In 1996, The Women’s Health Initiative began to asses the risks and benefits of conventional hormone replacement therapy. This was a major study involving 16,608 women in 40 large medical centers located in the .
This landmark study was supposed to last 8.5 years but it was cut short at 5.2 years because the risks of synthetic conventional hormones far outweighed the benefits.
Half of the women received Prempro which is a combination of Premarin (synthetic estrogen) and Provera (synthetic progesterone) and the other half received a placebo. The researchers looked at outcomes for breast cancer, hip fracture, endometrial cancer, colon cancer, heart disease, stroke and pulmonary embolism.Let’s start with the good that was found in the study:
- 37% decrease in colon cancer
- 21% decrease in fractures due to osteoporosis.
Now for the bad news:
- 26% increase in breast cancer.
- 41% increase in stroke
- 29% increase in cardiovascular disease.
- 2,100% increase in pulmonary embolism (lung blood clots).
- 205% increase in Alzheimer’s disease.
The saddest fact is that none of this was new information regarding synthetic conventional hormones. Many previous studies had shown the same increased risks. Synthetic hormones are not naturally occurring, not recognized by the body and have been proven to be unsafe.
In addition, many women are treated without proper laboratory testing to measure exactly what their hormone levels are so therapy can be precise and unique. A proper hormone evaluation is done by a 24-hour urine collection which measures the three estrogens: estrone, estradiol and estriol. Progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, cortisol, cortisone and all of the metabolites of each hormone are also measured so we know how the body is breaking your hormones down.
We now know that how estrogen is metabolized can be a significant risk factor for breast cancer. The advantage of the 24-hour urine test lies in the fact that hormones are secreted in a circadian rhythm in peaks and valleys which are taken into account on the test report resulting in a more balanced reading.
A single blood draw is only a snapshot of your hormone levels at the time of the draw which may be during a peak or valley thus giving us a less accurate measure. Once we know what the precise levels of your hormones are, we can then use safe, natural hormones to balance your body.
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