The great HRT witch hunt rages on . . . but guess who’s funding the latest firing squad – Dr Fred Pescatore M.D.

Email Communication 18 January 2016

“If you ask me, the BEST doctors are signing prescriptions for bio-identical hormones — because they want what is best for their patients. . . ”

Dear Reader,

According to a survey conducted by the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) there has been a huge surge in the use of compounded hormones by menopausal women over the last few years.

I have been prescribing compounded hormones — otherwise known as bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) — since I first started practicing medicine. So it’s nice to know that many women are making that choice as well. Of course, a lot of the credit here probably goes to Suzanne Somers, who has been an outspoken advocate of BHRT. But hey, I don’t care who people listen to as long as they aren’t using harmful medications.

Of course, it comes as no surprise that this current trend of “natural over synthetic” has come with a hefty dose of backlash from mainstream doctors and the manufacturers of traditional, synthetic HRT who are afraid of losing business.

In fact, the powers-that-be are going to great lengths to denounce BHRT, saying it’s “experimental” and “risky.”

The latest example of this witch-hunt was on display at the recent 2015 meeting of the North American Menopause society (NAMS). During the meeting, NAMS held a discussion panel that spent an hour bashing the practice of recommending “unsafe and unapproved” compounded bioidentical hormones.

There are so many things wrong with that last statement I don’t know where to begin.

But before I go on, let me set the record straight.

1.Bio-identicals are neither unsafe, nor unproven
2.They are regulated by the FDA, and…
3.You need a prescription to get them.

The panel was really upset over the results from the survey I mentioned above, which revealed just how strong a foothold BHRT has taken in recent years.

The survey included women ranging in age from 40 to 84. Roughly 9% of the participants reported using some form of hormone replacement to relieve menopausal symptoms like hot flashes and vaginal dryness. And of that group, 41% reported using BHRT.
This panel also wasn’t thrilled that 42% of women who are already using BHRT consider it much safer than Big Pharma’s synthetic HRT therapies. Even 25% of women who use conventional hormones considered BHRT safer!

According to the discussion panel, NAMS is trying hard to debunk these statistics, and consider them a “fantasy.”
But the only fantasy here is the world these Big Pharma groupies are living in.

What about the bag of tricks called Premarin (which is really pregnant mares urine) that gave millions of women breast cancer from 1980-2008? Was that just a fantasy?

But guess who produces Premarin? Wyeth, which is a subsidiary of Pfizer. And guess who funded this firing squad disguised as a “discussion panel”?

You got it — Pfizer.

The reality here is that Big Pharma bigwigs want profits… at whatever cost to patients.

One panelist remarked that “even good doctors are capitulating” by signing prescriptions for BHRT.

If you ask me, the BEST doctors are signing prescriptions for bio-identical hormones — because they want what is best for their patients.

But the naysayers don’t even like the word “bio-identical,” and say the FDA doesn’t consider this an acceptable term.

Well, this is how the Endocrine Society defines bioidentical hormones: “compounds that have exactly the same chemical and molecular structure as hormones that are produced in the human body.”

So what BHRT opponents really think “isn’t acceptable” is that BHRT is vastly cheaper, compounded for you and your individual blood work, and gives you the right to make your own healthcare decisions.

If that isn’t acceptable, I don’t know what is.

However, when all is said and done, any hormone therapy should be used under the supervision of a knowledgeable holistic practitioner. As I discussed in my April 2, 2013 Reality Health Check article “The benefits of hormone replacement therapy,” bioidentical hormones can increase the risk of stroke or breast cancer. But that risk is much, much smaller than it is with conventional, synthetic HRT – especially if women receive bioidentical hormones before they turn 60, within a decade following menopause.

But if you decide BHRT isn’t right for you, there are also a few other remedies to consider. One recent study showed that Mediterranean-style eating habits cut hot flashes and night sweats by just over 20 percent.

My New Hamptons Health Miracle is very similar to the Mediterranean diet. It’s rich in lean protein, fresh fruits and veggies, and healthy monounsaturated fats. And it’s absolutely deprivation-free.

I know I’ve said it before, but if you make this “diet” a way of life, you really can’t go wrong.

Another solution for hot flashes, which I’ve also mentioned before, is Pycnogenol(tm). One recent study showed a daily 60-mg dose of Pycnogenol delivered significant improvements in menopause symptoms-especially hot flashes-in just 12 weeks.

Until next time,

Dr. Fred

Sources:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/852412

http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/…/premarin-controversy-cont…/

http://alternative-doctor.com/proble…/big-pharma-conspiracy/

“Fruit, Mediterranean-style, and high-fat and -sugar diets are associated with the risk of night sweats and hot flushes in midlife: results from a prospective cohort study.” Am J Clin Nutr.2013 May;97(5):1092-9.

“Effect of Low-dose French Maritime Pine Bark Extract on Climacteric Syndrome in 170 Perimenopausal Women: A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial.” J Reprod Med. 2013;58:39-46.

Prevention the best medicine

Another gem from “The Business Times” in 2002. Marion Gluck, then visiting Singapore, talks so much good sense about integrative medicine in this interview. Yet where has it all gone in Singapore?

Singapore could be (was to some extent) such a great centre for medical tourism for those seeking integrative care in this part of the world but instead now those who live here have to travel overseas for care like this. Meanwhile Dr Gluck continues to prescribe the medicine we all long for from her clinic in London.

Prevention the best medicine
Corinne Kerk
Business Times, Saturday, 19 January 2002, Page: 15
Singapore Press Holdings Limited

Wellness should be the key concern of medical bodies which should concentrate on preventing rather than curing illnesses. Dr Marion Gluck shares her views with CORINNE KERK

SHE was sitting by the window when we entered the room, staring out onto the busy road below, her knees pulled to her chest. Her short, curly hair is in a state of funky disarray, with some white strands peeping out in that “I don’t care if I show my age” sort of way.

But she jumps to her feet quickly when she sees us and her face breaks into a big, bright smile.

Meet Marion Gluck, born in Poland, trained in medicine in Hamburg, worked in Germany, Nepal and Iraq (yes, Iraq) and now an Australian citizen and passionate advocate of holistic preventive medicine.

“I have healthy women who want to know what they can do to stay healthy, fit and well,” says the Sydney-based Dr Gluck who was in town recently. “And the way I work is I deal more with wellness than illness.”

The 51-year-old first went into medicine because she likes people and doesn’t like illnesses.

“But when I finished studying and started working in hospitals, I saw that medicine can be unkind, invasive and painful,” says the mother of a 16-year-old son. “Doctors are meant to heal but we cause pain. And some diagnoses and treatments are painful, but patients don’t have a choice, they feel like victims and I wasn’t comfortable.”

The other push factor is the widespread use of prescriptive drugs, which she says causes too many side effects and other illnesses.

“It led me into holistic or integrative medicine, which encompasses everything about the person,” says Dr Gluck. “This integrates all modalities to help a person, whether it is counselling, lifestyle, diet or Chinese medicine. There are so many roads leading to Rome. So you can integrate the best of all worlds and individualise treatments.”

For starters, Dr Gluck says it is necessary to spend a lot of time with patients, talking to them and asking and answering questions.

“Patients don’t want to be treated as symptoms,” she emphasises. “They need to be educated. Then they will feel empowered because they’re responsible for their health, and they have choices and can do something about it. It’s different from just going to a doctor.”

This means trying to ascertain if there are problems patients are facing at home or at work and how these affect them.

“Of course, I use labs and biology and so on, but a lot boils down to bedside manner, and long consultations do not make money, while testing does.”

Indeed, Dr Gluck – who was formerly president of the Australian Overseas Trained Doctors’ Association and one of its political activists – is especially critical of the corporatisation of medical care, and of sending patients for too many tests.

“Medicine is becoming corporatised and patients don’t like it because they become a number,” she says in indignation. “They may have more beautiful rooms and the doctors have better computers, but it’s no longer personalised. Then doctors need as many patients to go through their clinics, take X-rays, do lab tests and see their specialists as possible. Patients fall into this and the bottom line is profit.”

Interestingly, however, Dr Gluck – who specialises in women’s health and in particular, natural hormone replacement therapy (nHRT) – is now part of a grouping of holistic healthcare practitioners in Sydney. The centre for integrative medicine brings together practitioners such as doctors, naturopaths, masseurs, and biological dentists. Basically, people who share the philosophy of holistic healthcare and who will only use “materials as natural and biological or organic as possible”.

But will they not fall into the same trap as corporatised medical groups which she finds so disagreeable?

“No,” she claims. “Because we charge more. With corporatised medical groups, the health insurance in Australia covers the costs and patients don’t have to pay. But with us, there’s a gap between what the insurance pays and our charges, and when patients pay, they value what they’re getting.”

She points out that there are also compounding chemists in Australia who are “going back to the old-fashioned way of tailor-making medicines” for individual patients.
And in her area of speciality, that is, nHRT, she uses hormones that are bio-identical to those of human’s.

“I do prescribe antibiotics where necessary and I do quite a lot of testing because it gets me information, but I avoid invasive tests or those that involve a lot of radiation,” she says. “I use both conventional and less conventional methods such as blood, saliva, hair and stool tests.

The benefit of integrative medicine is that you use all that is available as long as they’re safe and there are no side effects. There is no dogma.”

And if there are side effects?

“Then it’s not working,” she says firmly. “We always try through lifestyle, diet, vitamins and nutrients to enhance well-being. Or if you need to take medication, don’t take a high dosage so you can limit the amount of harm you may do through your treatment. Otherwise, for instance, if you take an anti-inflammatory medicine for joint pain, you may get a stomach ulcer and then have to treat that as well.”

And if someone is depressed, anti-depressants shouldn’t be the first course of action, she feels.

“You use all methods till they don’t respond, then you give them a prescription. It’s a lot more hard work, but it’s more rewarding. And the whole idea is that you inform them that they have a choice and it’s many things.”

But most of all, she believes it’s important for medical bodies to monitor health and well- being and concentrate on preventing rather than curing illnesses.

“I hope government bodies will realise you have to spend money on prevention, and educating and empowering the population,” says Dr Gluck. “And government and health insurance should pay for health prevention because it’s ultimately much cheaper.”

Come to grips with your health – Cheah Ui-Hoon ”Business Times, Executive Lifestyle”

This is a very interesting excerpt from a longer article published in ‘’The Business Times’’ in 2002.

In those days Singapore was supporting compounded hormones. Many people, male and female, have benefitted since then. Why is there now a witch hunt against them in Singapore?

Marion Gluck, who was spreading the word in Singapore at the time this article was published, has blazed the trail with bioidentical hormones and now works from her clinic in London. (See http://www.mariongluckclinic.com/)

Come to grips with your health

Cheah Ui-Hoon Business Times, Executive Lifestyle
Friday, 06 December 2002 Page: 18
Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.

. . .

THE recent Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study on the dangers of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in the United States has decisively dunked HRT as the miracle treatment for ageing and menopausal women. This might come as news to most, but not to holistic medical practitioners.

In fact, the findings made on synthetic hormones like Premarine Provera now throws the spotlight on natural, or bio-identical, remedies that have been around for 50 years, but which are less well-known.

Dr Marion Gluck, a women’s health specialist, points out that there is a safe, natural alternative for women, and men, who are suffering from symptoms of menopause and andropause such as hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, and depression.

The German-trained doctor, currently based in an integrative medical centre in Australia, is spreading the word about Natural HRT (NHRT) in Singapore. She’s been to Singapore four times already, giving talks on NHRT at Shambhala Yoga School. ‘Women have been given a raw deal, because they’ve been exposed to synthetic hormones which have higher risks of side effects, not knowing that the safer alternative has been available,’ says Dr Gluck. Also, synthetic hormones have been given to women as a one-size-fits-all solution, and isn’t customised to individual needs.

‘It’s really important for doctors and patients to know that there’s an alternative on offer,’ says Dr Gluck. One of the reasons for this lack of information is that natural hormones – referring not to the source of hormone but to the actual hormonal structure – aren’t commercially viable for drug companies to produce since they can’t patent it.

Natural, also called bio-identical, hormones are derived from wild yam and soy, and unlike mass-produced hormones, they are custom-made to match the exact needs of the individual. The delivery systems are also safer and less taxing on the liver, as bio-identical hormones come in the form of creams and troches, which are like lozenges. In NHRT, the hormones estrogen, progesterone and testosterone have identical chemical structures of the hormones they replace, not being artificial or synthetic.

‘We would prescribe physiological doses, which are usually quite low, and that is effective enough,’ says Dr Gluck, who’s been in medical practice for 24 years. Practising integrative medicine, Dr Gluck would also prescribe or refer patients to other forms of treatment such as acupuncture or traditional chinese medicine if those are necessary or better-suited for the patient. ‘Instead of disease-based healthcare, as is now practised in the West, we have to turn around and concentrate more on prevention. It’s not just to keep a healthy constituency, but also to curb rising health costs,’ she says.

In the future, it’ll be easier for Singaporeans to get NHRT next year when a local company sets up the region’s first compounding pharmacy. Specialist Compounding Centre will operate from Camden Medical Centre, specifically for NHRT prescriptions.

Thomas Khoo, the head pharmacist, explains that a compounding pharmacy is basically like how the pharmacies of old used to be, compounding different formulas to meet individual needs.

One reason why the compounding pharmacy hasn’t existed here is because of lack of demand, but Mr Khoo thinks that it’s a matter of awareness. ‘We’re focusing first on NHRT prescriptions, and will venture into other areas once we’ve established the pharmacy,’ he says.

Dr Marion Gluck can be reached at drgluck@yourhealth.com.au. Other NHRT practitioners include Shirin Jacob Clinic for Women, tel: 6733-7716 and Dr Ian Lee, tel: 6734-3831.

Lavish trips laid on by drugs firms to ‘sway’ NHS staff

This article in The Telegraph, 22 July 2015, explores how “health service officials earn thousands organising and attending extravagant events where companies promote their products.

. . .

There have been concerns for a number of years. In 2013, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry claimed that both NHS and private staff were paid £40 million for consultancies and sponsorships and other interactions with drug businesses.”

Does this only happen in the UK?

Read the article at:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/nhs/11755884/Lavish-trips-laid-on-by-drugs-firms-to-sway-NHS-staff.html

 

Of course if a product such as compounded bioidentical hormones cannot be patented, it will not be included in such marketing drives and of course it does not make money for drug companies . . .

Getting to the root of female pattern baldness

Using T3 and/or compounded bioidentical hormone cream

Extracted from an email communication from Dr. Glenn S. Rothfeld, M.D.

21 July 2014 (Bolding by HCS)

When looking for the reasons behind female hair loss, there are many different factors you have to consider. Hair loss can be triggered by harsh and toxic products that women often use in their hair that can cause thinning and follicle damage over time.

And certainly there are plenty of prescription drugs that have been linked to hair loss and thinning. The short list includes antibiotics, antidepressants, statins, proton pump inhibitors, immunosuppressant drugs and medicines to prevent blood clots. When I’m treating a female patient with hair loss, I always take a look at which medications she may be taking.

But, of course, the most common cause of hair loss among menopausal women is the hormone changes they experience. Estrogen plays a vital role in keeping hair full and strong. But as estrogen levels decrease during menopause — and hormones like testosterone become more dominant — you can experience hair loss.

And keep in mind that hair loss may just be the most visible sign of how hormonal changes are affecting your body. Low estrogen levels can weaken your bones and even affect your mood.

Thyroid is another hormone to look at when there is female pattern baldness. In many cases, I give a small dose of T3, the active form of thyroid, to help boost the metabolism of the hair follicles.

In some cases, I have a compounding pharmacist make up a penetrating cream with progesterone and T3 (the active form of thyroid hormone) and have that rubbed into the scalp nightly.

When dealing with something as serious as hormone replacement, it’s important to copy nature as closely as possible. That’s why I use bio-identical hormone replacement therapy, which uses hormones that have an identical molecular structure to what you produce in your own body.

Thanks for all the great questions I’ve been receiving. Remember, you can e-mail me your question directly at askdrrothfeld@nutritionandhealing.com

To Your Health,

Dr. Glenn S. Rothfeld, M.D.

What about compounded hormones?

This excerpt comes from an article entitled What are bioidentical hormones? first printed in the August 2006 issue of the Harvard Women’s Health Watch

Much of the confusion about bioidentical hormones comes from the mistaken notion that they must be custom-mixed at a compounding pharmacy. But custom compounding is necessary only when a clinician wants to prescribe hormones in combinations, doses, or preparations (such as lozenges or suppositories) not routinely available — or to order hormones not approved for women, such as testosterone and DHEA. Compounding pharmacies use some of the same ingredients that are made into FDA-approved products, but their products are not FDA-approved or regulated.

One size doesn’t fit all in women’s health. Compounded hormones can certainly help to individualize treatment, but if you’re considering them, be aware of the following:

•Compounded drugs are mixed to order, so there are no tests of their safety, effectiveness, or dosing consistency.

•There is no proof that compounded hormones have fewer side effects or are more effective than FDA-approved hormone preparations.

•Some clinicians who prescribe compounded hormones order saliva tests to monitor hormone levels. Most experts say these tests are of little use because there’s no evidence that hormone levels in saliva correlate with response to treatment in postmenopausal women.

•There is no scientific evidence that the compounded preparations Biest and Triest, which are largely estriol, are safer or more effective than other bioidentical and FDA-approved formulations. Some proponents claim that estriol decreases breast cancer risk and doesn’t increase endometrial cancer risk. Both claims are unproven.

•Heath insurers don’t always cover compounded drugs.

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t consider compounded hormones. Just realize that, in a real sense, you’re going to be an experiment of one. Unless your clinician has considerable experience with bioidentical hormones and a particular compounding pharmacy, you’re better off with a prescription for commercially available hormones, many of which are bioidentical.

See the whole article at http://www.health.harvard.edu/womens-health/what-are-bioidentical-hormones

HCS: We do have doctors in Singapore who have “considerable experience with bioidentical hormones” but their ability to help us is being curtailed.

 

Women Empowerment: Dispelling Medical Myths

Dr Helene B Leonetti invites us to share this excellent article, posted 16 June 2014. (Bolding by HCS)

The last fifty years have seen great changes in medicine, and being a part of the journey since 1961, I would like to offer a perspective.  Women’s’ health has been in the forefront of my practice, and there are two issues about which I would like to focus: thyroid health, and hormone replacement therapy.

As we get more and more aware of epigenetics and how everything impacts everything else, we can now almost smugly agree that the dietary, environmental, hormonal, increased toxic load, and emotional connection to thyroid function is real.  Yet, the paltry testing and interpretation of those tests have not changed in these last 50 years.  It is a given that women experience far more thyroid disease than men: perhaps 10:1.  And yet, we continue to measure TSH and occasionally free T4 to assess the health of this power organ located interestingly in the area of the fifth chakra.  The testing so essential includes free T3, reverse T3, TPO and thyroglobulin antibodies, ferritin, iodine, vitamin B12, and vitamin D (25 hydroxyvitamin D).  And the old values of TSH (0.5-5.5 now in some labs lowering the range to 0.4-4.5) is still absurdly too large a spectrum, the higher the number, the more underactive the thyroid.  Those of us practicing functional more integrative medicine desire the range more closely to 0.3-2.0;  yet the endocrine world has yet to adopt these more appropriate levels.  And even with the ideal TSH without looking at antibodies, and the other aforementioned levels, some 2-3 of every ten women I evaluate have abnormal findings.  

Adrenal dysfunction measured in saliva is closely aligned with thyroid function and it, too should be evaluated, because one cannot replace thyroid without addressing adrenal fatigue, which is beyond the scope of this writing. We know that heavy metal intoxication, chronic candida from environmental mold, pesticides, gluten sensitivity all impact thyroid health.  Interestingly, the more physiological T4/T3 preparation, known as Armour thyroid, was replaced with Synthroid (T4 alone) with the expectation that the body would know how to take the inactive T4 and convert it to the active T3.  Our bodies are magnificent and magical and if left to their own devices could do this, providing we give the necessary cofactors to assist liver detoxification and conversion to the active form.  But since we still do not accept the vital role of ingredients provided by pure untainted food and nutrients, we cannot put all the pieces together, and continue the band aid approach to therapy.  The important role of compounding pharmacies comes into play here, as Armour thyroid has gone through some struggles with availability and quality, and so many physicians are choosing to have thyroid compounded from porcine thyroid powder under strict regulations, without fillers and additives, often harmful for patients with multiple chemical sensitivities.

Which is my Segway (sic) into hormone replacement for women.  One must remember history so as not to repeat it, said Santayana.  Back in the 1960s an infamous book written by then president of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Robert Wilson, MD, titled ‘Forever Feminine’ extolled the benefits of Premarin (pregnant mares’ urine) an estrogen which became not only the largest selling hormone, but drug in the industry.  This well publicized book by the Wyeth Company who sold Premarin was read by millions of women who flocked to their doctors requesting the miracle hormone that would prevent them from becoming dried up sexless hags, aging with little ability to attract a loving partner.  

This drug which was produced by torturing magnificent mares and their fouls (that story told most eloquently by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) became so profitable and ingested by hundreds of thousands of women, and because it was ordered as estrogen alone, approximately four per cent of women developed uterine cancer.   Back to the drawing board, our astute forefathers realized that if a woman still had an intact uterus, she required the other important hormone, progesterone, to balance the stimulatory effects of the estrogen.  Thus was born MPA (medroxyprogesterone acetate) a synthetic progestogen patentable (operative word here) and it was cleverly marketed as Prempro.  The issue here is that synthetic progesterone has many side effects (see the PDR) and many women began complaining, such that many albeit unnecessary hysterectomies were performed so that women needed only to take estrogen.

This is where the medieval solution to this problem originated and continues to his day. We now know that synthetic progestin is actually more carcinogenic than estrogen, and to the credit of the pharmaceutical industry, a more bio identical progesterone capsule, named Prometrium, has been added to the tool kit of my colleagues.  And if estrogen, and a more gentle plant based form which we now have in pills, patches, sprays, gels were always ordered with the more  balancing natural progesterone, I may not be writing this.  But this is not the case.  Despite the fact that God gave women two major hormones, estrogen and progesterone, and to a lesser amount, testosterone, most physicians stay stuck in the 1970s thinking that if there is no uterus, there is no need for progesterone, especially since we are most familiar with the synthetic version.

My final observation: my profession continues to denigrate bio identical hormones, compounded specifically by pharmacists trained to do so, claiming they can be dangerous, tainted, and found to be dose erratic, according to some critics.  Yet for 25 years I have measured hormones in the saliva, and along with a comprehensive thyroid panel, AND most importantly, my patient’s story, I have been able to formulate small, appropriate doses of these hormones, preferably administered through the skin or in the vagina, thus avoiding first pass through the liver and avoiding cytokines and clotting factors which can be affected by estrogen pills.  And the one size fits all hormones provided by the pharmaceutical industry cannot come close to addressing each patient’s unique biochemistry.  

It is time that we release our egos and righteous indignation about whether we are in the conventional or alternative camps of medical practice.  We are here to serve our patients, and when we integrate the best of both worlds, those whom we serve benefit.  I just had back surgery: not angel dust or acupuncture, though I certainly gave those attention: this is a metaphor for how we need us all.

Helene B Leonetti, MD

www.helenebleonettimd.com

Point/Counterpoint: The Case for Bioidentical Hormones – Steven F. Hotze, M.D. & Donald P. Ellsworth, M.D.

Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons Volume 13 Number 2 Summer 2008

This very academic article (with 66 academic references) makes interesting reading for anyone looking for “evidence” regarding the benefits of compounded bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.

Some snippets:      

        Compounding Pharmacies

The key issue is the use of human hormones at the appropriate dose—not the type of pharmacy. Most physicians using bioidentical hormones have a significant percentage of prescriptions filled at compounding pharmacies rather than non-compounding retail pharmacies. This is because compounding affords advantages such as customized dosing, so that the lowest effective dose can be used, and allows the prescribing of hormones such as estriol that are not available at non-compounding retail pharmacies.

.  .  .

Wyeth, the maker of Prempro, has been a leader in opposing the use of compounding pharmacies and has effectively petitioned the FDA to assist in eliminating competition. Could this be related to the fact that Wyeth made more than $1 billion annually from the sale of Premarin and Prempro before theWHI study? These drugs are still on the market although they are known to increase cancer risk.

The Importance of the Identical Structure

Molecular structure determines activity. The smallest of changes can completely change the physiologic effect. Consider testosterone and estrone, whose structures are shown side by side in Figure 1. The mere existence of an effect similar to that produced by a hormone does not make a compound a hormone. If it did, plastic would be a hormone. For example, bisphenol A (BPA) is an estrogen receptor agonist. When BPA binds with the estrogen receptor, the complex so formed interacts with DNAand can lower sperm counts and increase the risk of developmental problems, cancer, schizophrenia, neurologic disorders, and weight gain. The interaction with the hormone receptor does not make BPA a hormone—but rather the hormone mimicry interferes with normal physiologic processes, causing a wide variety of adverse effects.

Conclusions

The use of exogenous chemicals as hormone substitutes has been shown to be unsafe and should be stopped. Hormone supplementation should be done with compounds identical to the natural molecules. Although more research is needed, there is already evidence of the benefits of hormone supplementation in the proper doses and in proper balance. The future of medicine is in physiology rather than pharmacology.

Read the whole article at http://www.jpands.org/vol13no2/hotze.pdf