Wellness Center – Alternative Medicine

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