Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) has gotten a lot of attention in recent years — in particular because one very famous woman has publicly discussed her use of BHRT to combat the symptoms of menopause.
Oprah Winfrey has been an advocate of BHRT for about a decade now. She claims that the symptoms of menopause that struck around the time she turned 55 left her feeling so unlike herself that she consulted a doctor who specialized in hormone therapy. After starting bioidentical estrogen, she quickly began to feel happier, healthier, and clearer-headed.
Just the same, Winfrey doesn't say that the treatment is for everyone. Instead, she says that women need to be discussing their options for BHRT and other hormone therapies with their doctors instead of just assuming that they're helpless before the hormonal changes that go along with age.
Why Could Hormone Replacement Therapy, In General, Be Right For You?
Generally, the older a woman gets, the more her hormones become unbalanced or decrease. Since your hormones serve as your body's main communicators throughout your body, taking control of everything from appetite and digestion, your mood, your sex drive, your skin tone, your mental sharpness, and your immune system, a deficiency or imbalance can become a serious problem.
Women in menopause or perimenopause (the period right before menopause) often turn to hormone replacement therapy to help them control:
In addition, BHRT may also help with pre-diabetes, help maintain bone mass, improve the elasticity of the skin, and help prevent wrinkles.
What's So Different About Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy?
Traditional hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is medication made from the urine of pregnant horses, the thyroids of pigs, and synthetic medications. BHRT is different in that the medications are chemically identical to what the human body produces — and they are made from plant estrogens.
Many supporters of BHRT feel that bioidentical hormones are safer because they are chemically identical to what the human body naturally produces, which is not true for regular hormone therapies. In addition, BHRT is often made in compounding pharmacies. That allows each patient to receive the dosage or combined dosage of hormones that are best suited for her individual body.
For more information on bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, talk to your doctor today.