30 Jan Why to Consider Bioidentical Hormone Treatment For Optimal Health
Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) offers an array of clinically proven health benefits for patients who have diagnosed hormone deficiencies.
Simple and fast blood tests will show if a patient has suboptimal levels of testosterone (for men) or estrogen or progesterone (for women).
Low testosterone and low estrogen levels, respectively, are common deficiencies that impact millions of men and millions of women in the US.
Men lose about 1% of their testosterone supply each year.
Women experience dramatic drop-offs in estrogen and progesterone levels during menopause and postmenopause when their ovaries stop releasing eggs:
The human body contains sex hormone receptor sites in organs throughout the body, which have important health implications that go well beyond sexual health.
Interacting with these receptor sites located throughout the body, BHRT treats, reverses, and prevents age-related hormone imbalances and produces potentially dramatic health turnarounds in affected patients.
Here are some of the most significant, proven health benefits resulting from bioidentical hormone treatment. Al of these claims are backed by hard science; click the links to follow them to reputable clinical resources.
BHRT for improved heart health
Cardiovascular disease is the #1 killer in the United States and across the developed world. Many factors contribute to poor heart health in aging patients, including suboptimal hormone levels.
Studies show that, for women with estrogen deficiencies, “there is a wealth of biological evidence that estrogen has a beneficial effect, supporting a large body of epidemiological evidence demonstrating reduction in coronary events with HRT.”
Generally speaking, the earlier patients begin hormone therapy, the better the cardiovascular outcome: “The use of HRT has the potential to be more beneficial in the prevention of CVD if started in women at younger ages.”
Men are even more likely than women to die from cardiovascular disease. There is now conclusive evidence that low testosterone in men correlates strongly to the risk of fatal cardiovascular outcomes:
“It has now been demonstrated in several large longitudinal cohort studies of men with and without coronary disease that low baseline testosterone is a significant risk marker of increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.”
The bottom line: utilizing BHRT to bring your hormones back into the optimal range markedly improves heart health markers.
BHRT for fat loss
The sex hormones regulate body composition (fat distribution) and metabolism.
BHRT for women is seen to reduce weight and fat mass:
“HRT seems to be associated with a significant reduction in postmenopausal weight and fat mass gains. This may be an important mechanism by which HRT exerts its beneficial long-term effects on cardiovascular health.”
Likewise, in overweight men, BHRT with testosterone “produces sustained and significant weight loss.”
BHRT for improved libido and sexual performance
The sex hormones, as their names suggest, are responsible for regulating sexual desire and performance.
Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) increases the strength and durability of men’s erections as well as boosts their libido.
The clinical literature indicates that estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) for women reduces the incidence of hot flashes, alleviates vaginal dryness, and increases libido.
BHRT for improved cognition and brain health
We all know that the risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia increases with age.
In one meta-analysis of the clinical literature vis a vis hormone therapy and mental health, researchers found that therapy reduced both the cognitive impairments associated with aging as well as the risk of dementia:
“In women with menopausal symptoms, HRT may have specific cognitive effects, and future studies should target these effects. The meta-analysis found a decreased risk of dementia in HRT.”
BHRT for enhanced immune system function
The sex hormones exert important modifying effects on the immune system.
Without optimal levels, immune function suffers and patients are exposed to greater risk of autoimmune disease and unhealthy immune responses to pathogens such as COVID-19.
If you have a testosterone or estrogen deficiency, optimizing your levels through therapy is an essential part of any immune-fortifying strategy.
BHRT for more youthful skin, hair, and nails
If you’ve ever wondered what causes skin to wrinkle, sag, and lose its luster over time, hormones — and imbalances thereof — play a huge role.
BHRT has been clinically shown to improve the texture and appearance of skin, hair and nails:
“Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has been shown to increase epidermal hydration, skin elasticity, skin thickness, and also reduces skin wrinkles, Furthermore, the content and quality of collagen and the level of vascularization is enhanced.”
BHRT for greater lean muscle mass
Age-related decline in muscle mass associated with hormone disruption is called “sarcopenia“:
“An age related, involuntary loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength. Beginning as early as the 4th decade of life, evidence suggests that skeletal muscle mass and skeletal muscle strength decline in a linear fashion, with up to 50% of mass being lost by the 8th decade of life.”
Multiple studies have shown that older men and women with hormone deficiencies treated with exogenous hormones benefit from increased muscle mass:
“Prolonged use of [hormone therapy] was associated with high muscle mass and a low prevalence of sarcopenia in postmenopausal women.”
Contact Dr. Moma to learn more about the health benefits of bioidentical hormone treatment
To learn more about the wide-ranging benefits of BHRT or to schedule your personal one-on-one appointment to discuss how it might revolutionize your own health, please contact Dr. Sylvienash Moma, DNP.
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