Three Things You Should Know About Bio-Identical Hormones
   by James Occhiogrosso, N.D.

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Depending on where you get your information about bio-identical hormones, it would seem that hormone replacement is either a fountain of youth or a complete disaster area.

Medical sources often frown on bio-identical hormone replacement therapy for men or women. On the other hand, many studies show a profound improvement in well-being for those who use such hormones. The real story is a bit more complicated.

First — there is the scare factor that any kind of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) will cause breast cancer, prostate cancer, a heart attack or a stroke! True, some of these problems have been linked to HRT, but this association is only with synthetic hormones. To the best of my knowledge, no studies have linked these issues to bio-identical hormone use. The human body does not always recognize synthetic chemicals and they often cause problems. Several of the associated articles discuss this.

Second — there is a tendency for people to believe that if something works, using more will make it work even better. With hormones, nothing could be further from the truth. Raising ones hormone levels beyond the biological normal values can certainly be dangerous. Many folks tend to “go with their gut” on stuff like this, and just purchase over-the-counter hormone products and begin using them without getting baseline tests run first. As you can see from some of the associated articles, too much of a hormone can be just as detrimental to your health as too little. This is especially true of some androgen hormones like testosterone, and some estrogens like estradiol.

Third — testing is essential. Saliva testing is quick, private, and relatively inexpensive. If you don’t know your starting hormone levels, you have no idea if you are raising them beyond biological normal values, or, if you even need to supplement them at all! It is essential to test your levels before starting any replacement program and to retest periodically to make sure you are staying where you want to be.

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