Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy Arizona

What Are Hormones?

Hormones are chemical messengers responsible for influencing numerous functions in your body. The organs that produce your hormones are together known as the endocrine system. The endocrine system includes the pancreas, thyroid, ovaries and testicles. Common endocrine hormones include thyroid hormone, estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. Your body’s hormones are vital to your health and vitality. If even a small part of your endocrine system is not working properly, your body cannot perform as well.

Examples of the important biological functions regulated by hormones include:

The optimal function requires hormones that work together. This requires the careful coordination of the manufacture, release, and reception of hormones. If the hormones in your body become imbalanced for any reason, the result can be health problems.

Why Do Hormonal Imbalances Occur?

While there are common hormone ranges that all people commonly have, hormone levels naturally vary from person to person for a variety of reasons. Sometimes these factors are beyond a person’s control, such as aging or heredity. Others are due to lifestyle factors, such as diet and exercise. When a person goes through puberty, he or she produces a larger amount of sex hormones, which slowly tapers down as a person progresses through early adulthood. Examples of sex hormones include estrogen, testosterone and progesterone. These hormones require a balance to work properly. For example, men who have excess amounts of testosterone and too little estrogen can have issues with immune system response and elevated risk of certain types of cancer. The same is true for women with excess testosterone. They can experience obesity, acne, irregular periods, and also difficulty conceiving. Age-related hormone decline and imbalance are very common. Beginning in your mid-30s, your body may begin to produce varying levels of hormones. This can lead to symptoms that can range from subtle to highly noticeable.

Examples of symptoms related to these imbalances can include:

While many people in Arizona may pass these symptoms of hormone imbalance off as the stressors of work, school, or relationships, they can have a hormone-related cause. The good news is that, no matter what the underlying cause of hormone imbalance is, there is something you can do about it.

The Concept of Bioidentical Hormone

Advancements in modern technology have made it possible to create bioidentical hormones. These hormones re-create the effects of naturally produced hormones but have important distinctions from the synthetic hormones traditional doctors often prescribe. Bioidentical hormone therapy in Arizona can be used in combination with other lifestyle modifications, such as eating a healthy diet and exercising, to help a person feel better, inside and out. Known as bioidentical hormone replacement therapy or BHRT, these treatments are considered a natural therapy because they rely on exact replicas of your hormones. Utilizing BHRT as part of a wellness approach is a growing field of medicine and is helping others in pursuit of anti-aging solutions.

Synthetic Hormone Considerations

Synthetic hormones are close matches, but not identical to your body’s natural hormones. Therefore, synthetic hormones may stimulate your body to perform some functions, but your body does not ultimately recognize them as being the same as natural hormones. As a result, synthetic hormones may affect your body in both intended and unintended ways. Pharmaceutical companies create synthetic hormones from different chemical formulas, the basis for which is often urine from pregnant mares. These are known as conjugated equine estrogens. Synthetic hormones have been associated with severe side effects, including risks for blood clots, heart attacks, strokes, breast cancer and gallbladder disease. Women who do have a uterus may also be at increased risk for endometrial cancers. The National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute conducted studies for greater than a decade on women’s health, including the usage of synthetic hormone replacements. Known as the Women’s Health Initiative, the study found the health risks of estrogen plus progestin therapy often outweighed the benefits associated with taking synthetic hormones. While synthetic hormones remain on the market, they can have significant healthcare consequences, unlike the uses of bioidentical hormones.

How Are Bioidentical Hormones Made?

In the 1930s, a scientist named Russell Marker discovered that a compound found in wild Mexican yams could be converted into an exact chemical replica of the natural hormone progesterone. Since this time, researchers have continued to find additional, similar products they can utilize to create bioidentical hormones. Another example is soybeans. Currently, bioidentical hormones are available in many preparations. These include pills, patches, gels, creams, pellets, or injections.

Bioidentical Vs. Synthetic Hormone

In addition to molecular format, the key difference between bioidentical and synthetic hormones is safety. Because the body does not fully recognize synthetic hormones, it does not respond in the same fashion as natural hormones, nor does it break the hormones down the same. As a result, waste products can build up in the blood and cause serious health concerns. In contrast, bioidentical hormones interact inside the body in a safe manner. Because they are natural molecules that are exactly like your body’s own hormones, the body is able to break them down in the same manner. The bioidentical hormones bind to the same receptors in the body as your own natural hormones. As a result, people in Arizona can experience the benefits of hormone replacement therapy without the risks of using synthetic hormones.

How is Bioidentical Replacement Therapy in Arizona Utilized?

Bioidentical replacement therapy can be used for both testosterone replacement therapy in Arizona as well as to correct female hormone imbalances in Arizona.

Examples of some of the benefits associated with taking bioidentical hormone replacement therapy treatments in Arizona include:

This is by no means a comprehensive listing of the benefits available to those who choose to utilize bioidentical hormone replacement therapy in Arizona. However, they do represent some of the possibilities BHRT can provide. Thousands of hormone replacement therapy patients in Arizona have benefitted from personalized recommendations for BHRT. This begins with a careful evaluation of your current hormone levels of functioning. Examples include blood and saliva testing. Our HRT doctor in Arizona will also take a physical assessment of your symptoms. Programs like BHRT offer the greatest results when they are individualized. By creating a personalized plan designed to correct your unique hormone imbalances, you can re-create the hormone profile you likely had in your 20s or 30s when your hormone levels were at a higher level. A personalized plan can take into account your personal goals for treatment as well as your individual symptoms to create the best possible plan.

What Side Effects are Associated with Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy?

As you learned in the earlier section, BHRT is by no means a new concept. However, researchers have fine-tuned the ways to best utilize these hormones to offer greater results to those in Arizona who need hormone replacement therapies. The risks associated with BHRT are significantly lower than those of synthetic hormones because BHRT uses hormones that are chemically identical. The greatest side-effects of risks are that a BHRT program will be ineffective. This is why it is important to seek bioidentical hormone replacement therapy from leading experts in Arizona, such as those at Genemedics. Our physicians have undergone specialty training and invested years of time into educating, researching, and creating programs for BHRT. We encourage those in Arizona who would like to learn more about safe hormone replacement to call and set up a consultation.