There is so much controversy about HRT (hormone replacement therapy) and a lot of confusion.
Well, we decided to interview Dr. Cara Flamer, MD, an expert in bio-identical hormone therapy, to get some answers.
In this interview we discussed different ways to test and balance hormones naturally and when it is appropriate to use bio-identical hormone therapy.
Have you ever taken antibiotics, steroids or birth control pills? Or experienced one or two vaginal yeast infections or recurrent thrush?
Do you suffer from bloating, skin rashes, sinus problems, even though you’re doing everything to eat right and live a healthy lifestyle?
Do you feel like sugar controls you?
If you experience any or all of these symptoms, candida overgrowth could be to blame. It could be disrupting your hormonal balance, without you being aware of it.
Hormonal imbalances are linked to yeast infections. High levels of estrogen cause Candida fungi to overgrow. Or is it the opposite? Maybe candida overgrowth disrupts your body's natural balance of progesterone and estrogen. To find out more about this connection I have invited Carol Petersen to shed some light on this subject.
Carol Petersen is an accomplished compounding pharmacist with decades of experience helping patients improve their quality of life through bioidentical hormone replacement therapy
To watch this interview, click HERE
Dr. Alvin Pettle is a vastly experienced physician, having been in practice for more than four decades. His long and successful career in medicine began in 1969 when he graduated from the University of Toronto School of Medicine in Ontario. He later completed fellowships in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
The Ruth Pettle Wellness Center is named in memory of his mother who passed away from breast cancer. Dr. Pettle actively teaches young doctors to be able to safely use bio-identical hormones. Bio-identical hormone replacement therapy, also known as bio-identical hormone therapy or natural hormone therapy, is the use of hormones that are identical on a molecular level with endogenous hormones in hormone replacement therapy. With the support of his expert team, Dr. Pettle uses the latest technology and techniques in hormone replacement therapy to tackle the problems associated with ageing and menopause.
By popular demand, we have invited Carol Peterson, BS Pharmacy, to discuss women's hormones and how they change and affect your health.
For the last 25 years, Carol has been working with Women's International Pharmacy, specializing in compounded bio-identical hormone therapies.
In this short interview, we managed to cover several essential topics, such as:
Don't miss this informative interview; it's filled with valuable information.
To watch this interview, please click HERE
Hormones are chemical messengers made by the body that control how cells and organs do their work. About 2 out of 3 breast cancers are hormone receptor-positive.
In our 2nd Part of a 3 Part Webinar Series of Fears vs. Facts about Breast Cancer, we explore the role of hormones and how they interact and the role they play in promotion or prevention of breast cancer.
Watch the 2nd of our 3-Part Webinar Series that will:
We hope you learn and enjoy! Click here to watch
Many articles and papers have been written that implicate estrogen in connection to breast cancer. While this is a well accepted factor now in treatment of breast cancer, less written about is the importance of progesterone for the prevention of breast cancer.
Progesterone reduces estrogen’s stimulating of breast cancer growth with several well known biochemical events that lead to tumour growth:
Progesterone increases the level of enzymes that convert cancer prolific estrogen (estradiol) to inactive cancer protective estrogen (estrone sulfate).
Progesterone inhibits estrogen activity in the breast tissue and decreases the probability of clotting.
Progesterone prevents angiogenesis known to be a major contributor in early stage of breast cancer tumour formation and growth.
Progesterone prevents vasodilatation caused by excess estrogen and thus acts as an anti metastatic agent
Progesterone activates natural killer cells that function as in immune defence mechanism destroying cancer cells.
Progesterone has a calming effect, helps with perceived stress, thus lowering cortisol production by the adrenals
Here’s the critical point about progesterone for breast cancer prevention: synthetic progestins promote breast cancer and heart disease, while natural progesterone beneficially lowers breast cancer and heart disease risk. Progestin (synthetic) is NOT Progesterone (natural). Unfortunately many physicians believe progestins to be equivalent to progesterone. This is a mistake.
The enzymes needed to metabolize progesterone are present in the human body, not so with progestin. Further, the biochemical structures of several synthetic progestins have carbon-carbon bonds, which are not present in the hormones that humans have. Thus synthetic progestin has well known detrimental effects on women’s health while progesterone has beneficial effects on breast health and cancer prevention.
Of course, your breast cancer prevention strategy has to include other contributing factors, such as healthy diet, physical activity, avoidance of pollutants, stress reduction and possibly natural progesterone therapy. Investigate and see if this will work for you.
Avoid (HRT) Hormone Replacement Therapy.
HRT increases the risk of Breast Cancer. In 2002, a huge double blind placebo study called “Women's Health Initiative” sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) was stopped early because it was proven during the study that HRT causes breast cancer.
Natural Bio-identical hormones on the other hand are safe. They are made from botanical plants such as soy and yams. These plants are pharmaceutically processed to produce natural bio-identical progesterone or estrogen derivatives; they may come in cream or oral forms.
It is not difficult to determine if one needs some form of hormone balancing – if you feel perfectly well and have no symptoms it is very unlikely that you need to do or change anything. However, a large number of peri-menopausal women suffer from the following symptoms: fatigue, pre-menstrual breast tenderness, fibrocystic breast condition, short menstrual cycle (less than 28 days), anxiety, headaches, sleep disorders, low libido, depression and PMS. Women in menopause may have some of these symptoms in addition to hot flashes, vaginal dryness, and memory loss. If some of these complaints are present in a patient it is important to identify any hormonal deficiencies.
We can carefully monitor most hormone levels with blood tests, although they are not as reliable as saliva tests, which measure bio-available free-hormone levels, or 24-hour urine collection, which looks at what is excreted through metabolites over a 24 hour period. Once identified, single or multiple hormone deficiencies can be corrected by the use of bio-identical hormones, which have an anti-aging action by the nature of their activity.
The effect of these hormones is dose specific, however in nature more is not necessarily better – if the hormones are prescribed in too high a dosage, they can cause adverse effects. Many women, hearing of the great effects of progesterone, decide to self medicate. A word of caution here needs to be made – some progesterone products on the market have very little or no effect. Compounding pharmacies have a reliable and consistent product; however this would require a prescription from your doctor.
Bio-identical hormone therapy should never be taken orally as it can result in many unwanted side effects. Transdermal (through the skin via a cream) is much safer and more effective because it bypasses your liver and avoids many side effects. I have been very fortunate to learn a lot about hormones from my extraordinary friend Dr. Alvin Pettle - ObGyn. You can learn more about bio-identical hormone therapy from this world renowned expert by visiting his website www.drpettle.com
Take charge of your health today, be proactive and help others to prevent breast cancer NOW!
416.636.2916
312 Dolomite Dr. Suite #206 Toronto,
ON M3J 2N2
