopause is known to affect millions of women every year so you should

know that you are never alone when it comes to dealing with menopause, in fact,

the women who are going through menopause each year actually seems to be going

up in number. Menopause can affect all women from every walk of life.

Normally it starts around the ages between 45-52, but it is known to start even

in the early 20's. You can be experiencing menopause symptoms and not even know

it. If you think you are going through menopause then you may need to get in

touch with a doctor so that he or she can start you on some natural hormone

treatment.

If your doctor tells you to that you are going through menopause then just

simply pats you on your back and tells you to go home and takes a bit of Tylenol

or Aspirin you should not take this for an answer. Also you should be aware that

many doctors incorrectly prescribe hormone treatments to their patients.

There are a lot of risks involved in natural hormone treatment for menopause but

what it all comes down to is that it is your choice alone and no one else can

make this choice for you.

Dawn M. Olsen is an Advocate for Better Women's Health through Education, Recipe Developer, Soy Food Enthusiast and the Author of "Menopause A to Z - A Definitive Guide to Modern Menopause. Find out more about how to deal with menopause symptoms.

Menopause - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Menopause is the physiological cessation of menstrual cycles associated with advancing age in women. Menopause is defined as absence of menstrual periods for 12 months. The menopausal transition starts with varying menstrual cycle length and ends with the final menstrual period. Perimenopause means "around the time of menopause." It is not officially a medical term, but is sometimes used to explain certain aspects of the menopause transition in lay terms. Many women experience a variety of symptoms as a result of the hormonal changes associated with the transition through menopause. Postmenopause is the entire period of time that comes after the last menstrual period. The menopause is sometimes referred to as change of life or climacteric.

The condition also exists in some of the other species that experience such cycles, such as rhesus monkeys and some cetaceans. Menopause is a natural biological process, not a medical illness. Several generations ago, few women lived beyond menopause. Today, you may spend as much as half of your life after menopause. Menopause affects every woman differently. Your only symptom may be your period stopping. You may have other symptoms, too. Many symptoms at this time of life are because of you Menopause is a natural process that happens to every woman as she grows older, and is not a medical problem, disease or illness.

Some women may have a hard time because of the changes in hormone levels during menopause. Premature menopause (or premature ovarian failure) is defined as menopause occurring before the age of 40; it occurs in 1% of women. Other causes of premature menopause include autoimmune disorders, thyroid disease, and diabetes mellitus. Menopause experiences are different among individual women, and also among women in different cultures and in different parts of the world. There are many possible signs of menopause and each woman feels them differently. Most women have no or few menopausal symptoms while some women have many moderate or severe symptoms include is weight gain; hot flashes; insomnia; night sweats; vaginal dryness; joint pain; fatigue and urinary tract infections.

Causes of Menopause

1.Perimenopause.

2.Postmenopause.

Symptoms of Menopause

1.Weight gain.

2.Hot flashes.

3.Insomnia

4.Night sweats.

5.Vaginal dryness.

6.Joint pain.

7.Fatigue.

Treatment of Menopause

Take estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) or hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which is a combination of estrogen and progesterone, should be an individualized choice. There are three (3) types of replacement therapy:1. Estrogen alone via a pill (Premarin, Ogen, Estrace or ethinyl estradiol), a cream (Premarin or Dienestrol), a vaginal pill (Vagifem), or as a transdermal or skin patch (Estraderm or Estracomb). 2. Cyclical therapy: Estrogen taken daily via a pill or via a patch and a separate progesterone pill (such as Provera) for a certain number of days per month. 3. Continuous therapy: Estrogen plus low dose progesterone in one or two pills taken every day.

Estrogen vaginal tablets and creams are generally prescribed nightly for 2 weeks, and then reduced to twice per week as a long-term "maintenance therapy." Phytoestrogens are found in soy products (e.g., tofu, tempeh, miso, soybean milk, and meat substitutes and soy powders for adding to foods or to smoothies), in linseed (flaxseed) products, and to a lesser extent, in fruits, vegetables, cereals, and seeds. Concentrated plant estrogens in tablet form have not been shown to be effective. Regular exercise also has benefits for other parts of the body, high blood pressure, and diabetes, as well as gives you more energy and better sleep. Herbal medicine has much to offer women in the treatment of symptoms associated with menopause.

Sushma writes articles for health care guide.

She also writes articles for women health and health diseases.

HRT or Hormone Replacement Therapy vs Bio-Identical Hormones

The backlash from the 2005 Women's Health Initiative (WHI) report exposing HRT as being a possible cause for heart attacks, blood clots, cancer and strokes won't quiet down anytime soon. Actually it's amazing that it took this massive government program to change the standard of care because there has been a mountain of evidence indicting synthetic HRT for a long time now. A lot of women now want to know what the alternatives are to HRT and that has instigated a lot of discussion about bio-identical hormones.

What's the difference between Bio-identical and Synthetic Hormones?

Synthetic hormones are created by drug companies so they can maintain a patent for drugs such as PremPro, Provera and Premarin. Known side effects include not sleeping, lack of sex drive and lack of energy. In the past, hormone replacement therapy has been most doctors' only answer to women's menopausal symptoms.

Bio-identical hormones are manufactured to have the same molecular structure as the hormones made by your own body. They are synthesized in a lab from a natural source such as soybeans in the case of estrogen and Testosterone, or wild Mexican yam in the case of progesterone.

Their appeal is that the body can more easily metabolize them, minimizing negative side effects, and in fact, women have reported feeling increased levels of energy, a healthier libido, improved weight loss and better memory from their use.

While synthetic hormones are available in oral form, bio-identical hormones can be taken by mouth, through a Transdermal patch, in a cream, lotion, in drops you put under your tongue, or as a vaginal ring. They bypass the digestive tract and liver which has the advantage of providing a more consistent hormonal level.

Numerous European medical studies suggest that bio-identical hormones are safer than synthetic; however no long-term studies have been conducted as yet. Keep in mind that the WHI studies ublished all concern synthetic HRT, specifically Premarin (a drug derived from horse urine), PremPro and Provera and did not include any information on bio-identical hormone replacement therapy.

Also, women in the WHI studies were primarily on HRT after menopause, which is most often therapeutically not necessary, and many of the women had had hysterectomies. The most common use for any kind of HRT is for per-menopausal symptoms -- when a woman first begins to experience body fluctuations.

Most integrative doctors have discovered the most successful approach to dealing with a woman's menopausal symptoms is to begin with laboratory tests called a "hormone panel." Saliva testing is also available but not known to be as effective as serum testing. The doctor can then prescribe a precise dosage of bio-identical estrogens, Testosterone, progesterone or DHEA that can be made specifically for your body at a compounding pharmacy. To find a doctor and/or compounding pharmacy near you, visit http://www.everythingmenopause.com

Some women report experiencing no symptoms at all during peri-menopause and many find they can rebalance their hormones without the use of any drugs. Often relief is found through an approach that combines medical-grade nutritional supplements, over-the-counter bio-identical progesterone, and dietary and lifestyle changes. The importance of exercise can't be overlooked or emphasized too much. The older you get, the more your body needs to move aerobically, and a weight-bearing workout also becomes more important.

For women switching from Premarin or PremPro to a natural form of

estrogen, there should be a transition period because the estrogen receptors have been primed by the synthetic molecule and won't immediately accept other forms. It's probably not a good idea to stop cold turkey either, but better to gradually discontinue taking HRT so that the symptoms such as hot flashes or vaginal dryness, don't occur. Make sure to consult your doctor if you decide to go this route.

To learn exactly how to eliminate menopause symptoms visit http://www.howtoconquermenopause.com

To learn more about HRT, bioidentical hormones and everything you need to know about other menopause symptoms, go to http://www.everythingmenopause.com/articles/HRT_vs_bioidentical.htm

When Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy Can Be Misleading

Natural hormone replacement therapy uses what are called bioidentical hormones. These natural hormones may or may not be made from plants. They could be made in a lab from a plant extract, or they could be made from other chemicals. The reason they are called natural hormones is because they are identical to the hormones that are in your own body. This means when they are metabolized, the breakdown products are also similar to what your body knows from metabolizing its own hormones.

It can be confusing looking at the source of a supplemental hormone. This is because synthetic hormones can actually be made from 'natural' substances. A good example of this is Premarin, which is made from the urine of pregnant mares. This may seem like it makes it a good candidate to be considered natural. However, Premarin, and other synthetic hormones, are structurally quite different to our own hormones. This is true of their breakdown products as well.

Because the breakdown products are also structurally different, synthetic hormones expose women to foreign chemicals that can cause side effects and potentially other harm over a period of time. Some synthetic hormones are even made from plants. So don't assume a plant derived hormone is 'natural' (and hence safe), unless it is also a bioidentical hormone.

Bioidentical natural hormones include:

Estrogen:

* dermestril septem


* elleste-solo MX40 & MX80


* estraderm MX


* evorel


* femseven


* oestrogel


* aerodiol


* hormonin


* ovestin


* climaval elleste-solo progynova


* estring


* vagifem


* ovestin


* ortho-gynest

Progesterone:

* crinone


* cyclogest


* gestone

Natural hormone replacement therapy medication is available as pills, creams, gels, patches and sprays. They have much fewer side effects than synthetic HRT, although some women may not respond to them. In that case, synthetic hormones may be the best option.

Before taking any form of hormone replacement therapy, even a natural hormone, it is worth making dietary changes, and exploring the use of herbs and phytoestrogens. Vitamins may help as well.

There are three types of phytoestrogens - isoflavones, lignans, and coumestans. Isoflavones are relatively well known. They are found in soy products and things like chick peas, lentils, and red clover (a herb). Try eating more tofu, and drinking more soy milk. These are often supplemented with calcium as well. It's better to consume isoflavone rich food rather than taking isoflavone supplements, as the protein in the foods are needed to make the isoflavones active in the body. If you do decide to take an isoflavone supplement, make sure it has soy protein in it, or take it with a glass of soy milk.

Lignans can be found in flaxseed, as well as many fruits, vegetables, and cereals. Coumestans are found in alfalfa and bean sprouts.

References: Dr L E Corio and L G Kahn, The Change Before The Change

If you'd like to learn about some free natural remedies for hot flushes, click here. More information on synthetic and natural HRT is here.

Estrogen Side Effects - Do You Know Them?

Estrogen side effects definitely exist, and one should understand the difference between natural estrogen and synthetic estrogen. The most commonly prescribed synthetic estrogen is Premarin, currently manufactured by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. According to the manufacturer, the most frequent estrogen side effects for Premarin are -- vaginitis due to yeast or other causes, vaginal bleeding, painful menstruation and leg cramps. Wyeth also makes a Premarin vaginal cream -- its most commonly reported side effects include vaginal discomfort or pain, breast pain, vaginitis and itching.

The synthetic estrogen prescription drugs are not the same as natural estrogens occurring in the body. Since substances occurring naturally cannot be patented, drug companies alter the molecular structure and create a new substance that is patentable. However, the body treats synthetic drugs differently than natural substances, usually in the form of unwanted estrogen side effects.

The three main estrogens occurring in the body are estradiol, estrone and estriol. Natural estrogens are identical to those occurring in the human body and are easily available in the form of estriol creams and tablets.

According to Harvard-trained family physician Dr. John R. Lee in his book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause, the estrogens tend to increase cell division in tissue that is hormone-sensitive such as breast and uterine tissue. Estradiol is about a thousand times stronger in its effect on breast tissue than is estriol. He references studies from the 1970's that showed that overexposure to estradiol increases the risk of breast cancer.

Besides estrogen side effects from synthetic estrogens, unhealthy excess estrogen is regularly obtained from other sources. Birth control pills, household chemicals and pesticides, certain foods that have been sprayed or given chemicals and many construction materials used in homes are all sources of estrogen which leads to estrogen side effects in the Female body. Doctors call this hormone imbalance condition of excess estrogen in the body "estrogen dominance". What are these estrogen side effects or symptoms of estrogen dominance? The symptoms include low sex drive, bloating and weight gain, headaches before the menstrual period, mood swings, irregular periods and excessive menstrual bleeding.

In the normal menstrual cycle and a healthy woman, estrogen is the dominant hormone that is produced for the first 10-12 days following the previous menstrual flow. At ovulation the Female body begins producing progesterone, which happens for the next 12 days or so. If there is no pregnancy, progesterone and estrogen levels will drop at around day 28, allowing menstruation to begin. However, if there is no ovulation, progesterone will not be produced by the body that month. This event is called an annovulatory cycle, and it is a typical occurance today for women in their 30's and 40's - no ovulation, no progesterone. This leaves the woman with a deficiency of progesterone, an excess of estrogen and resulting estrogen side effects. And if a hysterectomy has happened, surgical menopause means the woman no longer produces progesterone, resulting in hormone imbalance.

If estrogen side effects from synthetic estrogen are a problem, consider using the safer natural estrogen form which is estriol. Read more about estrogen side effects, natural estrogen supplementation and physician-recommended natural treatments for dealing with hormone imbalance.

Copyright 2005 InfoSearch Publishing

Find reliable sources of natural estrogen and learn more about safer forms of estrogen. Olinda Rola is President of InfoSearch Publishing and webmaster of http://www.safemenopausesolutions.com a website of natural health articles.

Bioidentical Hormone Replacement

Bioidentical hormones are defined as biologically identical to what the human body manufactures. Their molecular structure is exactly the same as the molecular structure of hormones made by the body. They are derived from plant sources: soy, wild yam and other plant extracts and processed in a lab to replicate the hormones in the body.

Bioidentical hormones have been used in Europe for over 50 years. They are not chemical synthetic drugs like Premarin which is made from a pregnant mare's urine and then prescribed in a one dose fits all regimen. Premarin will leave you with symptoms of bloatedness, low libido, brittle bones and depression, not to mention the serious consequences of heart attack, stroke and breast cancer. The big and powerful pharmaceutical companies have no interest in bioidentical hormones because they are not able to patent them and churn out big profits. Instead, the big pharmaceutical companies have pushed their synthetic hormones onto women, chemicals which are dangerous to women's health (Women's Health Initiative, 2002).

It can be difficult to find a doctor who is able to prescribe bioidentical hormones and who will be able to monitor your hormone levels and your progress. An excellent source for locating these doctors is a compounding pharmacy. Your bioidentical hormones will be made up in the compounding pharmacy.

For your first visit, you doctor will either prescribe estrogen, progesterone and perhaps Testosterone or progesterone alone, depending on your symptoms and then see how your symptoms are in a couple of months. Or the doctor may test your hormone levels and then give you a prescription to solve your symptoms. You will take these cyclically to mimic your natural cycle before the onset of these symptoms. Hormone testing can be done either by a blood test or a saliva test. A saliva test is more accurate in measuring your hormones.

T.K. Robb became an anti-aging expert over the last few years from an interest which led to serious study on the subject, which in turn, led to the development of the PureAgeless.com website. Her research led to the writing of articles, reviewing organic products and services for companies which provide health and wellness services. Her website is based on the organic approach to fighting the diseases of aging, from bioidentical hormones to nutritional supplements. Check out the website: http://www.pureageless.com

HRT, Breast Cancer, And Bioidentical Hormones

The symptoms of menopause are akin to labor pains in that they feel like they will go on forever, yet they herald the birth of new life. In fact, whilst perimenopause lasts a lot longer - from 5 to 10, or up to 13 years, it is not an indicator of how 'life will be'. Menopause is a time of growth and adaptation, and our bodies are an intimate part of the journey. The symptoms associated with menopause intimately reflect the flux of the body's hormonal systems.

Menopause can be extremely disruptive, however. Whether it's sleeplessness, menopause related depression, hot flushes, vaginal dryness, or emotional swings, the good news is that these symptoms can be alleviated. A good menopause treatment will help many seemingly diverse symptoms, as they are all related to the root hormonal flux in the body.

HRT is one choice, popular with doctors, and one that many women have found extremely useful. But what is often not understood, is that there are different types of hormone replacement therapy, even amongst those prescribed by doctors.

Premarin is one of the best well know, and oldest, types of hormone treatment. Premarin is made from the urine of pregnant horses, and is an estrogen only hormonal pill. It was advocated as being beneficial for, amongst other things:

* thickening vaginal tissue


* helping depression


* stopping hot flushes


* preventing heart disease, osteoporosis, and alzheimers

However, research has also found a link between estrogen-only supplementation and breast cancer. The cells in the breasts and the uterus are responsive to estrogen. So to add estrogen in, without the checks and balances intrinsic to our normal hormonal system, can stimulate the growth of this tissue.

What many believed was a mitigating factor in Premarin's favor was the belief that it helped prevent heart disease. This presumption was based on the fact that Premarin lowered LDL cholesterol. High levels of LDL cholesterol had earlier been identified as a risk in developing heart disease. However, this belief has been found to be unsupported in several large clinical trials. In one involving women who had heart disease, those taking Premarin (in combination with a synthetic form of progesterone which was given with Premarin to prevent endometrial cancer), these women actually significantly increased their risk of having another heart attack in the first year of use. This risk leveled off after that, but it didn't provide any heart protective effects. In a study with healthy women, hormone replacement with Premarin, with or without a synthetic progesterone supplement, did not decrease the risk of heart attacks or heart disease.

Another drawback to Premarin and other hormone replacement therapies is the way they are often prescribed, in a kind of 'one size fits all' way, irrespective of a woman's size or medical history.

But the news is not all bad with HRT therapies. When Premarin was developed, there was not the ability amongst scientists to produce other types of estrogen. Because the estrogen in horses is not natural in women, side effects like bloating, headaches, and sore breasts are common. And because the breakdown products of estrogen from horses are so strong, actually more active in the body than the original horse estrogen, they have a pronounced effect on estrogen sensitive tissues, such as the breast. And given that numerous studies have shown that these metabolic by-products can produce changes in the DNA of cells that are carcinogenic to living tissue, it is no surprise that the incidence of breast cancer increases when women take Premarin.

But there are alternatives. Bioidentical hormones are developed from soy beans or yams, and their chemical structure is designed to reflect that which is found in women's bodies. Further, bioidentical hormones are not usually given in a standardized, 'one size fits all' dose, but tailored to a woman's presenting history. They are generally given at low doses, and because chemically they behave more like regular estrogen, they are not associated with the side effects of Premarin, although they have not been used in the large scale studies that Premarin has.

References: Dr Christiane Northrup, The Wisdom Of Menopause

Rebecca Prescott presents more information on hormone replacement therapy here. For other menopause information, click here.

Say Goodbye To Post-Menopause Issues With Premarin

Come menopause and the trouble time for women starts. The post-menopausal problems like osteoporosis, vaginal dryness, hot flashes, burning, irritation and other hormonal imbalances announce their arrival as soon as the woman is past her menopausal phase. For long, women have been waiting for a single pill that could take care of all their problems arising out of post-menopause. And their prayers have been answered. Premarin is a mixture of estrogen hormones used to treat all the above-mentioned symptoms that are the result of hormonal imbalances post-menopause.

For the uninitiated, Estrogen is a Female sex hormone produced by the ovaries. Estrogen not only contributes to a healthy sexual urge, but also responsible for many other body functions. Premarin is a prescription pill and meant for your benefit. Any kind of drug abuse, like taking without prescription, over-dosage, under-dosage etc., will invite all kinds of trouble. Moreover, there is a warning associated with the long-term usage of the drug. It may be the cause of breast cancer, heart attack or stroke. So, stick religiously to what your doctor prescribed and never indulge in self-medication.

Any kinds of serious side effects must be immediately reported to the doctor. Normally, the body absorbs Premarin pretty well but still no chance should be taken if the condition of the patient deteriorates after taking Premarin. Always let your doctor know the drugs you are already taking. This is because there may be certain drugs that are not prescribed to be taken along with Premarin. Your doctor may change the drug or salt or dosage of the prescription to suit your body.

Premarin must be purchased from the authorized pharmacy. You can order Premarin from an authorized online drug store that will make sure that you get your drugs at your doorsteps without any delay. The price factor also goes in favor of online drug purchases.

Keit Archer does research on men's health issues for PillsPills.Net Pharmacy