Bioidentical Hormones

Fears And Concerns

I recently had an email conversation with a patient of mine here in New York that illustrates a common misconception women have about worsening fibroids and higher incidence of breast cancer and their possible relationship to the use of bioidentical hormones.

Please read further and feel free to share the link to this page with forums, discussion groups or women's health communities anywhere. The point is to help one another spread this information so women everywhere will benefit.

Following is an e-mail exchange between one of my patients and me regarding a topic that has some women rightly concerned about their health.

The issue is one of worsening fibroids and an increased incidence of breast cancer after starting a treatment of bioidentical hormones.

Patient Email: (used by permission)

Dear Erika,

I was browsing the Suzanne Somers chat room last night and I came across several women who started taking bio-identicals within the last 2 years and one developed breast cancer and another developed enlarged bleeding fibroids.

Both were absolutely convinced the cause was the hormones.

What do you think?

The woman who developed the fibroids asked her doctor and the doctor felt there was no connection. A lot of these women are following the same course of treatment that Suzanne Somers follows. She takes the hormones orally and cycles herself like her body would and she does not use the progesterone the entire month. Could the unopposed estrogen have something to do with these women developing these problems?

Looking forward to your answer and to seeing you next week.
D.

Dear D.
So hard to make a reasonable statement about this. There are so many variables. While you know I don't endorse Suzanne's doctor's approach to perpetual cycling, I would not haste to say it is what caused cancer or fibroids. It is all about the individual person. Keep in mind hormones are only a part of the picture and must always be placed into proper perspective.

Let's talk more about this when we meet next week.

Best
Erika

When I gave this topic more thought it dawned on me that I needed to share my response with all of you because it is vitally important that women fully understand the relationship between bioidentical hormones and worsening fibroids and breast cancer.

First of all it's important to open the conversation in a forum that is physician led not just because I am a physician, but because I see and communicate with women on bioidentical hormones on a daily basis and fear for their health.

Suzanne Somers has put bioidentical hormones on the popular consumer map with her book. While I applaud her achievement I am concerned for the millions of women who in search of the magic relief and promise of life improvement through the use of bioidentical hormones cannot find good support and medical advice from the medical community and often turn to uninformed and uncaring practitioners.

Every day in my office women come to me and tell me horror stories of doctors, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, holistic practitioners and other â??self-proclaimed' experts who give them bioidentical hormones with often disastrous effects.

Conventional medicine has chosen to disregard bioidentical hormones at this point. We must accept this and turn away from them until they see the need for their involvement and the results begin to speak for themselves.

But the results will not speak well if in their desperation women turn to non-professionals to get bioidentical hormones.

As many of you already know, I believe bioidentical hormones are far superior and safer than synthetic hormone replacement therapy. I have personally used them for many years and have treated thousands of women with them. My methods and techniques of use involve transdermal cream form, in unit doses and always using progesterone along with only estradiol.

I also use testosterone, DHEA, thyroid medications, supplements and significant lifestyle changes- diet, exercise, stress management and sleep to achieve the goals of improving life, eliminating symptoms and getting women to be and stay healthy.

My results are amazing because I listen to the patient, I only treat one patient at a time and follow the patient's lead.

Because each one of us is an individual and will react differently to hormones we are all tempted to follow a doctor who prescribes individual dosing.

This doesn't always work.

Standardizing the dosing and then teaching the patient to adjust the dose is the best way to accomplish great results.

But to get them you need to work with an expert.

Do not work with a doctor who has seen fewer than 500 patients and who is following the directions of either a pharmacist or a self-proclaimed guru.

Compounding pharmacies are not always the best place to get your bioidentical hormones because for the most part they do not have the experience necessary to treat you.

A pharmacist is not a doctor or nurse so he/she does not have the training to treat you.

Be careful of something that sounds too good to be true. It usually is. Do not become so desperate you take anything you are given.

Just because a celebrity endorses a product doesn't mean they are the expert. I have spoken to Suzanne and she does not profess to be the expert. She just wants people to know how bioidentical hormones have helped her and how you too should investigate the option. She recommends doctors but does not prescribe herself.

You need to realize the importance of finding the right doctor for you.

I personally do not cycle everyone who comes through the door just because Suzanne is being cycled. I also do not work with tablet or pills while Suzanne's doctors do.

It does not make me right and them wrong.

It just represents a spectrum of options to choose from.

As a well informed woman, you need to know enough about bioidentical hormones to not become a victim of a marketing ploy but rather a healthy and vibrant person.