Hormone Replacement Therapy ( HRT ) has become a well accepted treatment modality that improves the health of those who undergo its benefits.  Stemming originally from BIO-IDENTICAL HRT ( BHRT ) which was led for the most part by motivated and health conscious women who were sick and tired of the side effects of menopause but even worse risks with the overuse and Rx of inappropirate compounds by their doctors!  These patients began the industry on its more natural path several decades ago, and it was several decades additionally previous to that when the discovery that hormones could be used exogenously for benefits that the clinical applications began.

  Initially sythetically created ( pharmaceutical ) agents were used most often in lab tests and clinical ( and ’non-clinical’ ie. athletics and more ) arenas, and the results were both miraculous but also somewhat horrifying at the same time!  In sports, of course incredible performance and endurance benefits were seen almost immediately.  And very quickly, as often happens, if a little was ‘GOOD’ and a little more was ‘BETTER’, people were pushing the envelope aggressively (and still do ! ) to find out just how much was too much!! It has taken decades to realize that it only takes just a short while for the noticeable side effects and toxicity risks to impact our health and physique adversely if these powerful compounds are not used appropriately.  But the protocols still so widely used with synthetic hormones are still quite unsafe!  Even those taught at the most ‘prestigious’ HRT seminars.

  From this brief history came the much improved idea to use BHRT or biochemically naturally identical agents, these which I like to call more ‘ organic ‘ hormones as they are derived from organic agents and synergize very effectively and more naturally with our bodies.  Derived from natural compounds found in organic wild yams, soy beans, and more, these agents are absorbed and utilized extremely well with little no no observed side effects given their natural biochemical pathways for use and metabolism in the body.  Also, if administration inadvertantly results in a higher than expected amount or level, they are much more easily cleared from the body with again little to no adverse effects.  They are much less likely to cause any noticeable toxicity issues such as liver stress or cholesterols swing, but still by may of course lead to increased activities from the hormones themselves, which can happen from time to time in our own bodies with natural hormonal swings and surges.

  The aforementioned synthetic hormones were predominantly used both in medical treatments and off label / black market athletic / performance / body building venues, as well as food production as well.  But as BHRT quickly advanced as the standard for the women demanding it, in the mens HRT world the compounds and protocols used remain highly lacking of the benefits and integration of more BHRT instead of complete reliance on synthetics.   

  Now synthetic hormones of course also have their uses, and when used safely can be very healthy and important in a CAREFULLY devised HRT / BHRT treatment plan.  But synthetic chemicals, as being ’new to nature’ and previously unknown to the body by design, for their increased potency and patentability, will always carry risks of toxicity and harmful effects if overused.  Addiction and withdrawal are also at higher risk given synthetic chemicals as opposed to bio-identical.  When one comes ‘off treatment’ or ‘off therapy’ with excessively synthetically based protocols and reversal of effects is guaranteed and quickly.  This is much less likely as the body more ‘rested’ from well planned BHRT combination protocols will gently drift back to a less optimal state, but wont have a ‘withdrawal’ type effect as with solely synthetic hormone use.

   We are now in a time of true integration of all of this information.  With a return to much more holistic and organic lifestyles and alternative healthcare treatments, the new standard of care is to use a combination protocol, relying more heavily on biodentical agents foundationally, with synthetics added secondarily for benefit but in a way safe to long term use and longevity.  In this manner, Health not only optimized but is supported and restored, and hormones can be fine tuned and optimized very precisely by varying the combinations and ratios of different agents.  In mens HRT protocols we can tell you this is a big shift in thinking from the nearly barbaric ‘weekend course’ protocols being taught and applied still today.

  Using the clinical arena where HRT and BHRT have been used with tremendous results, but not without some risks when poorly undertsood and utlized, we now have access to much more well thought out, time tested, and intuitively advanced protocols.  The results speak for themselves, with patient outcomes, health, and biochemical benefit being obvious from very early in the protocols, to after years and decades following these more integrated techniques for long term benefit and health.

Be Well, 

Dr. Edward Pearson

www.NewMedicineFoundation.org