Replacement or Not, That is the Question

Hormone imbalances, including adrenal, thyroid and sex hormone imbalance, are common problems for many people. In the past, the most popular approach to correct female hormone imbalance was Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). People thought that female hormones became deficient during aging process, which is the cause for menopausal symptoms. HRT would not only bring the youth back but also solve the hot flashes. However, recent large-scale clinical trials have been terminated because of the high risk of stroke and cancer for those who took HRT. Thus, many people have switched from conventional HRT to natural hormone replacement. But, is the natural hormone safer than synthetic ones?

Let’s take a look of our hormonal control mechanism, which is called the negative feedback loop. Each individual hormone is stimulated by higher level stimulating hormones. Once the lower level hormone is produced, it sends a negative signal back to the brain to say, "I’m here." When the brain sense the signal, it will reduce the production of the (higher level) stimulating hormone. Hormone replacement, either natural or synthetic, simply suppresses stimulating hormone. This can cause the body to lose its ability to produce a specific hormone on its own. One the other hand, each individual hormone has to reach to a delicate balance with other hormones. Too much or too less of specific hormones may either promote cell growth and cause cancer, or cause atrophy of specific tissue. Thus, the following three questions have to be asked before any hormone replacement therapy: 1) whether the deficiency is true or not, 2) what is the reason that causes the deficiency, 3) whether or not the replacement disturb balance of other hormones.

If you are unsure of the answers to the above questions, would you like to have an alternative to any form of HRT? Now the alternative is here: You can teach your body to balance its own hormones the right way, thus fully utilizing the God-given abilities embedded in our body. Solving the cause of the hormone imbalance makes more sense than simply giving hormone replacement. Hot flashes are not caused only by estrogen deficiency but also by the fluctuation of the hormone. Stresses of the body, including allergies, indigestion, infection, pain, emotion and busy schedule, always trigger overproduction of cortisol, which is one of the adrenal hormones. Changes of the cortisol production are probably one of the major reasons causing estrogen fluctuation, which in turn causes hot flashes. Thus, addressing adrenal stress is more important than estrogen replacement to help hot flashes. As matter of fact, there are laboratory tests available to address not only the levels of the hormones, such as estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, but also the ratio among them to prevent from over taking certain hormones causing cell proliferation of uterus and breasts. By gaining more understanding on hormone imbalance, the replacement therapy can be avoided in many cases. This is the functional approach of endocrinology.

Summing it up. The alternatives to HRT are body balancing, stress reduction, food allergy management, lab hormone test of our risk of having breast and uterine cancer, plus a brand new line of herbal remedies to teach the body to rebalance its hormones, so that in the long run, your body will be able to function on its own than taking hormone for the rest of your life.

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