|
|
||||
 |
As people age, their hormone levels decrease, starting in their twenties and thirties. Toxins and other insults from the environment and food supply are suspected to cause many people to have hormonal imbalances. Bioidentical hormones are hormones that are identical to those that the body manufactures on its own. Some are available through regular retail pharmacies. Others are available through compounding pharmacies. The main advantages are that bio-identical hormones are very well tolerated and that they have no side effects when they are properly dosed and integrated in a holistic treatment plan. This is in stark contrast to non-bioidentical hormones, such as Premarin®, PremPro®, and Provera®, that most physicians prescribe. These hormones have many known side effects, in many cases even at the "recommended dosage levels." Most people do not realize that treatment with non-bioidentical hormones cannot be monitored properly because physicians and laboratories do not offer testing for drugs like Premarin®, PremPro®, and Provera®. When I first started helping my patients with bioidentical hormone replacement therapy I used non-rhythmic, statically dosed protocols. What this meant in the context of replacement of estrogens and progesterone was that I used the same dosages of transdermal estradiol (without or without estriol and estrone) and progesterone for specified number of days in a 28- to 30-day cycle. In February 2007 I started treating patients with the Wiley Protocol®. The Wiley Protocol® is different in that the dosing of estradiol and progesterone is not static. Instead, the dosages of estradiol and progesterone change cyclically. As a result the levels of estradiol and progesterone are low on day 1 of the cycle. Estradiol levels rise gradually during the follicular phase, peak on day 12, and drop abruptly on day 13. Then progesterone levels start rising on day 14, peak on day 21, and finally decrease gradually over the next 7 days. This is exactly what happens in the bodies of healthy young women when they have regular menstrual cycles. My patients have responded very well to the Wiley Protocol®, especially in cases where they did not to other types of hormone replacement therapy. The main reasons that patients have responded so well is that I carefully monitor my patients' signs and symptoms and hormone levels on day 12 and day 21 of the menstrual cycle. To find out more about the Wiley Protocol I recommend the following resources:
Often patients are deficient in other hormones, such as thyroid hormone, testosterone, cortisol, DHEA, and growth hormone. I offer bioidentical therapies for these hormonal imbalances as well. |
|
|
© 2007 Fred Bloem, M.D. |