Inside Yogi Times
Los Angeles Edition
March 2005 | issue 30
|
Do the benefits of synthetic or natural hormone replacement therapy (HRT) drugs justify the health risks?
Many of the 38 million female baby boomers have been greatly concerned about this question since 2002. In that year, the US government suddenly halted the first long-term of study of synthetic HRT, part of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), due to alarmingly high rates of breast cancer and heart disease. This research was investigating the use of synthetic progesterone, or progestin, taken in combination with estrogen, to relieve hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms. Since that announcement in 2002, many women have switched to so-called natural or bio-identical hormones, believing them to be safer.
While such hormones are touted in books by proponents such as obstetrician and best-selling author Christiane Northrup, M.D., and celebrity Suzanne Somers, natural or bio-identical hormones are different from the natural hormones made by the body. They are laboratory synthesized from soy or wild yam, and custom-blended by compounding pharmacies according to health care practitioners’ instructions. These hormones come in pill, patch and cream forms.
While many women use over-the-counter natural progesterone creams such as Pro-Gest to alleviate menopausal symptoms, a study presented last year at the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics Conference sounded grave warnings about this form of HRT. A study conducted by Dr. Anne Hermann at Bassett Healthcare in Cooperstown, NY found that a group of women that used Pro-Gest to relieve hot flashes and night sweats, and a group that took the synthetic progesterone pill Prometrium had the same high levels of progesterone in their bloodstreams – the same chemical that was believed to be related to the high rates of breast cancer. “Millions of women are using these creams, thinking that because they’re natural and sold over the counter they are safe,” Dr. Hermann said in the New York Times on March 30, 2004. “The reality is that they are putting themselves at risk.”
On the other hand, Dr. Deborah Moskowitz, director of research and development education for Emerita – the division of Transitions for Health, Inc. that makes Pro-Gest – told the New York Times that “progestin and progesterone are different,” and that there is no proof that natural progesterone carries health risks. In the same article, however, Susan Cruzan, a spokeswoman for The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said that “until research shows otherwise,” natural progesterone is considered to share similar health risks as its synthetic version. The FDA is currently asking manufacturers to do further studies. “Until we have that information,” Cruzan added, “women who use any of these products should work with their doctors to use the lowest effective dose for the shortest duration of time.”
The good news amidst all this controversy is that many naturopaths and MDs are using nontoxic, hormone-free and safe strategies to successfully soothe menopausal symptoms. What’s more, before-and-after hormone saliva tests (which are far more accurate than blood or urine tests) can reveal whether specific hormones are deficient, excessively high or at a healthy balance.
Physicians around the country are reporting that two homeopathic remedies, NuFEM and NER (Neuro-emotional Remedies) have helped normalize hormone levels in more than 1,000 women of various ages. “Hormone saliva test results from before and after three months of taking the remedies indicate that they work,” says Dr. Christine Staub of Greensboro, North Carolina. “They help treat hot flashes, low libido, low energy, irregular menses, and mood swings,” Staub continues. “They also help women who have had complete hysterectomies produce healthy hormone levels.”
“the good news amidst all this controversy is that many naturopaths and mds are using nontoxic, hormone-free and safe strategies to successfully soothe menopausal symptoms.”
While the NER remedies are oral solutions, NuFEM comes in four different transdermal creams derived from nontoxic and safe sources, such as tiger lily, sulfur and bloodroot. Both were developed by Dr. Theresa Dale, a naturopathic doctor and homeopath based in Northern California. Rather than replacing hormones, Dale’s remedies “activate the hypothalamus, one of the major endocrine system glands that is responsible for helping make hormones,” she explains. “The remedies also support the liver, which is where hormones are conjugated, and they activate other organs and body systems to balance hormone production.” Dr. Dale is also the author of “Revitalize Your Hormones,” a guide to natural hormone rejuvenation and renewed sexual health. Because NER and NuFEM are hormone-free and carry zero side effects, “they are safe for breast cancer survivors,” says Dr. Leigh Erin Connealy, of Newport Beach, California, who has about 300 patients on the regimen, including herself.
A multi-modal lifestyle approach is another drug-free way to balance hormones, says Dharma Singh Khalsa, MD, a Tucson-based preventive medicine specialist and author of “Meditation As Medicine.” “Women can greatly benefit from a sensible lifestyle program combining exercise, a low-fat, organic diet with adequate protein, herbal and homeopathic therapies, food supplementation with antioxidants, minerals, amino acids, and essential fatty acids, and meditation.” Meditation can be a key strategy for rejuvenating the endocrine system and balancing hormones because of its ability to induce the Relaxation Response, a medically proven condition wherein heart rate and blood pressure are reduced, hormones are balanced via the hypothalamic-pituitary gland axis, and psychological stressors are discharged.
Dr. Khalsa offers the following meditation technique for helping promote hormonal balance:
• Tune in and center yourself by chanting Ong Namo, Guru Dev Namo 3 times.
• Sit in a chair with your spine straight. Relax your hands on your knees.
• Focus: With each syllable you chant, visualize energy flowing in through the top of your head and out your third-eye point. The eyes are closed.
• Breath: The breath will come automatically as you chant.
• Mantra: Sa Ta Na Ma. This mantra represents the cycle of creation. Sa means infinity; Ta means life; Na means death; Ma means rebirth.
• Time: 30 minutes total. Chant in a normal voice for 5 minutes, then whisper for 5 minutes, then go deep within yourself for 10 minutes (and still continue to repeat the mantra). Come back to the whisper for 5 minutes, and finally to the normal voice for 5 minutes.
• Mudra (or hand gestures) On Sa, touch the index finger to your thumb. On Ta, touch the middle finger to your thumb. On Na, touch the ring finger to your thumb. On Ma, touch the little finger to your thumb. Continue moving the fingers through the exercise, even during the silent part.
• End: Inhale completely, then exhale all the air. Stretch the hands up as far as possible and spread them wide. Stretch the spine up and take several deep breaths.
Although there are many options available to women who wish to balance their hormones without taking synthetic or so-called natural HRT, it is key to remember that endocrine system support underlies all of the alternative strategies that have proven effective. Furthermore, women can start safely strengthening their endocrine systems and thus their hormone function on their own. According to Dr. Dale, “a good way to begin is by getting adequate nightly sleep, practicing stress management through rejuvenating mind/body exercise such as yoga, and by drinking purified water and eliminating caffeine, sugar, alcohol and toxic foods, such as those containing partially hydrogenated oils and chemical preservatives from their diets.”
wellnesscenter.net
|
|
