Hormone rejuvenation with homeopathy: Maria Francesca Parrino, Ph.D. explores an innovative alternative to hormone replacement therapy (HRT). (Women's Health).

RECENT HORMONE STUDY TURNS WOMEN'S WORLD UPSIDE DOWN!

Seventy million American women are in menopause right now. An estimated 6-8 million women take estrogen plus progestin hormone replacement therapy (HRT). There are $1,000,000.00 a year in sales of HRT. A study released by the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that 60-70 million prescriptions of HRT were filled in 2001. About 17 million women in the United States take hormones. This is big business. Pharmaceutical direct-to-consumer advertising and drug company physician enticements can influence how your doctor prescribes medications.

On July 9, 2002, national news headlines cautioned women against using hormone replacement therapy (HRT) because of the increased risk of serious health problems. This could well be the most adverse news of the century affecting women's health. The federally funded 2002 Women's Health Initiative Study that was scheduled for 8.5 years was aborted after 5.2 years. The reason? "Because we had evidence that overall, the risks outweighed and outnumbered its benefits," says Ross Prentice, a biostatistician who is a co-author of the study and principal investigator of its clinical coordinating center, where data from the study's 40 centers wag collected and analyzed.

The results cited fears of increased risks of blood clots, stroke, breast cancer and gallbladder disease. Statistics revealed 29% had more heart attacks, 26% more cases of breast cancer, 41% more strokes and 112% more blood clots to the lungs. The federal government immediately sent a letter to the participants of the study and their doctors advising them to stop the drugs.

Eleven years ago Public Citizen's Health Research Group published the book, "Women's Health Alert." The largest chapter was on hormone replacement therapy (HRT). By then, the evidence was clear that these drugs caused cancer, very serious doubts had been raised about their ability to protect against heart disease and alternative, safer drugs had been developed for osteoporosis. The first sentence in this chapter began:

"Female replacement hormones may someday be remembered as the most recklessly prescribed and dangerous drugs of this century."

Dr. Michael Silverstein stated, "To be very honest with you, physicians are in a real quandary. Most of us who've trained in the last 10 to 20 years were trained that HRT was good for women, and everyday, you open up the newspaper, and there's more bad press on HRT and it's heartbreaking." Dr. Vivian Pinn, who heads the office of Women's Health for the National Institutes of Health, says the confusion is inevitable because there were not definitive studies before and now the results are finally in. So what are the risks? Estrogen alone--Premarin is the most popular brand--definitely increases risk for uterine and ovarian cancer. Experts say it should only be taken by women who have had their uterus removed. Would those experts make the same statement if they were talking about men? Risk is risk.

The drug estrogen is derived from pregnant horse urine. Even the manufacturers of estrogen report in medical journals that post-menopausal women who use estrogen run up to a 15 times greater risk of developing uterine and breast cancers, not to mention liver disease and numerous other illnesses.

A combination of estrogen and progestin-Prempro--was formulated because taking estrogen alone was shown to increase the risk of uterine cancer. It was supposed to eliminate the danger of uterine cancer. But the latest research reveals it increases risk for breast cancer, stroke, blood clots, gallbladder and heart disease.

WHAT IS THE ANSWER?

Fortunately, a variety of more natural approaches and treatments for hormone regulation exist, each with different levels of effectiveness. Among these options is an interesting approach pioneered by Dr. Theresa Dale, N,D., Ph.D. who claims that this method works for men, as well. She uses homeopathics to rejuvenate and stimulate the production of natural hormones in the human body, combining twenty-first century technology with the ancient wisdom of Chinese Medicine. Her system incorporates the saliva testing, hormonal homeopathics, neuro-emotional homeopathics, and nutritional and dietary modifications.

The Five Element Body Clock of Chinese Medicine has been used :for centuries to correlate accurately the Elements (fire, water, wood, metal, earth) with organ and endocrine functions to specific peak times of the day and evening. "The Five Element Theory is a key to identifying the core energy pattern that anchors a disease and causes blocked meridians and thus blocked hormones and neurotransmitters," says Dale.

This treatment is in direct contrast to the conventional allopathic medical approach that uses, in most instances, one synthetically derived hormone to artificially replace a specific hormone deficiency. Synthetic and U.S.P. hormone replacement is not the best way to balance hormone deficiencies because anytime you're replacing hormones in the body, the organs naturally try to compensate and slow down or stop the production of their own hormones. This oftentimes occurs because the body is pushed over the threshold into excess and consequently creates an imbalance in the ratios of hormones with one another. There is also a toxicity factor involved with oral hormones because they are synthetic chemicals and must be processed through the liver. Some topical gels or creams may also be toxic because they contain methyl- or poly-paraben which is a petrochemical.

Symptoms that have been reported by women using synthetic HRT are: vaginal bleeding, abnormal blood clotting, gallbladder disease, pancreatitis, liver problems, headaches, depression, dizziness, pulmonary problems, nausea, vomiting, cramps, jaundice, weight changes, loss of libido and edema. Natural HRT usually relies on wild yam or soy derived progesterone and cofactors applied via a topical skin cream. Two areas of concerns with synthetic creams are that: (1) the quality control of over-the-counter products (and their effectiveness) have been questioned, and (2) they deposit and store in the fatty tissues thus not providing for total bioavailability in the body.

Although natural hormone replacement is many times safer and can be more effective than synthetic HRT, natural bioidentical hormone preparations are still synthesized from natural substances. The body knows the difference between a wild yam and something synthesized from a wild yam. The Homeopathic approach uses remedies made up of substances intended to support the body self-healing abilities. Minute amounts of these healing substances cannot act to replace the body's hormones but instead serve as catalysts (agents) that, in effect, kick-start the body's own appropriate production of hormones.

Men also experience significant health changes when testosterone and adrenal hormones decrease with age. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH) one in five men over the age of forty suffer some form of erectile dysfunction. Research indicates that almost all men over the age of fifty will suffer from prostatitis. This is an obvious symptom of male menopause, but, as with women, non-obvious symptoms can also be occurring and leading to more serious dysfunctions.

IT'S TIME FOR CHANGE

In 1987, 17% of American women took synthetic hormones. In 1992 this number increased to 25%. Today there are approximately 70 million women that are candidates for hormone rejuvenation. Women are seeking alternative solutions that are safer than HRT, especially with the results of the recent study on HRT. It's time to shift our thinking from hormone replacement to rejuvenation and have faith in the body's own healing abilities. Homeopathic treatment for hormone-related health problems could be the answer for which many women--and men--have been looking.

Maria Francesca Parrino is a Nutritional and Environmental Consultant. For further information on Hormone Rejuvenation Therapy contact Health By Choice at 877-819-5976, or e-mail: [e-mail]

Reference material:

MSNBC News, Washington Post, Seattle Times, Women's Health Alert, published by Public Citizen's Health Research Group, www.worstpills.org, www.Public Citizens Health Research Group.com