Hormone Replacement Therapy
Breast Cancer: Are You at Risk?
There are several risk factors that increase the likelihood that some women may eventually require treatment for breast cancer. You cannot change certain risk factors, such as age, inherited genetic mutations, and having a family history of breast cancer. Research also indicates that women starting their periods at an early age and having a late menopause exposes women to estrogen and progesterone longer, which can raise their chances of developing breast cancer.1
What Breast Cancer Risk Factors Can Women Change?
Women who are not physically active, overweight after menopause, and did not experience pregnancy until they were in their 30s may be at a higher risk of breast cancer. Smoking and drinking alcohol (more than three or four drinks per week) also increases a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer.2
Hormone replacement therapy using synthetic estrogen and progesterone derived from equine urine poses a significant risk for breast cancer. More women taking HRT drugs like Prempro or Premarin for several years will go on to have breast cancer than women who do not take hormonal replacements like Premarin. According to BreastCancer.org:
“Combination hormone replacement therapy can increase a woman’s breast cancer risk by as much as 70 percent, especially in older women who smoke, are overweight and do not get enough exercise. In addition, research indicates that this risk rises significantly during the first several years of combination hormone replacement therapy. However, once you stop taking combination HRT, the risk of breast cancer decreases”.
Advantages of Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapy Over Synthetic Hormones
When the Women’s Health Initiative research report published in the early 2000s found that HRT did, in fact, raise a woman’s risk for breast cancer, the overall cancer death rate in the U.S. declined rapidly. In fact, the reduction in deaths caused by breast cancer in women accounted for nearly 40 percent of this reduction. Millions of women began weighing the risks of using synthetic hormones and decided to start searching for safer alternatives.
That alternative is bioidentical hormones, or hormones derived from wild yams and other plants instead of horse urine. What makes bioidentical hormones more effective and safer than synthetic hormones is the fact that the structure of bioidentical hormone molecules matches the structure of cell receptors designed to accept and utilize these hormones. In other words, your body actually recognizes bioidentical hormones as being naturally produced hormones.
Researchers think that one of the reasons why synthetic hormones increase a woman’s risk for breast cancer is the dissimilarity between the molecular shape of natural hormones and the molecular shape of horse-derived hormones. Your body struggles to accept synthetic hormones, creating a type of cellular inflammation potentially leading to development of cancerous cells. Doctors compare this struggle to trying to fit a key into a lock that doesn’t precisely match the lock.
Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) eliminates unwanted symptoms of menopause, improves quality of sleep, increases your sex drive and revitalizes your energy levels.
A comprehensive research review of the advantages of BHRT over synthetic hormones found that women reported “greater satisfaction” with BHRT compared to women using synthetic hormones. The review also states that clinical outcomes and physiological data have demonstrated that BHRT correlate with lower risks of cardiovascular disease and breast cancer. In addition, this review further says that studies indicate bioidentical hormones are more effective at relieving menopausal symptoms than synthetic hormones.3
If you are considering a hormone replacement therapy or are currently using synthetic hormones, contact us today to schedule a consultation appointment regarding BHRT.
References
Breast Cancer: Are You at Risk?
There are several risk factors that increase the likelihood that some women may eventually require treatment for breast cancer. You cannot change certain risk factors, such as age, inherited genetic mutations and having a family history of breast cancer. Research also indicates that women starting their periods at an early age and having a late menopause exposes women to estrogen and progesterone longer, which can raise their chances of developing breast cancer.1
What Breast Cancer Risk Factors Can Women Change?
Women who are not physically active, overweight after menopause and did not experience pregnancy until they were in their 30s may be at a higher risk of breast cancer. Smoking and drinking alcohol (more than three or four drinks per week) also increases a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer.2
Hormone replacement therapy using synthetic estrogen and progesterone derived from equine urine poses a significant risk for breast cancer. More women taking HRT drugs like Prempro or Premarin for several years will go on to have breast cancer than women who do not take hormonal replacements like Premarin. According to BreastCancer.org:
“Combination hormone replacement therapy can increase a woman’s breast cancer risk by as much as 70 percent, especially in older women who smoke, are overweight and do not get enough exercise. In addition, research indicates that this risk rises significantly during the first several years of combination hormone replacement therapy. However, once you stop taking combination HRT, the risk of breast cancer decreases”.
Advantages of Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapy Over Synthetic Hormones
When the Women’s Health Initiative research report published in the early 2000s found that HRT did, in fact, raise a woman’s risk for breast cancer, the overall cancer death rate in the U.S. declined rapidly. In fact, the reduction in deaths caused by breast cancer in women accounted for nearly 40 percent of this reduction. Millions of women began weighing the risks of using synthetic hormones and decided to start searching for safer alternatives.
That alternative is bioidentical hormones, or hormones derived from wild yams and other plants instead of horse urine. What makes bioidentical hormones more effective and safer than synthetic hormones is the fact that the structure of bioidentical hormone molecules matches the structure of cell receptors designed to accept and utilize these hormones. In other words, your body actually recognizes bioidentical hormones as being naturally produced hormones.
Researchers think that one of the reasons why synthetic hormones increase a woman’s risk for breast cancer is the dissimilarity between the molecular shape of natural hormones and the molecular shape of horse-derived hormones. Your body struggles to accept synthetic hormones, creating a type of cellular inflammation potentially leading to development of cancerous cells. Doctors compare this struggle to trying to fit a key into a lock that doesn’t precisely match the lock.
Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) eliminates unwanted symptoms of menopause, improves quality of sleep, increases your sex drive and revitalizes your energy levels.
A comprehensive research review of the advantages of BHRT over synthetic hormones found that women reported “greater satisfaction” with BHRT compared to women using synthetic hormones. The review also states that clinical outcomes and physiological data have demonstrated that BHRT correlate with lower risks of cardiovascular disease and breast cancer. In addition, this review further says that studies indicate bioidentical hormones are more effective at relieving menopausal symptoms than synthetic hormones.3
If you are considering a hormone replacement therapy or are currently using synthetic hormones, contact us today to schedule a consultation appointment regarding BHRT.
References
