As each of us approaches either Menopause for women or Andropause for men, we have to decide if we will replace those depleted hormones or not. As with most choices in life, it is more complicated than it might first appear. While medical professionals are...
When I speak to patients in the pharmacy about their bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) product, I like to make a differentiation between “tangible” benefits and “intangible” benefits to help explain the effects of their medication. I define tangible benefits as direct improvements in the...
From time to time I am asked why someone should consider BHRT over conventional therapy. This basic question usually comes from the idea that “a hormone is a hormone” and there is no difference between the various forms. This view has repeatedly been shot down...
For many people, the term Bio-Identical Hormone replacement is an unknown concept. In the simplest terms, it merely means that when deciding to replace missing hormones during menopause or peri-menopause, we choose the exact forms of the various hormones which the body normally produces, instead...
Many patients are curious about the subcutaneously implanted pellet as a method of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and how it compares to injectable hormones. Pellets are “new” to most patients, however, they have been used clinically in the United States since the 1940’s. While there...
Menopause is defined as the point when menstrual cycles stop and are diagnosed when no cycles for 12 consecutive months. This is a very important consideration since most women will live half their lives without a menstrual cycle. Women produce many native or natural hormones...
In the not too distant past, when physicians were considering prescribing hormone replacement therapy for their patients, very few of them would bother to measure the levels of the various hormones involved. This applied both to the initial decision to prescribe and to the ongoing...
Hot flashes? Night sweats? Vaginal dryness? Irritability? Anxiety? Mood swings? Insomnia? Decreased libido? Weight gain? Hair loss? Forgetfulness?...