The majority of pituitary tumors
& treatments are responsible for androgen deficiency. This
includes estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone deficiency.
The symptoms and treatment are identical to that of menopause
for women. Synthetic hormones are most often prescribed. Lately
the benefits of natural hormone replacement have been found to
have more benefits and possibly fewer side effects.
A Healthier Alternative: Natural
Prescription Hormone Replacement
When the Women’s Health Initiative
abruptly halted a long-term study on synthetic hormone replacement
last July sending major shock waves through the medical community-
many doctors and patients became confused about what to do. The
National Institute of Health cancelled the 15–year study
after 5 years because they felt that the increased health risks
of synthetic hormone replacement outweighed the benefits. About
7 million women in the United States are on some form of hormone
replacement therapy to help alleviate the symptoms associated
with menopause.
“A healthier alternative is Natural Prescription Hormone
Replacement,” says Michael Lenzner, a compounding pharmacist
from Life Wellness Pharmacy. “Many menopausal women who
were formerly on synthetic HRT are searching for a better way.”
“The recent Women’s Health Initiative study called
into question the use of synthetic hormone replacement therapy,
both estrogen as well as progestin. Synthetic HRT considerably
increased the cancer risks. Natural Prescription Hormone Replacement
mimics the molecular structure and the function of natural hormones
that are produced by the body. The thought behind it -if it mimics
nature, it would be less cancer-causing. Of course, we can’t
make that claim and prove it. We have a lot of ancillary, anecdotal
studies that point in that direction but we haven’t had
a big study like the Women’s Health Initiative. One of the
reasons for that is that Natural HRT deals with non-patentable,
natural chemicals,” Lenzner added.
“Natural hormones are identical in structure and function
to those found naturally in women but are derived from plants,”
says Lenzner.
Natural hormones are available by prescription from specialized
compounding pharmacies like Life Wellness Natural hormone replacement
therapy (NHRT) is often prescribed to women to help alleviate
the unpleasant symptoms associated with hormonal changes brought
on by perimenopause and menopause such as PMS, hot flashes, night
sweats, fatigue, foggy thinking and memory loss. NHRT prescriptions
are custom-compounded to meet the individual needs of each patient.
“Synthetic hormones are still prescribed by some doctors
and it may be appropriate in some instances: That’s between
the doctor and their patient. It would be the appropriate choice
if the patient and the physician were both educated on what the
alternatives might be. For some patients, after the news that
just came out, they’re going to be looking for the fidoestrogens
and fidoprogesterone (supplements) in health food stores and I
believe that’s not the best choice because the FDA doesn’t
regulate these products and from product-to-product the strength
is going be different. The imbalance in their hormones is going
to be exacerbated because the doctor and the pharmacist don’t
know where there hormone levels are –we can’t anticipate
what the effect of applying them will be. So fidoestrogens are
an alternative and they sometimes relieve some symptoms, but I
believe it falls short because it’s not prescription-based
and there’s no uniform quality assurance,” says Lenzner.
“The
next alternative which is Natural Prescription Hormone Replacement,
sometimes called Bio-Indentical of Bio-Equivalent hormone replacement.
These are similar to natural hormones that occur in nature like
the ones that the body produces naturally. We’re taking
those chemicals from a natural source and we are mimicking the
molecular structure. We’re basically trying to mimic what
nature does in the body. And we believe that because we’re
mimicking nature and we’re only replacing what is already
deficient in the body, only to the levels that nature originally
intended, that will provide the necessary relief from menopausal
symptoms or estrogen-dominance symptoms the patient might be suffering
. Because natural hormones are often in lower dosages than synthetics,
in my opinion, they are a safer treatment alternative than synthetic
HRT.”
Michael Lenzner adds: “What I’d like patients to understand
is that they have choices.
I feel that strongly that Natural Prescription Hormone Replacement
is a better choice. We can educate patients about hormone replacement
therapy –and ultimately it becomes their choice and their
physician’s choice. My goal is to make sure they understand
the facts, so that they can make an informed decision.”
article/interview
with Michael Lenzner who is a compounding pharmacist and the President
of
Life Wellness Pharmacy.
www.lifewellness.com
