Tag Archives: hormone replacement therapy

What is Natural Progesterone

  By | September 21, 2011 - 6:48 pm | Articles
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Much has been said about what is natural progesterone and most of them we hear from the medical practitioners. The definitions we get from them explained in medical jargons are actually true only that we understand it in layman when it should be understood medically, and so often results in misconceptions. Descriptions like progesterone being a ??sex hormone??, or ??female sex hormone??, ??hormone of pregnancy?? should be backed up with definitions as people would often misinterpret them. Here’s myth busting facts about what progesterone is and is not.
Progesterone belongs to one of the five known groups of steroid hormone. The name stands for progestational steroidal ketone due to its role in gestation, which often is why it has been considered as hormone of pregnancy when in fact it is produced even when pregnancy is not present. It is not truly correct to say progesterone is a sex hormone nor a female hormone because it does not actually play role in development of sex characteristics and the hormone is also present in males. Rather after progesterone is synthesized it is further converted into other hormones like androstenedione which is precursor of testosterone, estrone and estradiol, the real sex hormones responsible for sexual characteristics in both men and women. How do we correctly define what natural progesterone is?
The production of this hormone begins when cholesterol is synthesized to form pregnenolone and after a few more cascades results to progesterone. Do not trouble yourself with those specifics in chemistry, one only has to know what is natural progesterone has to do in our body. It also pays to know its sources and significance. In humans progesterone is produced in the ovaries, the adrenal glands, and the placenta produces a great amount of it during pregnancy. It is also stored in adipose (fat) tissue. Other sources of natural progesterone are milk products because farms cows are milked during pregnancy, when the progesterone in the milk shoots up. Consumption of milk products increases the level of bioavailable progesterone in the body. Progesterone can also be converted from steroids found in a number of plant species.
Laboratory synthesis of progesterone is also possible that leads to the production of synthetic and semisynthetic progesterone used primarily in hormone replacement therapy and other conditions where the body inadequately produce the hormone such as in cases where ovaries and adrenal glands are diseased. Other things about what is natural progesterone must be truly understood in order to get rid of the misconceptions attributed to progesterone and so limitations about its use may be cut and rather be explored that will result to more medical advantages in the future.

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Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy

  By | September 16, 2011 - 5:58 am | Articles
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Hormones are very important regulators of many bodily processes that without them, imbalances can occur leading to abnormal system and organ functions. There are a number of reasons that can lead to depletion of these hormones, like disorders of the organ that produces it or removal of that organ fro whatever causes and more often due to the bodyâ??s decline of functions as a result of aging, as with the case of women, the menopausal stage. In addition, the halt of production of these hormones can either be acute, long-term or life-long. In whatever case one is involved, a physician is expected to require you to undergo natural hormone replacement therapy.
Natural hormone replacement therapy is the use of bioidentical hormone from its endogenous form in terms of its molecular make up. It can also be referred to all products where the main ingredient is derived from an animal, plant and both bioidentical and nonbioidentical hormones that can be produced from the same plant sources. Generally, this hormone therapy also know as Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy or BHRT is also often used to refer not only to the administration of the hormone but includes the comprehensive steps of the therapy from the diagnosing, prescribing, preparation and finally its usage and the continuous supervision for the side and adverse effects.
As mentioned earlier, it is not only for menopausal women that natural hormone replacement therapy may be applicable. Even men and the younger populace can be required to undergo such therapy when needed. Hormones which are often involved in these therapies are thyroid estrogen and progesterone therapy. To an aging woman progesterone therapy is most often the case due to the decline of ovarian functions resulting to significant if total halt in the production of the hormone.
The very reason for natural hormone replacement therapy is to supply for the lost hormone and thus restore the modulation of bodily processes and functioning that have deteriorated due to the depletion of regulating hormones. In instances where there is a temporary stoppage, only acute prescription or momentary therapy is needed while for total halt, life-long therapy maybe required. It may be necessary for a client undergoing the therapy to be in regular consultation with her/his physician especially in the first few moments starting the in order to be monitored with the effectiveness or side effects of the hormone therapy. To assure best results of the therapy, one has to follow tall the physician and manufacturerâ??s advice and guidelines regarding the use of the hormones in the entire course of therapy.


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Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy

  By | September 13, 2011 - 1:41 pm | Articles
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Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy is a rather general term that can mean interconnected concepts of the use of bioidentical or natural hormones in a therapy. It could also mean the compounding and manufacturing of drugs, or testing hormonal levels in blood and other body fluids, or the activities that aim to correct levels of hormone in the body including the side effects of a certain hormone being administered. To suffice it up, BHRT is the entire process of diagnosing the hormonal imbalance, prescribing of the right hormone to address deficit, administering the hormone correctly and the supervision of the side and adverse effects of the therapy.
Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy or BHRT is often used but not limited for female clients who are already in the menopause stage. The purpose is to prevent hormonal imbalance as a result of the depletion or total lost of hormones from inadequacy or complete halt of the functions of the ovaries. Hormones affected by menopause are estrogens and progesterone. Because progesterone is also a precursor of estrogen, progesterone is often replaced in the therapy to prevent a cascade of hormonal imbalance that could mean the rise of many other conditions.
Many conditions are being addressed by bioidentical hormone replacement therapy while bringing comforts in the following way: maintenance of the secretory endometrium, protection against fibrocystic breasts, facilitates utilization of fat for energy, acting as natural diuretic, mood enhancer, promotes thyroid hormone action, normalize blood clotting, blood sugar levels, and zinc and copper levels. Other effects are preventing breast cancer by regulating and counteracting the effects of estrogen, prevention of osteoporosis by simulating osteoblastic activities for bone building, modulation of other hormones to recreate balance, restores sex drive, and promotion of sleep. Hormone therapy with estrogen is also found out to have protective effect on the brain tissue thus, preventing neuro damage when administer shortly after a traumatic brain injury.
Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy is not only for a woman whoâ??s menopause but to individuals as well who have acute or chronic conditions that requires hormone replacement. It usually happens on cases when one endocrine or exocrine organ is removed resulting to permanent loss of organ function including the production or storage of hormones. Before engaging into this therapy you must first submit yourself into a physicianâ??s check up to run through some laboratory checks if you are fit enough or identify if thereâ??d be any conditions you have contraindicated for the therapy.


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Benefits of Natural Progesterone

  By | September 12, 2011 - 7:39 pm | Articles
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Our body in order to sustain life and healthy being is carried by a number of organ and system functions. These functions must also be performed and sustained moderately to maintain balance and optimum behavior. This job of regulating body processes is controlled by chemicals called hormone. Hormones are released by cells or glands in one part of the body that carry out messages to affect cells in other parts of the organism. Hormones are so powerful that only a small amount of it is required to alter cell functioning. Our body produces a number of active hormones and one of which is natural progesterone. What is it and what are the benefits of natural progesterone?
Like other major body hormones, there are a number of significant tasks carried out by progesterone. Progesterone is present both in male and female and performs different activities in the body, but its primal role in maintaining pregnancy made it known as the hormone of pregnancy although it is also present in ovulating but non-conceiving women. Generally this hormone has well established functions in the female menstrual cycle, pregnancy and embryonic development of humans and other species. The benefits of natural progesterone being produced in the body especially in women makes this hormone essential in keeping a good health, and when it secretion halts, there may be some need for hormonal replacement therapy.
Although progesterone is not directly involved in the development of secondary sex characteristics, it is a precursor of androstenedione which can be converted to testosterone, estrone and estradiol, the ones straightly causing the sex characteristics. Therefore, progesterone being a precursor to more hormones has an enormous role to play. The following are benefits of progesterone: protects against fibrocystic breasts diseases, helps utilize fat for energy, a natural diuretic, natural anti-depressant, facilitates thyroid hormone action, normalizes blood clotting, blood sugar levels, blood zinc and copper levels, restores sex drive and proper cell oxygen levels, prevents uterine cancer, signals osteoblast for bone building, restores normal vascular tone, needed for embryo survival, modulates other hormones helping to restore balance, and promotes sleep.
Certainly the long list of benefits of progesterone in the body defines its importance and also suggests of what can possibly happen if it depletes and halts in production in time. The major producer of progesterone in women is the ovaries and the placenta when a woman is pregnant, but it stops when a woman begins to menopause. This is the time when women would need hormone replacement therapy to continue supplying the body with progesterone and keep a healthy functioning despite age and menopausal.


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What Your Doctor Won’t Tell You About Menopause Incontinence

  By | February 7, 2011 - 5:24 am | Articles
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Few symptoms of menopause interfere with normal day-to-day living the way a weak bladder can. To make matters worse, it’s not as easy to talk about with your girlfriends or even your doctor as say, hot flashes or weight gain. While around 35% of women over 60 experience this problem, it’s almost always treatable.

What is incontinence exactly?

There are several different forms of incontinence. The most common form during menopause is known as stress incontinence. A weak bladder leaks urine when you cough, sneeze or lift something heavy. The somewhat less common type is urge incontinence, which causes an overall bladder control problem and leads to frequent urination

The causes of menopause incontinence

During menopause, as estrogen levels decrease, the lining of the urethra (the tube that takes urine outside the body) becomes thinner. This, combined with pelvic floor muscles weakened due to age or previous childbirth, can lead to a weak bladder. Another cause often associated with age, although not connected to menopause, is nerve damage from diabetes or a stroke. A weak bladder can also be a sign of a urinary tract or vaginal infection.

Treatment of a weak bladder

Since stress incontinence is by far the most common type of weak bladder that occurs at menopause, the most effect treatment is simply to strengthen the pelvic muscles. You’ve probably heard of using Kegel exercises to strengthen the vaginal walls, but did you know they strengthed the pelvic floor muscles, too? These exercise require nothing more than repeatedly squeezing the pelvic floor muscles and can be done anywhere without anyone knowing you’re doing them. If these exercises alone aren’t enough, there are special cones and balls that can be inserted to help you re-train your pelvic floor muscles.

Although there isn’t much in the way of herbal remedies for a weak bladder, one plant that does seem to work to strengthen the urinary tract is horsetail (Equisetum arvense). It’s both an astringent and a diuretic and works to flush irritating toxins out of the urinary system. Saw palmetto and pumpkin seed also seem to help, as does eating yogurt with active cultures.

Estrogen replacement therapy is another approach to consider. Although it’s yet to be approved for treating a weak bladder during menopause, preliminary studies do indicate that hormone replacement therapy can help with menopause-related incontinence problems. It makes sense, after all, since the pelvic floor muscles are sensitive to estrogen and progesterone. Again, though, because this treatment hasn’t been fully approved for incontinence, talk with your doctor before starting any self-treatment beyond natural hormone creams.

For serious cases of incontinence, medications may be prescribed. These include urinary tract support medication such as tolterodine (Detrol) and duloxetine (Cymbalta).

A weak bladder during menopause is one of the most common problem women going through the change of life face. That doesn’t mean your doomed to spend your days within dashing distance of the bathroom, though. Kegel exercises, natural treatments, and in some cases hormone replacement therapy can all help solve this uncomfortable problem.


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The Truth About Mood Swings During Menopause

  By | February 6, 2011 - 5:40 pm | Articles
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Menopause and mood swings go hand-in-hand for around 45% of woman, many of whom consider the emotional rollercoaster ride to be one of the most annoying symptoms of menopause. Whether you’ve been feeling depressed or anxious or you’re sad one minute and happy the next, understand that there is a reason for your unpredictable moods and there are ways to get back to your old self.

The causes of mood swings: hormone imbalance

While there’s no clear medical explanation for how hormones affect mood, it’s clear that they do have a profound impact on the way we feel from one day to the next and even one moment to the next. What’s known is that estrogen, testosterone, and androgen stimulate the nervous system, while cortisol and progesterone have a depressant effect.

When levels of stimulating hormones fall, you’re left with a relative excess of calming hormones which can have an overall depressive effect on your mood. These hormones also control your level of serotonin, the chemical that directly controls you mood. When hormones alter your brain’s level of this chemical, you’re mood is bound to get out of whack.

Menopause and depression

While a fall in estrogen and testosterone are partly to blame for feelings of depression, they’re not the whole story. Sometimes simple exhaustion can leave you with an usually low mood. Let’s face it, going through menopause can wear you out. The hot flashes, the sleeping problems and even stress from physical changes like irregular periods, weight gain, and hair loss. Even on a good day, this kind of stress can leave you irritable, but combine that with hormone fluctuations and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.

How to control mood swings

If you’re suffering from menopause insomnia, you’re first step in alleviating mood swings should be to find ways to sleep better at night. Being exhausted naturally leads to anxiety, irritability, and depression.

If you’re sleeping all right and suspect your mood swings may be coming more from stress and hormones, try to carve out a little “you time” to refresh your mind and spirit. It doesn’t have to be a week-long get-away; even 15 minutes of meditation a day can help.

Your everyday activities also play a role. If you’re feeling over-extended and stressed out, try to take some time to do something you enjoy, even if it’s just going for a walk in the park. Half an hour of exercise each day can also help stabilize your mood.

For serious mood swings, doctors sometimes recommend low-dose oral contraceptives because they keep your hormone levels stable, which in turn keeps your mood stable.

Natural treatments for menopause mood swings

There are also certain vitamins and herbs that can also help stabilize your mood. The B complex vitamins are particularly important because they keep your nervous system healthy. They also affect levels of the neurotransmitters that control your mood. Vitamin B6, for example, is essential for converting tryptophan to serotonin. For herbal treatment for mood swings during menopause, look into St. John’s work, kava kava and hops.

Many women accept menopause mood swings as a natural part of going through the change of life, but in reality there’s a lot you can do to keep your mood stable during this time. For some women the solution may be as simple as doing a little yoga every day, while others may benefit more from hormone replacement therapy.


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What Are Your Natural Menopause Relief Options?

  By | February 6, 2011 - 2:46 pm | Articles
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Many women are wary of hormone replacement therapy when treating menopause and are looking for natural relief. The purpose of this article is to look at your natural treatment options for treating menopause and its associated symptoms. Natural relief options for menopause include:

Flax Seed- Flax seed is an extremely popular treatment for hot flashes.

Exercise and Massage- Stress and weight gain are common symptoms associated with menopause and, as such, exercise and weight gain are great natural relief options. Exercise can help keep your weight down whilst also helping to reduce stress, and massage can help treat sore muscles often associated with menopause and reduce stress.

Herbal Treatments- In an effort to combat symptoms, herbal treatments are commonly prescribed with naturopaths and herbalists. They can also help to counteract any vitamin, mineral and hormonal imbalances within the body.

Phytoestrogen treatments- Phytoestrogen, a naturally occurring compound within plants, is also a commonly used natural menopause relief option. The reason that phytoestrogen is used is because it has a similar genetic make up to the naturally occurring estrogen hormone.

Progesterone Cream- In recent times, treatment with progesterone cream is becoming more and more popular. Progesterone is not only a sex hormone, but it is thought that progesterone production lessens as a woman goes through menopause. Other studies have suggested that a variety of menopausal symptoms can happen as a result of an imbalance in the ratio of progesterone to estrogen.

If you are concerned about taking hormone replacement therapy treatment for menopause because of horror stories that you have heard, you need not be too concerned. There are a variety of natural menopause relief options available. If you are looking at your options, you could look at one or more of the treatment options mentioned above.


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Is There A Safe And Effective Cure For Hot Flashes?

  By | February 6, 2011 - 12:09 pm | Articles
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Is There A Safe And Effective Cure For Hot Flashes?

If you’re a woman and you’re in menopause, then it almost goes without saying that you’ve suffered from hot flashes at one time or another. Hot flashes affect 75-85% of all women in menopause to varying degrees. It is not completely understood exactly what causes them, but most agree that it is due to hormonal imbalances caused by changes in the level of estrogen. Because they can be so uncomfortable and disruptive, most women are searching for a safe cure for hot flashes.

Some of the earliest symptoms of menopause are hot flashes, abnormal menstrual bleeding, and mood swings. Hot flashes and night sweats often result in sleep problems and insomnia, which can lead to anxiety and depression. Women in menopause quite often also experience heart palpitations, vaginal dryness, weight gain, loss of libido, and urinary changes. Some women float through menopause with few symptoms, but for most of us it’s a different story. Is it any wonder that searching for a safe and effective cure for hot flashes can be such a priority?

Since the imbalance is caused by falling estrogen levels, it makes sense that estrogen itself is the most effective treatment for hot flashes. That’s why for so many years Estrogen Replacement Therapy (ERT) – also known as Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) – has been the primary cure for hot flashes. In fact, it generally results in an 80 to 90% reduction in hot flashes and other symptoms.

The peak age for hot flashes is the early 50′s, but many women start getting them in their 40′s. There is also a growing number of women who have undergone breast cancer treatment who suffer from hot flashes as well. Estrogen is the most prescribed medication to cure hot flashes, often as a pill or a skin patch. Generally, the amount of estrogen it takes to reduce hot flashes and other symptoms is less than the amount needed for normal menstrual periods. In recent years, doctors have prescribed much lower dosages than in the past.

Unfortunately, very recent studies have made it very clear that hormone replacement can increase the risk of breast cancer, uterine cancer, and strokes. That means the hot flash cure can be worse then just coping with the symptoms. This has led increasing numbers of women to search for a more natural cure for hot flashes.

Breast cancer survivors don’t even have the option of using estrogen as a cure for hot flashes. The concern is that taking estrogen would cause the reappearance and further growth of breast cancer cells. Hot flashes then become a routine occurence in women undergoing breast cancer treatment. Many of these women have severe hot flashes.

Fortunately, there are natural remedies and strategies that can lessen the effects of hot flashes and other symptoms. Many women have turned to herbal remedies that include black cohosh, soy, and vitamin E. They have found these natural remedies to be an effective part of their search of a cure for hot flashes. Lifestyle and dietary changes also play a part. Foods and beverages that often increase hot flashes are alcohol, caffeine, and hot, spicy foods. Removing them from the diet can improve your symptoms. Increasing physical activity will also help.

In summary, hot flashes are the most common symptom faced by women going through menopause. They are caused by changing levels of hormones, especially of estrogen. Hormone Replacement Therapy is still the most prescribed cure for hot flashes. However, women are increasingly investigating natural remedies due to the increase in breast cancer, uterine cancer, and stroke risk associated with HRT. Fortunately, they don’t last forever. For most women, they will decrease in intensity and frequency. It’s only a matter of time.

Discover how YOU can stop your hot flashes and menopausal symptoms without HRT. Pick up your free special report ”Coping with Hot Flashes the Natural Way” by clicking here: http://www.survivemenopause.com


Article from articlesbase.com

www.healthymenopauseremedies.com There’s plenty you can to reduce hot flashes and other menopause symptoms, but it will help a lot if you can fully understand what causes hot flashes in the first place. This will also help you decide on what, if any, menopause treatments you may want to look into.
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The Best Alternative Menopause Treatment Options For You

  By | February 6, 2011 - 12:51 am | Articles
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If you are looking at your options for menopause treatment, then you are probably lucky that you are going through menopause today. No longer will you be told that the symptoms are all “in your head” and that you should just “deal with it”. Menopause is talked about and acknowledged and specialists are studying a variety of treatment options to treat menopause and its associated symptoms.

There is a lot of conflicting evidence out there and it can be tough to work out what is factual and what is not when looking at treatment options. Many women are also looking for natural remedy options as they are concerned about the effects associated with hormone replacement therapy. Below you will find some information on menopause treatments.

One popular natural treatment is through the use of phytoestrogens. These are naturally occurring compounds in plants and the reason that they are often used for the treatment of menopause is that they have a very similar make up to the female sex hormone estrogen.

Herbal treatments for menopause are also extremely popular. Herbal treatments are commonly prescribed by naturopaths and herbal specialists as a treatment for the symptoms associated with menopause, whilst not necessarily attacking the causes of menopause itself.

Another popular treatment of menopause is the use of progesterone creams. Progesterone is another naturally occurring hormone in the female body and many studies have suggested that correcting progesterone imbalances can help alleviate menopause. Progesterone cream is often used in conjunction with a variety of other treatments such as estrogen treatments

If you are looking at your options in regards to menopause treatments, then researching the variety of treatments available is important. You may try one of these treatment options or a combination. If you have concerns, I would recommend you go and see a specialist.


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Menopause : Health A–Z Resources and Publications
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Premature ovarian failure - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia


How Natural Progesterone Can Be Used Instead of HRT?

  By | February 5, 2011 - 7:43 pm | Articles
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Many women are wondering if there really is a viable, effective natural alternative to HRT or Hormone Replacement Therapy. Hormone Replacement Therapy is a synthetic form of therapy (unnatural) which whilst may be somewhat effective in treating symptoms of menopause, unfortunately produces a number of potentially very serious short and long term side effects.

These side effects and illnesses can include:

Increased chance of getting high blood pressure and a hardening of the arteries. More risk of blood clots Heightened chance of a heart attack Increased risk of stroke Negative effect on the metabolism of blood-sugar. Greater risk of liver and gall bladder disease Increased incidence of various cancers including liver, lung, cervix, ovarian and breast cancers.

Obviously, many women feel it is not worth the underlying risk to undergo Hormone Replacement Therapy. Studies have also proven that women are indeed at increased risk of the above diseases when they are on HRT. It needs to be supplemented when estrogen dominance occurs. Progesterone has a major effect on the body and when progesterone levels drop, the body does react quite strongly. Estrogen dominance occurs when a woman’s body has too much estrogen and very little or even no progesterone to even it out.

Problems that occur when there is very little progesterone in the body compared to estrogen include symptoms of PMS, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, weight gain, thyroid dysfunction and in some cases, cancer. This can actually occur in both men and women.

Women who use natural progesterone to correct the hormonal imbalance report a remarkable turnaround in their health. A cream such as NatPro is very simple to use (it is applied topically to the skin) and is totally safe and without the risks of Hormone Replacement Therapy. Most people do not realize the health problems which can occur when the levels have dropped significantly. It is a fact that using progesterone supplementation can improve period regulation and can even trigger ovulation.

Natural progesterone should not be used if you are on the contraceptive pill. In fact, it would be a waste of time as they would be competing with each other. Other side effects of HRT which do not occur with the use of natural progesterone include: Moodiness Weight gain Loss of libido Depression Emotional Disorders Psychological disorders. It as even been known to increase the moods of women, leading it to be called the “happy hormone”! If you have been on HRT for a while then going “cold turkey” will usually trigger quite distressing side effects. This is because the body is used to high levels of estrogen so when a change occurs, many symptoms do as well.

For this reason it is then recommended that you gradually reduce your use of HRT, as advised by a doctor. It is then that you can begin to introduce progesterone back into the body. It is a 100% natural progesterone cream which is a proven effective treatment for menopause, PMS and other hormonal complications.


Other sites that may interest you

The Menopausal Patient And Hormone Replacement Therapy
Category:Menopause - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
Menopause - Cedars-Sinai