Myths
of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)
by Dr. Loretta Lanphier, ND, CN HHP
You’ve heard about HRT and maybe even natural HRT, but you’re not
sure what the difference is, or why you are not told more about the differences.
You are not alone. Women have been made to believe that hot flashes are the worse
thing a woman can experience during her life. Let's realize that a woman can
get through hot flashes. What she may not get through are the side effects of
conventional HRT.
History of HRT
In 1938, Charles Dobbs discovered diethylstilbestrol (DES), supposedly the first
synthetic estrogen. Dobbs thought DES would solve the problems of menopause but
the AMA immediately began to make extravagant predictions that it would prevent
miscarriages and solve all problems of pregnancy as well. It was prescribed as
a “safe pregnancy” drug to prevent miscarriages. But by 1960, the
number of DES daughters having sex organ issues was up to 60 to 90% of all infertility
problems, miscarriages, and cervical cancer. Breast cancer in the mothers had
increased by 40%.
Next there was Robert Wilson’s “Feminine Forever” thesis that
menopause was an estrogen deficient disease. Insufficient estrogen was proposed
as the cause of all menopause symptoms. The drug industry immediately donated
$1.3 million to set up the Wilson Foundation for the sole purpose of developing
and promoting estrogen drugs based upon pregnant horse’s urine. Resulting
drug company funded studies were cited as inconclusive, or skewed results were
reported. Negatives were swept under the carpet as irrelevant.
In 1975 the New England Journal of Medicine published findings after studying
endrometrial cancer. Women who took estrogen had increased their risk of endrometrial
cancer by five times, even up to 14 times if they had used the drugs for seven
years. However it was found that if synthetic progesterone (called progestins)
were added to the estrogens the risk of this cancer would be reduced. This new
product was promoted by changing the name from Estrogen Replacement Therapy (ERT)
to HRT. In the same year, the American Cancer Society of 240,000 found a close
relationship between HRT and cancer. This study was generally ignored.
As the HRT industry gained strength, unsupported claims that it prevented osteoporosis
and heart disease arose. But side effects of HRT were beginning to become a bigger
problem than the menopause symptoms they were to solve. Now occurring was; migraines,
increased clotting, high stroke risk, mood swings, disrupted copper/zinc ratios
in the brain, fibroids, endometriosis, and sluggish blood circulation.
As the complex menopausal myths occurred, the natural health movement was gaining
strength as the Baby Boomers became educated, and many took a more proactive
approach to their health care needs. The natural medicine community followed
the estrogen myth developments and warned women of the consequences of HRT. The
position was taken that the body is not made for substances that are foreign.
How much more foreign can you get than with pregnant horse’s urine?
Pharmaceutical Companies
The traditional method of health care in the United States provided the pharmaceutical
industry lucrative markets. The potential market for patentable progestins is
vast--contraceptive pills, irregular menses, osteoporosis--literally every woman
through the age of puberty on, is a target for a sale.
Ample medical research regarding progesterone was carried on from the 1940's
through the 1960's, and amply reported in mainline, recognized medical literature.
Since the early 1970's, however, medical research became much more expensive
and the grants subsidizing progesterone research, or any unpatentable medicine
and treatment technique, dried up. Funds supported synthetic drugs, particularly
progestins.
If a pharmaceutical company is selling a product, the final product cannot be
a natural substance or they cannot patent it. This means that naturally occurring
substances cannot be patented. That is why pharmaceutical companies are not interested
in natural progesterone, nor will they sponsor any research to help further prove
its effectiveness. Progesterone is an over the counter product, easily produced
by companies who are not dependent upon pharmaceutical industry control.
Physician Dilemma
Contemporary physicians now know that estrogen is not the hormone to replace.
They are becoming increasingly aware that it is progesterone that is desperately
needed. As previously mentioned, synthetic estrogen products are formulated to
include synthetic progestins to offset some of the bad side effects of estrogen
dominance. This vicious cycle is just now beginning to be understood with the
advent of natural progesterone. When some physicians hear of the use of natural
progesterone, they wonder why none of their associates know about it or prescribe
it. When something is not commonly known, it must in some way be false and/or
unapproved. However, perfectly fine physicians have inquired about obtaining
natural progesterone for use by their wives or mother-in-law, not for their patients.
Fear perpetuates the reluctance to recommend natural progesterone.
Products use terms for estrogen and progestin, such as “similar to natural
hormones.” Many drug companies do derive these natural hormones from plants,
but then they have to change a molecule, so that it is not a naturally occurring
substance, to patent it. This change makes it foreign to our bodies, creating
the bad side effects. Be cautious. Physicians unfamiliar with natural health
practices and standards will sometimes call these products natural when prescribing
them.
If you are experiencing symptoms of menopause, be aware that when doctors do
lab tests for hormone levels, they typically find that women are low on estrogen.
However, the hormones are even lower in progesterone, which many doctors do not
even test for. Raising just the progesterone levels will usually balance out
the estrogen levels naturally in the body.
We are now more aware of how the health system works in this country. Natural
HRT will most likely never get positive acknowledgement from the allopathic (traditional
medicine) community. There is just not enough money to be made by using things
as simple as diet, exercise, stress management and bio-identical hormones.
Be Proactive
Many women now taking estrogen, or estrogen combined with progestins, are able
to discontinue their HRT. It is possible, that if adequate natural progesterone
levels are present, the body can produce estrogens. If you are taking HRT and
begin applying progesterone cream but do not lower your estrogen dosage, you
may experience symptoms of estrogen-dominance cited above. Take a hormone test
to see if your hormones are out of balance (this can be done in the privacy of
your own home). With your doctor's permission, lower your estrogen dose. If he
or she doesn’t agree with this reduction, get another opinion. Replace
your HRT with natural progesterone and after awhile you will have discontinued
your HRT.
If you have not done so already, read the other articles on hormones available
at this Web site. At Oasis Advanced Wellness, hormonal levels can be tested with
a simple and inexpensive saliva test. With these results, you can determine your
need for natural hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
You can find out more about the solutions in my eBook, Balancing
Your Hormones
Without Drugs…You Can Feel Good Again.
Loretta Lanphier, ND, CN, HHP is a Doctor of Naturopath, Clinical Nutritionist
and Holistic Health Practitioner in the Houston, TX area and CEO/President of
Oasis Advanced Wellness. A teacher, educator and author, she counsels Oasis Advanced
Wellness clients on the aspects of getting the body healthy and keeping the body
healthy. As a cancer survivor, she is able to relate extensively, both as a patient
and a practitioner, to clients suffering from disease. Dr. Lanphier has been
privileged to share her cancer survival story with hundreds of people during
seminars and lectures. Her passionate style of truth and straight-forwardnessin
an easy-to-understand format is very refreshing to even the most discerning of
audiences. Dr. Lanphier is the author of two books and many articles on health
conditions written from a natural/alternative medicine viewpoint. Dr. Lanphier
is dedicated to helping people create lasting changes in their health and enhancing
well-being through whole body nutritional balancing including physician strength
supplementation. Dr. Lanphier is Editor and contributor to the worldwide newsletter Alternative
Health & Healing.