Natural hormone replacement therapy
Conventional and natural hormone replacement therapy is used by women hitting menopause to assuage the symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, increased fatigue, irritability, depression, skin changes, vaginal dryness and incontinence. It works by replacing the body.s drop in estrogen and progesterone hormone levels during menopause.
Thyroid hormone replacement is used by people with damaged or compromised thyroids to help regulate the body. It is not considered hormone replacement therapy because it doesn.t involve uterine hormones. While thyroid and pituitary hormone replacement therapy is crucial for survival, synthetic or natural hormone replacement therapy is used to ease the multiple difficulties of menopause. Those with the most severe symptoms typically opt for hormone replacement.
"Estrogen replacement therapy hit the mainstream in January of 1964 when Newsweek published an article entitled "No More Menopause," based on the work of New York gynecologist Robert A. Wilson. Wilson subsequently authored a book entitled "Feminine Forever" that touted the virtues of estrogen therapy as a fountain of youth that would prevent women from experiencing the .tragedy. of menopause, leaving them dried up, sexless, and depressed." (www.holistic-online.com/Remedies/hrt/hrt_hrt_intro.htm)
Since then the topic of hormone replacement therapy has been medically controversial. Natural hormone replacement therapy uses nonsynthetic or natural sources of estrogen.
The allopathic alternative to natural hormone replacement therapy
Estrogen replacement therapy restores the body.s premenopausal levels of estrogen and progesterone by adding estrogen in pill, cream, injection or patch form. The synthetic version of estrogen is a hundred times more powerful than natural estrogen.
While estrogen replacement is said to have the benefit of relieving hot flashes, vaginal dryness, urinary problems, osteoporosis, and atherosclerosis, only a very low dose of natural estrogen is needed to prevents hot flashes and reduce the likelihood of osteoporosis.
For these reasons natural hormone replacement therapy may be a better choice than synthetic treatment. A few of the side effects of getting too much estrogen, especially synthetic estrogen, include migraine headaches and increased chances of developing breast cancer. Thus the controversial aspect of conventional and natural hormone replacement therapy emerges.
Other alternatives to natural hormone replacement therapy
Drug-free natural hormone replacement therapy practices are also available for women who do not want to take the risks or experience the side effects from synthetic and conventional treatments. These treatments use alternative modalities to balance the body.s hormone level and soothe the symptoms of menopause.
There are many other things that can effect and influence hormonal balance in the body. For example, "diet, lifestyle changes, and alternative medicine have been proven for centuries throughout the world to benefit a woman's overall health, even enhancing the effectiveness of conventional medical treatment during menopause and into the later years."
Allopathic and alternative medicine in the form or synthetic or natural hormone replacement therapy, have the same goal in mind, "to relieve a woman's discomfort during the transitional years of menopause and help her to achieve optimal health during menopause and into her later years of life. The differences between conventional and alternative medicine begin with their approaches."
The two paradigms: conventional and natural hormone replacement therapy
"Conventional medicine often sees menopause as a hormone-deficiency disorder and attempts to correct the imbalances that develop within a woman's hormonal system during and after menopause."
"The alternative medical approach focuses on strengthening the female body by encouraging it to balance, regulate, and normalize itself during the transition to menopause. Alternative treatments during menopause usually favor non-drug therapies."
"Alternative medicine shifts the emphasis from synthetic hormone replacement therapy to natural hormone replacement therapy, by encouraging the body to balance and heal itself. It focuses on dietary, nutritional, and lifestyle changes supplemented by therapies such as acupuncture, herbs, and homeopathic remedies that have been shown to be effective." (www.holistic-online.com/Remedies/hrt/hrt_alt_treatments.htm)
Changing to a healthier, more nutritionally balanced diet and taking herbs and supplements can alleviate typical menopausal symptoms including hot flashes, night sweats and heart palpitations. Because it doesn.t deliver the risks and side effects of taking hormones, natural hormone replacement therapy is not as controversial as the conventional, hormonal approach.
Non drug natural hormone replacement therapy can also be mixed with conventional HRT to reduce the dosage requirements of the synthetic hormones. This reduction represents a more balanced, less risky approach to hormonal therapy.
Rarely it may be necessary to start with conventional hormone replacement therapy to get the immediate benefit and also simultaneously start with natural hormone replacement therapy to get the body tuned naturally. In this scenario the body can eventually be weaned off synthetic hormones and rely more on the natural treatments. Usually, however, there is no need for conventional hormone replacement therapy because bio-identical natural hormone therapy works as well and as fast with less risk.
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