Hormone Replacement Therapy Harms Hearing

Unless you had your head buried under the sand for the last few years, you should be aware that excess estrogen is one of the main causes of breast cancer.

The key here is excess.

Women do need estrogen. The problem is that most western women have excessive amounts. Many women also have total hysterectomies in which their ovaries are removed. This is one of the few times where estrogen replacement therapy is appropriate.

Additionally, taking synthetic hormone replacement therapy was the rage for many years but that seems to have normalized after all the major studies demonstrated major increases in heart disease and stroke, not the protection that they had been promoted for.

Other risks of non bio-identical HRT found by past studies include:

• Breast cancer
• Dementia
• Increased insulin resistance

Synthetic progestins like Provera are responsible for many of the side effects and should rarely be used by any woman. I am sure there are some indications to use it, but I can't think of any. Even natural estrogen can increase your risk of breast cancer and heart disease if not properly taken.

Premarin, which comes from horse estrogens, used to be a common form of estrogen replacement, but the evidence is quite clear that it should be avoided.

One option that seems to work the best for women who truly do need treatment is a transdermal preparation of human estrogen. Application through the skin allows lower doses than oral and also decreases the production of potentially dangerous estrogen metabolites.

Most women, however, only need estradiol, which is bioidentical to the primary human female hormone. What the FDA and most doctors and patients do not realize is that bioidentical hormone supplements can actually optimize your health. Ideally these levels should be monitored by either blood, urine or serum so they reach a target level that correspond to the reference ranges for healthy young women.

Additionally, I am convinced that women should not take DHEA (a steroid-like supplement version of a naturally occurring hormone that is often promoted as an anti-aging solution) unless they are also using bioidentical estrogen and progesterone therapy.

What will really help more than anything else is lifestyle changes:

• Start a better diet based on your personal nutritional type
• Balance your omega-3 and omega-6 fat intake
• Begin an exercise program, even of the low- to moderate-intensity variety
• Eliminate grains and sugars as they cause yeast overgrowth that worsen hormone levels
• Eliminate caffeine, as it can also have adverse effects on hormone levels

Making these simple lifestyle changes are a lot safer than following some of the common treatment protocols practiced in the field of conventional medicine.