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Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy

By Jake Alexandre


Bodily hormones are chemicals that are created naturally in the bodies of all animals including people. They chemical messages produced in the blood by hormone creating organs that take a trip as well as influence various parts of the body. Hormones can have different chemistry. They can be steroids or proteins. Steroid hormones are active in the body when eaten. Birth control tablets are steroid hormones, and can easily be taken orally. In contrast, healthy protein hormones are broken down in the stomach and lose their potential to behave in the body when consumed.

Steroid hormones are active in the body when eaten. For example birth control pills are steroid hormones and can be taken orally. In contrast protein hormones are broken down in the stomach and lose their ability to act in the body when eaten. Therefore ordinarily protein hormones need to be injected into the body to have an effect. Diabetic patients need to be injected with insulin for treatment.

If the hormones stop working properly, they need to be replaced at some age. Usually natural bio-identical hormone replacement is best and safer. Many women assume that "natural" hormones would be better or safer - but the term "natural" is open to interpretation. Natural hormones are derived from plant or animal, sometimes bio-identical or not bio-identical; also called semi-synthetic. In natural bio-identical hormone replacement the original existing hormones are replaced with other hormones. Usually natural hormone comprises of any product whose principal ingredient has an animal, plant or mineral source is technically natural. It doesn't matter whether the substance is ground, put into capsules and sold over the counter - or extracted in a laboratory, or manufactured by a pharmaceutical company and made available only by prescription.

For example the soy plant is the source of supplements that some women take to ease menopausal symptoms; it's also used in natural bio-identical hormone replacement along with yams to make the estrogen in the FDA-approved hormone drug Estrace. But unlike Estrace, soy supplements aren't regulated and haven't been rigorously tested in humans, so we don't know whether they're safe or effective. There's some evidence that certain soy components may actually stimulate breast tumor growth. So "natural" doesn't necessarily equal "safe" - and may simply be an euphemism for unregulated.

Natural bio-identical hormone replacement has benefits for patients. Some most noticeable benefits include increase in muscle mass, decrease in body fat, and increase in skin thickness, reduction in wrinkles, stronger bones, increased sexual desire, maintains cholesterol level, reduces depression and improves mental condition, and function of heart, liver, spleen, kidneys and other organs that shrink with aging.




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