Basics on Synthetic, Bio-identical & Phyto-Hormones
For over 40 years Hormonal Replacement Therapy (HRT) was the
standard treatment for menopausal women. In 2002 the world
abruptly changed when the USA National Institutes of Health
(NIH) shocked women world over, along with the established
medical profession, by halting mid-survey a huge multi million
dollar study into the effects of HRT because of serious and
unacceptable health risks.
Known as the Women’s Health Initiative, the study found
that although the combination of estrogen and progestin worked
for menopausal symptoms in many women, it caused significant
increases in heart disease, stroke, blood clots, breast and
ovarian cancer. HRT increased the incidence of breast cancer
by as much as 26% and heart attacks by 30%. Shortly after,
a further study of 1.5 million women by The Lancet found that
the risk of breast cancer doubled with the use HRT.
NIH officials announced, “the balance of harm versus
benefit does not justify any woman beginning or continuing
to take estrogen plus progestin”.
Horrified, millions of women all over the world heard and
quit. The use and sale of HRT products dropped like a stone.
- How was it the medical profession bought into HRT so big
and how many lives had been lost because of it?
- Why had it taken so long to find out and to let women know?
- And most of all, if HRT worked well, as it did for many
women, but was so dangerous, what could they use and
be safe?
Lots of questions, few answers, lots of confusion. A confusion
many women feel to this day and still they are not getting
clear answers.
To most doctors finding that the synthetic hormonal combination
of Premarin and Progestin was so dangerous came as a nasty
shock. But where had they been hiding, like so many ostriches?
For 40 years a growing number of doctors had been warning
of just these dangers and clinical trials had already been
published warning of the risks.
The thing was, HRT worked. It helped prevent osteoporosis
and colon cancer and many other menopausal symptoms. Women
wanted it. The pharmaceutical companies producing the drugs
were onto the all-time mother of all blockbusters. The combination
of Big Pharma’s marketing juggernaut, greed, money,
inertia and ignorance kept too many doctors from facing the
truth and women from knowing it, for far too long. Meantime
the $’s just kept rolling in, while people wondered
why breast cancer was endemic.
So what were women to do?
If synthetic hormones were now so dangerous what about natural
hormones, bioidentical hormones and phytoestrogens? Were they
safe? Could they do the trick? What are they anyway and what’s
the difference?
A significant minority of women who, for decades never liked
taking synthetic hormones and who could afford it, found and
worked with those doctors who were aware of the dangers of
HRT. These doctors prescribed estrogens carefully, often Estriol
with smaller proportions of estradiol and estrone in the formulas
BiEst and TriEst. They prescribed what are known as bio-identical
hormones, which are molecularly identical to the hormones
we produce in our bodies. The point was that these were combinations
of various hormones women needed (not just estrogen) in individual
doses specifically formulated for their patients. The prescriptions
were made up by specialist compounding pharmacies. The Women’s
Pharmacy being a good example, doing good work spreading the
word and making access more available. The thing is, you can’t
patent bioidentical hormones. They are exactly the same as
what your body produces. Synthetic estrogen made from mare’s
urine is not. This is why it took 40 years for the news to
come out. The pharmaceutical companies making synthetic hormones
fought tooth and nail to make sure it wouldn’t and countless
women paid the price.
Big Pharma Don’t Care - Buy it Anyway!
Amazingly it still goes on. Despite the known risks and the
fact that the makers of Premarin and Progestin (still on the
market) are now required to put clear warnings of the dangers
on their products and in their advertising, they still continue
to market the product aggressively. Even with the warnings
it still pays them to do it. Not only do they continue to
push the product, they are seeking to make it illegal for
women to obtain any bio-identical hormones from compounding
pharmacies, complaining that their sales have suffered and
it isn’t fair. All hormonal products should carry the
same warnings they say.
Absurd as this argument is, it is where one of the major confusions
lie. Hormonal replacement is very complex and very individual.
It involves the balance of many hormones. Mainly in this case,
estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, pregnenolone, DHEA and
melatonin. If you have too much or too little of these hormones,
synthetic or not, you can have problems. If your hormones
are out of whack in a big way, or you have existing medical
conditions that hormones could aggravate (like cancer), that’s
an even bigger problem.
That’s why no one should self-prescribe hormones, particularly
not estrogen and testosterone, not without first being tested
and having seen a specialist. If you do that, HRT is safe
for you and don’t be spooked by anyone who says different.
They have an agenda. The difference is simply this:
- Synthetic hormones have been shown beyond doubt they can
be dangerous, even at levels prescribed by doctors.
- Bioidentical hormones, at properly prescribed levels, are
not dangerous and can be safely taken, with all the many benef
its HRT properly administered can bestow.
What about Phyto-estrogens?
We are talking here of the estrogenic and other hormonal properties
of herbs and natural plant extracts. They have been shown
to have many of the benefits of HRT and are a lot cheaper
and you don’t need a prescription. But yes, just like
bioidentical hormones, phyto-hormones could conceivably cause
problems. But it is unlikely. They are not hormones themselves,
they help produce hormones in your body. It is a considerably
less potent method than ingesting hormones directly.
The products found in a quality natural hormonal formulation
are likely to contain extracts from soybeans, yam, black cohosh,
Dong quai, and licorice among other things. A good formulation
should also contain fruit, vegetable and other extracts to
promote healthy cell division, balance and modulate the estrogens
as well as protect against their unwanted effects.
While it may be true in theory to say that any hormone, bioidentical
or synthetic, and any substance that encourages your body
to produce hormones could harm you, it is not true to say
that all these substances are the same. Avoid the advise of
anybody who says this like the plague. They either have some
commercial or emotional agenda you don’t know about,
that or they’re just dangerously ignorant.
It Ain’t Necessarily So....
It’s like saying the famed Japanese delicacy, the fugi
fish can kill you if not prepared by an expert. Therefore,
no one should be allowed to eat fugi fish. Or, since swordfish
and tuna have dangerous levels of mercury in them, you mustn’t
eat fish. And, in the case of Big Pharma, it’s not fair
that people buy other fish because my fish are poisonous.
If people won’t eat my poisonous fish they must be told
all fish are poisonous. Obviously, it’s absurd.
If women, or men, benefit from HRT, which in many cases they
do, they shouldn’t be scared off by greedy drug peddlers.
They need have no qualms about consulting a specialist and
having individualised bio-identical hormonal treatments compounded
for them by a specialist pharmacy. If they find a phyto-homornal
formula that works for them in relieving menopausal symptoms
they should go ahead without any anxiety, just taking care
to mention it to their GP. If they have or have had cancer
or any other serious disease they should always ask their
doctor before taking any form of hormonal supplementation.
No therapy is 100% safe, but there’s a big difference
between something which, with due caution, is 98% safe and
something that is known to have a 30% chance of killing you.
It’s just dishonest to pretend otherwise.
