Women are confused, and can you blame them? Ever since the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) has become an extremely controversial topic, especially since a lot of physicians themselves have a problem explaining the results.
Dr. Judi Goldstone at Griffin Medical Group recently sat down and answered questions on the subject of bio-identical hormone replacement for women. Dr. Goldstone is an expert on the subject and these are comments to questions that were submitted to her blog.
Dr. Goldstone is a board certified internal medicine specialist and Director of the Age Management program at Griffin Medical Group. Dr. Goldstone is also an active member of the American Society of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M).
Question: What is the theory behind bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in menopausal women?Dr. Goldstone: When it comes to disease, conventional medicine will restore of low levels of thyroid, insulin and cortisol. This would be the standard and typical medical treatment. Thus, it seems logical to also replace estrogen, progesterone, testosterone growth hormone when a person has low levels of those hormones. However, the evidence leaves clinicians at a loss for clear direction, because different studies, using a variety of types of hormones, methods of hormone administration, and women of different ages, have produced conflicting results.
Question: What are the Normal Hormone Ratios?
Dr. Goldstone: There are three predominant estrogens in non-pregnant, pre-menopausal women: estrone (E1), estradiol (E2) and estriol (E3). These naturally occur in different relative amounts. Typically, E1 will make up 10 to 20 percent of total estrogen, E2 will make up another 10 to 20 percent and E3 will comprise the remaining 60 to 80 percent of total estrogen.
This ratio is protective, because the bulk of estrogen is comprised by the weakest estrogen, E3, which is also the most protective against blood clots and breast cancer. E2 is the strongest estrogen, and E1 is the storage form of estrogen.
E1 is sometimes considered the “least desirable” estrogen, because it can stimulate breast tissue production and blood clots. E1 can be metabolized and excreted by the liver, but if the liver systems are overwhelmed or if vitamins B12 and folic acid are deficient, E1 is converted to quinines. These can be mutagenic and carcinogenic, and thus could ultimately lead to cancer and other health problems.Question: What are bio-identical hormones and how can they mimic protective ratios?
Dr. Goldstone: Estrogen-like hormones can be obtained from horses, soy and yams, but these hormones do not fit exactly into the human receptors. By contrast, bio-identical hormones are an exact match, molecule for molecule, to the hormones produced naturally by a woman’s body.
They fit the hormone receptor just like a key fits into its lock, and the body cannot distinguish between a bio-identical hormone and the hormones it makes itself.Bio-identical hormones can be made in several ways.
Sometimes they are created by modifying soy or yam — any molecule that does not exist on the human hormone counterpart is removed. They are produced synthetically in the laboratory to make bio-identical estrogen, testosterone and progesterone transdermal creams and gels.Question: How are bio-identical hormones prescribed by doctors who use them today?
Dr. Goldstone: The goal is to re-establish the normal protective ratio, a 20:80 ratio of E2 to E3, and avoid E1 altogether. This formula is called Bi-est. Estrogen that comes in the form of a transdermal cream mimics normal ratios better than estrogen that is taken in pill form, because the estrogen pill first has to pass through the liver, where 50 percent is converted into E1 (“bad” estrogen) before being circulated to tissues.
Estrogen applied through a transdermal cream enters the blood at the same ratio in which it is applied to the skin, with no chance for alteration by the liver. Many studies suggest that estrogen administered through a transdermal cream decreases thrombosis, blood pressure, triglycerides and vascular resistance, as opposed to the pill form of estrogen, which is known to increase these effects and can also cause other problems.
Question: Hormone replacement studies have raised questions about the health risks associated with traditional menopause treatment, what has happened since then?
Dr. Goldstone: The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) was a large study, sponsored by the National Institute of Health, which greatly influenced how American doctors prescribe hormones and how American women receive them. Millions of women stopped hormone replacement therapy (HRT) because of the study’s findings.
But, as with any medical study, there were many problems. The researchers did not take “quality of life” into account. They did not use estrogens in favorable ratios and they did not test hormones that were administered via a transdermal cream.
The estrogen used by women in the study was a synthetic, non bio-identical and oral conjugated estrogen from a pregnant mare’s urine called Premarin, which is known to increase the risk of thrombosis and cancer. The study also used the oral estrogen mentioned above combined with progestin, which is a synthetic and non bio-identical progesterone and this to can increase the risk cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Another problem with the study was the age of the women involved. The researchers should have started women on hormone therapy before they developed significant vascular disease, by age 55, instead of at an average age of 63 and higher.
Finally, the researchers should have insisted on media coverage of some of the positive findings they later discovered in their data analysis. Since that study, many American women and their doctors have found an alternative treatment via the bio-identical hormone approach.
Unfortunately, there are no studies on bio-identical hormones comparable to the size of the WHI study available yet. While there is no question that more studies on bio-identical hormone therapies are needed, a large body of evidence points to the potential advantages of the bio-identical approach.
Hot flashes are commonly experienced during menopause. They can begin as a momentary sensation of mild to intense warmth that spreads throughout the body. This often is followed by flushing of the skin, perspiration and finally a cold, clammy sensation. Hot flashes also can be preceded or accompanied by weakness, nausea, dizziness, faintness, headache, anxiety or rapid heartbeat. This experience can be difficult and uncomfortable, and often disrupts sleep at night.
.jpg)