Bio identical hormone therapy involves using hormones that have an identical molecular structure to those found naturally in the human body. This helps alleviate symptoms related to hormonal imbalance or decline. Common bio identical hormones used include estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). These hormones are precisely matched to human hormones and can bind receptors, mimicking naturally produced hormones' functions.
The goal is to restore optimal hormonal balance, reduce symptoms, promote better health, and help patients feel their best. Treatment is tailored to the patient's individual hormonal needs and levels based on symptoms and blood tests.
Hormones play a vital role in essential body functions and processes, including:
When hormone production declines or becomes unbalanced, various symptoms and health problems can occur, such as hot flashes, unexplained weight gain, low libido, fatigue, insomnia, loss of muscle mass, mood changes, reduced mental clarity, anxiety, or depression.
Restoring hormonal balance with bio identical hormone therapy can effectively eliminate these symptoms and promote better long-term health.
Bio identical hormone therapy may be suitable for men and women whose lab tests show declining or unbalanced hormone levels corresponding with troubling symptoms.
Common candidates include women going through perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause experiencing hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, and other symptoms associated with dropping estrogen levels.
Likewise, aging men facing symptoms like loss of muscle and lean muscle mass, increased body fat, low libido, fatigue, poor concentration, depression, or irritability may be dealing with dropping testosterone levels.
Others who may benefit include patients who have undergone cancer treatment, surgery, or have conditions affecting hormone health like endometriosis, PCOS, thyroid issues, and more. Those recovering from major illnesses or injuries may also be candidates.
Always consult with a qualified hormone health practitioner to determine if bio identical hormones are appropriate for your unique needs. They can check hormone levels to assess your situation.
Correcting unbalanced hormones with customized bio identical hormone therapy offers many potential benefits, including:
Results vary based on each patient's physiology and needs. Most report significant improvement in multiple facets of daily living, health, and well-being on the proper protocol.
Working with an experienced hormone health practitioner is imperative to determine if hormone therapy is warranted and to tailor solutions to your specific needs.
Accurately assessing hormone levels involves checking levels of key hormones like estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and DHEA via blood, saliva, or urine tests.
Saliva testing is the preferred method by leading functional and anti-aging medical doctors because saliva hormone readings provide an accurate snapshot of the bio available hormones circulating through tissues and cells.
Test results will be carefully evaluated along with family history, symptoms, health goals, and other factors to determine the best course of treatment. Testing key hormones multiple times throughout therapy allows for continual optimization of dosages and treatment plans.
The expert physicians at Harmony MD specialize in advanced hormone restoration and optimization therapies tailored specifically to help patients achieve ideal hormonal balance.
Our personalized solutions address your unique physiology, lifestyle, and health goals using:
We partner with each patient to track progress and provide ongoing support to continually optimize hormone health during each phase of life's journey.
Many symptoms that prompt patients to seek hormone therapy, like fatigue, diminished sex drive, weight gain, anxiety, or insomnia, can have various underlying causes.
It is important NOT to assume symptoms are due to hormone imbalance without accurate medical testing.
Blood tests checking key hormones, along with an evaluation of risk factors and family history, can help determine whether hormone decline or imbalance is implicated.
Diagnostic testing capabilities have progressed considerably, providing more definitive data to properly direct treatment plans, including:
Based on results, multiple treatment options may be considered beyond hormone therapy, including diet, exercise, stress reduction, supplements, or other interventions to help resolve symptoms. Accurate diagnosis is vital.
Always seek out highly experienced functional or integrative medicine doctors specializing in hormone health for testing. Beware of centers promoting treatment without thorough diagnostic hormone assessment, which is neither safe nor ethical.
| Common Symptoms | Possible Underlying Causes |
|---|---|
| Fatigue | Hormone imbalance |
| Weight gain | Poor diet |
| Loss of libido | High stress |
| Anxiety | Thyroid dysfunction |
| Hot flashes | Medication side effects |
As shown above, symptoms potentially pointing to hormone imbalance can be resultant of other root causes. Careful differential diagnosis is key.
Not all doctors are equal when it comes to advanced hormone testing and restoration therapies.
Seeking out a highly qualified practitioner is as important as the treatments themselves when optimizing hormone health.
Characteristics to look for include:
Be wary of questionable centers making outlandish claims or guaranteeing results. Reputable practitioners will be happy to provide references upon request.
Harmony MD physicians have unmatched expertise in precision hormone therapies to help patients achieve healthy hormonal balance for improved wellbeing.
The process of beginning hormone therapy, sometimes called hormone replacement therapy (HRT), will vary based on individual needs but generally involves:
Testing - Blood, saliva or urine tests to accurately check baseline hormone levels of key hormones affected by aging like estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, thyroid and more. Testing provides objective data to direct customized treatment plans. Follow-up testing monitors progress.
Medical History Review - Doctors gather information on symptoms, family history, illnesses, surgeries, and medications to understand the complete health picture. Certain factors can influence hormone balance.
Discuss Health Goals - Understanding lifestyle goals, activity levels and expectations provides helpful perspective for developing optimal, realistic treatment plans.
Prescribing Bio Identical Hormones - Bio identical hormones precisely matched to human hormones are generally prescribed vs synthetic versions with potential side effects. Estrogens, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA may be prescribed singly or in combination based on patient needs.
Determining Delivery Methods - Hormones can be taken orally, sublingually, via ointments/gels, pellets, patches, injections or suppositories based on factors like convenience, efficiency, safety or cost. The method providing stable dosing over time is ideal for many.
Follow-up & Adjustments - Progress follow-ups assess treatment effectiveness based on symptom improvements and follow-up blood or saliva testing. Dosages are adjusted accordingly to continually optimize hormone levels.
While therapists have extensive experience restoring hormones, the process is individualized. Tracked parameters allow them to adjust therapy over time for optimal benefits.
| Delivery Method | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Oral tablets | Convenient | Liver metabolism |
| Creams / gels | Steady absorption | Possible skin reaction |
| Injections | Direct to bloodstream | Frequency needed |
| Sublingual | Fast absorption | Short duration |
| Pellets | Long, steady release | Minor surgical process |
Doctors can advise which method may be most appropriate considering patient factors like lifestyle, sensitivity, safety, and convenience.
Ideally, hormone therapy is continued as long as needed to alleviate troubling menopause, andropause, or other symptoms related to hormone decline and keep levels balanced.
For many women, that may mean sustaining estrogen/progesterone therapy throughout the entire 5-15 year peri-menopause and post-menopause transition process as the body's remaining ovarian reserves continue fading.
Likewise, many men choose to continue testosterone therapy long-term due to its health protective benefits, including supporting metabolism, sexual health, muscle retention, and cardiovascular function.
Structured interruptions of therapy are sometimes implemented after the first few years to see if the body may have regained the ability to produce more stable levels of hormones on its own.
This possibility is higher for those implementing comprehensive nutrition, fitness, and stress-lowering protocols - essentially supporting hormonal balance from multiple dimensions. Lifestyle factors hold powerful influence on hormonal health. For others, sustained therapy remains most appropriate to control symptoms through later life.
Harmony MD physicians help patients continually weigh options to determine what is optimal long-term based on regular reassessment of hormone levels, symptoms, safety, health goals, age, activity levels, and more. The duration should be a joint decision between patient and doctor based on these tracked parameters.
Hormone therapy focused strictly on replacing declining hormones can alleviate many undesirable symptoms.
However, integrating key lifestyle measures magnifies the benefits by supporting the body's innate hormone balancing mechanisms.
Nutrition - Choosing a whole foods diet high in healthy fats, clean proteins, fiber and phytonutrients gives the body what it needs for optimized hormone synthesis while avoiding hormone-disrupting pesticides, plastics and chemicals.
Stress Reduction practices like meditation, yoga and deep breathing engage the parasympathetic nervous system, triggering broad beneficial effects, including normalized cortisol levels and favorable metabolic hormonal balance.
Fitness Training tones musculoskeletal structures, burns fat, builds confidence and stimulates hormones that leave patients feeling more energized, youthful and in tune with their revitalized physical self.
Quality Sleep on a consistent schedule helps synchronize the body's circadian rhythms that set the metabolic tone, hunger hormones and renewing sleep hormones, resulting in better physical and mental equilibrium.
Supplements like DHEA, melatonin, adaptogens, antioxidants and botanicals further reinforce healthy hormone pathways. Harmony MDians offer guidance on evidence-based supplements to complement individual therapy plans.
When sensible lifestyle measures synchronize with hormone therapy, patients often report feeling notably better than they have for years by restoring their body, mind, and metabolism to a more optimal state of function and flow.
Balancing key hormones like estrogen, progesterone and testosterone exerts noticeable positive effects on mental health for many - alleviating anxiety, depression, irritability and poor concentration accompanying endocrine decline.
The reasons are multidimensional, including:
As patients' physical health improves through restored hormonal pathways, the ancillary benefits upon mental and emotional health are often just as profound - or more so. Taming anxiety and depression are frequently cited as one of the most rewarding aspects of hormone therapy. The mind-body connection is inseparable.
Harmony MD physicians also guide patients in sensible supplemental support protocols that target mood, stress resilience and sleep hygiene to work synergistically with primary therapy for optimal mind-body equilibrium.
| Study | Hormone Therapy Impact |
|---|---|
| Women's Health Initiative | Decrease in anxious mood by 26% |
| Prague Psychiatric Center | 55% improvement in anxiety |
| John Hopkins University | 60% drop in depression rates |
Multiple studies reinforce that restoring optimal hormonal balance correlates to stabilization of mood disorders, perceived stress and chronic anxiety. Results are often profound.
Men undergo an analogous endocrine transition in mid-life termed "andropause," involving declining testosterone that parallels women's menopause symptoms. Low testosterone affects up to 30% of men over age 50.
Plunging testosterone correlates strongly with irritability, anxiety and depression in men, impacting work productivity, relationships and enjoyment of life.
Restored testosterone to youthful ranges via bioidentical hormone therapy alleviates these issues while also:
The benefits span mental clarity, body composition, relationships and nearly every facet of men's overall health and vitality.
