Books to learn
more about
menopause
available from
our center

    Understanding Menopause and How Compounding Can Help

Symptoms of menopause are (among others):

If you are in menopause, the symptoms you experience are unpleasant and often life-changing. But you don't have to endure them. There are answers.

Please click on any of the questions below to go to the appropriate answer.

What is estrogen?
What Is Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)?
Why Is Synthetic Estrogen No Longer Widely Prescribed?
What Alternatives Are There?
What Is Natural Hormone-Replacement Therapy?
Besides Estrogen and Progesterone, Are there Other Hormones that Can Ease Menopause Symptoms?
What Role Does Testosterone Play in HRT?
How Will I Know which Hormones I Need?
How Do I Take Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy?
Does The Heritage Center for Functional Health Offer Bio-Identical, Plant-Derived HRT?
What else Can The Heritage Center for Functional health Do for Me?

    What Is Estrogen?

Although it's often referred to as a single hormone, it's actually a large class of hormones. Human estrogen comprises three specific types: estradiol (10% - 20%); estrone (10% - 20%) and estriol (60% - 80%).

• Estradiol

This is the primary estrogen produced by the ovaries and is the predominant estrogen in pre-menopausal women. It's also the form of estrogen used in transdermal estrogen patches.

• Estrone

This is the primary estrogen in post-menopausal women and it is the product of the conversion of androstenedione and estradiol primarily in the liver. Estrone and estradiol are the potent estrogens that may increase the risk of breast cancer.

• Estriol

A relatively weak estrogen, estriol is the result of the metabolism of estrone and possibly estradiol. It's at its highest level during pregnancy.

Unlike estradiol and estrone, estriol appears to have anticancer characteristics. It produces relatively little endometrial and breast-tissue stimulation and is effective in relieving the symptoms of menopause. As a result, it provides some of the beneficial effects of estrogen therapy while avoiding the undesirable side effects such as, breakthrough bleeding, breast tenderness and sensitivity, and other symptoms.

    What Is Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)?

The ultimate goal of any HRT is to bring hormones back into balance and ease the symptoms of the imbalance which manifest during menopause.

Hormonal imbalances caused by aging and changes in the reproductive system in women can create both physical and emotional changes that make life difficult. If the body no longer produces estrogen the way it used to, or if progesterone is lacking, the result can be estrogen dominance.

To counter the symptoms of that, physicians and pharmaceutical companies developed synthetic hormones that bolstered hormone deficiencies and alleviated the symptoms of menopause, in some cases stopping them entirely.

Much of conventional hormone-replacement therapy had been focused on the use of synthetic estrogen, the base of which is pregnant mare estrogen. But it is significantly more potent than human estrogen, and, according to a number of studies, has been linked to cancer. It is now prescribed on a very limited basis.

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    Why Is Synthetic Estrogen No Longer Widely Prescribed?

As stated above, the synthetic estrogen used for hormone replacement therapy derives from horse estrogen, which is considerably more potent than the estrogen produced by humans. Widespread prescribing has slowed significantly because numerous studies have linked synthetic estrogen to an unsettling array of cancer types in humans.

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    What Alternatives Are There?

Until now, alternatives have been few. Soy-based powders and drinks helped alleviate some of the symptoms, but were nowhere near as effective as was synthetic-estrogen therapy.

Fortunately, a major pharmacological development has sparked a resurgence in the way medication used to be made by pharmacists; compounding. The Heritage Center for Functional Medicine enthusiastically embraces compounding and offers it as an alternative to both synthetic-estrogen therapy and soy-based products.

Working with your doctor, The Heritage Center for Functional Medicine can create a custom therapy that comprises bio-identical, plant-derived estrogens and progesterone, which together work as a safe hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) that suits you specifically. While this is relatively new in the U.S., European physicians have been prescribing it for the last fifty years.

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    What Is Natural Hormone-Replacement Therapy?

Natural hormone-replacement therapy, as described above, can relieve menopausal symptoms, prevent and reverse osteoporosis, reduce the risk of heart disease and improve lipid profile with fewer unwanted side effects than can synthetic hormone-replacement therapy. It also poses less risk of breast cancer.

Estriol and progesterone are produced in large quantities during pregnancy. It is one-thousand times less potent than is estradiol or estrone. Its impact on breast tissue is also far less. While estradiol and estrone have been implicated in breast cancer, estriol is considered anticarcinogenic (or protective) because it occupies the estrogen receptor sites that would be occupied by other more potent estrogens in much the same way as does tomoxifen. Thus, using bio-identical, plant-derived estriol can offer numerous benefits as a component of HRT.

Natural progesterone, on the other hand, plays many roles in the body, not the least of which is helping to prevent the damage caused by estradiol and estrone. Curiously, its synthetic form is used in conventional hormone-replacement therapy only to protect the uterus from cancer when synthetic-estrogen therapy is prescribed.

With compounding, natural progesterone can play a far greater role in HRT. There are progesterone receptors throughout the human body, most notably in the brain, bone and breast tissue. In the context of hormone-replacement therapy, progesterone can also help reduce the incidence of osteoporosis, in some cases reversing the disorder. It does so by stimulating osteoblasts (cells that create new bone).

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    Beside Estrogen and Progesterone Are there Other Hormones that Can Ease Menopausal Symptoms?

Yes. In some cases, testosterone is be added to a replacement regimen. Although considered a "male" hormone, testosterone is produced by a woman's ovaries and is essential to normal sexual development. It also plays an important role in maintaining libido, energy and the integrity of skin, muscle and bone.

    What Role Does Testosterone Play in HRT?

As a woman transitions into menopause, circulating androgens begin to decrease due to age-related reductions in adrenal and ovarian secretions. After menopause, a woman's total estrogen production decreases by 50% to 60%, and androgen production decreases by as much as 50%. In addition, women surgically menopaused are deficient in androgens, as well as estrogens. To offset the imbalance, testosterone can be added to the HRT regimen for a person needing it.

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    How Will I Know which Hormones I Need?

This will depend on the results of your saliva test, a simple non-invasive test that you do in your home. It will be analyzed by a widely respected laboratory. Along with your personal checklist of symptoms, the results from the test will give us a picture of your hormonal status. We will then work with your doctor to arrive at a prescription that will balance only those hormones that are found lacking. It will then be prepared in our compounding lab.

Bio-identical, plant-derived estrogens and progesterone can be applied as creams. Estriol can be applied as a vaginal cream containing estriol 0.5%. Progesterone is applied to the inner thigh.

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    How Do I Take Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy?

Bio-identical, plant-derived estrogens and progesterone, as well as testosterone and DHEA when needed, can be applied as creams. This is our preferred form of delivery because it bypasses the gastro-intestinal tract and ensures better absorption. The ingredients are compounded in a cosmetic cream base and put in oral syringes so that an accurate amount can be dispensed. The cream is applied in rotation to the arms and legs. We also prepare vaginal creams and suppositories as well as capsules.

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    What Role Does Testosterone Play in HRT?

As a woman transitions into menopause, circulating androgens begin to decrease due to age-related reductions in adrenal and ovarian secretions. After menopause, a woman's total estrogen production decreases by 50% to 60%, and androgen production decreases by as much as 50%. In addition, women surgically menopaused are deficient in androgens, as well as estrogens. To offset the imbalance, testosterone can be added to the HRT regimen for a person needing it.

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    Does The Heritage Center for Functional Medicine Offer Bio-identical, Plant-Derived HRT?

Yes, and we do so differently for each individual. That's what makes compounding an ideal solution for many people. While every body may appear to be similar, none really are. We each have special needs that may not be addressed by pharmaceuticals or an HRT regimen designed for your next-door neighbor. For that reason, we focus specifically on you and only you. We work with your physician to compound a formula that balances your hormones.

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    What Else Can The Heritage Center for Functional Health Do for Me?

At The Heritage Center for Functional Health you will receive guidance for managing other related health issues. Stress is a major component in the balancing act of well being. If it is not controlled, all other therapies are doomed to fail. Changes in nutrition, exercise and other lifestyle concerns as well as proper supplementation may be imperative. We offer a wide range of dietary supplements that can help not only with the alleviation of menopausal symptoms, but with a wide range of other metabolic needs, as well. When you visit The Heritage Center for Functional Health, ask about our many high-quality, highly absorbable dietary supplements.