Treating Menopause through Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT)

For many women, the prospect of facing menopause brings great fear and apprehension. It is a time in life where reproduction ends, and for some women, leaves them with no way of identifying what their future life’s purpose will be. Many women recall with not so fond memories the experiences of their mothers and grandmothers as they faced menopause with few of the hormone replacement help methods, which are available to females today. We have all heard the horror stories of hormone imbalance: night sweats, mood swings, etc. and are certainly not looking forward to the time when we too will be facing these unpleasant hormone deficiency side effects that often go hand in hand with perimenopause and menopause.

However, countless women today are seeking new ways to cope with the unpleasant hormonal changes, which so often accompany the onset of menopause. In the past, women have relied upon synthetic hormone replacement treatments which have been rather hit or miss in terms of their effectiveness. With the release of the Women’s Health Initiative study, proving some synthetic hormones to be more harmful than good, women feared hormone replacement therapy all together. What most women didn’t realize was that the WHI study neglected to disclose that their researchers did not use bioidentical hormones but only synthetic hormones. Although initial confusion about HRT was created, women are searching for alternatives to hormone replacement and discovering a new safer solution which is bioidentical hormone replacement therapy or BHRT.

Although BHRT is an age old remedy, many doctors and their patients are just learning of this option. BHRT is in the forefront of anti-aging treatment and for many doctors the newest method for helping cure much that ails the menopausal woman. Different from conventional methods of hormone replacement therapy, which seeks to have women ingest synthetic or chemically altered versions of naturally occurring hormones, BHRT offers a more natural fit for the body. BHRT offers women plant based hormones that have the exact chemical and molecular structure as hormones that are produced in the human body. BHRT isn’t alien to our body thus BHRT is received well internally with virtually no side effects.

BHRT is allowing many women to address the multiple concerns and health issues which rapidly face those who are actively going through menopause. The doses of BHRT are designed for each individual patient and are not a one size fits all recipe. With bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, there is the recognition that each woman is different, and that therefore, her hormone treatment must be individualized to meet her very specific needs.

Physicians who are advancing the use of bioidentical hormone replacement therapies for their patients will first work with a woman to discover if she is actively in the perimenopause / menopause stage. Not only will the doctor need a complete physical history, but he or she will also need a patient’s most up to date medical information which will in turn aid her in determining the specifics of each individual woman’s case. At this point physicians who use bioidentical hormone replacement therapy will take blood, and from the blood results, can determine in which hormonal areas the female patient may be struggling.

Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy then calls for each hormone supplement to be compounded and dispensed in a manner, which will be most effective in treating the specific hormone levels of the female patient involved. This type of customization of medicine ensures that an individual’s specific concerns are addressed and that the menopause symptoms, the ones that are most bothersome to the patient, will be actively treated and brought under control.

There are many who are vocally singing the praises of BHRT. Numerous followers in the healthcare profession, particularly those who deal with women’s health and their concerns, are ecstatic over these remarkable developments in the treatment of menopause. Many are finding their patients happier and healthier than they have seen them in years; furthermore, they like that bioidentical hormone replacement therapy has virtually no known side effects unlike synthetic hormones. BHRT also seems to reduce the risks of blood clots and strokes, which can be so prevalent with the use of traditional hormone replacement therapy, and there are fewer concerns over cancer rates. Actually, in well known medical journals, researchers have reported that the bioidentical hormones, estrogen and testosterone, are not only safe but also have a positive impact on some diseases like osteoporosis and prostate cancer.

While many healthcare providers are still citing the lack of FDA approval, BHRT seems to be making quite a mark in the world of women’s healthcare. For too long, women have been subjected to the toils and troubles that menopause can bring. With the advent of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, the many concerns of patients and doctors are disappearing, as the hormone treatment continues to produce positive results and prove itself effective with even more patients. Numerous women are now able to approach this new stage of their lives feeling healthy and happy, ready to conquer the many unique and rewarding challenges and dreams that will come in the remainder of their adult life.