My research of hormones and their role in humans has opened my eyes not only for my own health but for all people. I just finished reading the September 2009 issue of Vanity Fair magazine that did a special edition dedicated to Farrah Fawcett that spoke about her life and her cancer. On page 310 of the article a paragraph stood out to me--it wouldn't stand out to anybody else I bet. It says; "O'Neal cites several reasons for his breakup with Fawcett, starting with menopause. "I believe Farrah was going through some kind of change," he says, "I don't have a change of life, I was always a jerk. But they're hard work, these divas: I was sick of it, and I was unappreciated. I just don't think she liked me very much. So I excused myself, and I was lucky enough to meet this young girl. She was more of a daughter to me than a lover, and my own daughter had flown the coop, so here was this replacement...
Now this paragraph didn't stand out to me because of what O'Neal did, what stood out to me was that Farrah had no hormones! She was around 48 at this time of her life. She had her only son Redmond at age 40. So, knowing how hormones operate she probably lost her estrogen and progesterone rapidly between 40 and 48 with full cessation of everything apparent by age 48. The significance of this is that Farrah had no hormone protection which is an open doorway for cells to go uncontrolled. Her documentary is self evidence that chemotherapy does not "cure cancer" and did not do her any favors. In the New York Times, Alessandra Stanley chastised the network because the documentary "never made the public service point that HPV is a common cause of this type of cancer." My point is that 20 years without her hormones at normal physiological blood levels might have contributed to her getting cancer in the first place. I know I can't prove that. Nobody can. But, we already have proved that by suppressing our hormones with low dose estrogen, synthetic or not and combining it with synthetic progestin DOES increase our risk for cancer(s).
Hormones should be replaced in humans when they decline or don't function properly or the body has to compensate and age faster than it might otherwise do. We know that women without estrogen are at an increased risk for heart disease and alzheimers. Isn't that enough? Apparently not. Women also get depressed, can't sleep, gain weight, become insulin resistant, get osteoporosis, are always tired, have no sex drive, migraines, anxiety, heart palpitations, hot flashes, night sweats, constipation, diarrhea, irritable bowels, gastritis, increased urinary infections....do I need to keep going?
Women, start researching the truth about your hormones. Stop listening to Big Pharma trying to sell you on the next "quick fix" pill, patch, or idea. Let's get educated together and CHANGE THE STANDARD OF CARE FOR WOMEN!
Call my office to set up an appointment or email me 815-476-5210 or jones.gretchen@gmail.com
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Join The Revolution
Women please ask your doctor to check your hormone levels. If you are still cycling get them checked on Day 12 of your menstrual cycle and if they are not in the range of 350-550 pg/ml then you are probably deficient in estrogen and not having ovulatory menstrual cycles! Low levels of estrogen in the body unopposed by progesterone is what leaves your body vulnerable to disease and dis-ease! Don't treat the symptoms. Treat the problem. Replace your hormones at levels that mimic a healthy, fertile, cycling female and you will feel the difference. Your symptoms disappear!
Call my office to set up an appointment or email me 815-476-5210 or jones.gretchen@gmail.com
Call my office to set up an appointment or email me 815-476-5210 or jones.gretchen@gmail.com
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Mammography May Mean Over-Diagnosis Of Breast Cancer
Mammography May Mean Over-Diagnosis Of Breast Cancer
Dear Reader,
Today breast cancer is the second leading cause of death in women, after lung cancer.
As a result, a yearly mammogram has become common for women over 40, or anyone at high risk of developing this dangerous, disfiguring disease.
Now that programs like this are in place, experts had expected that the number of cases of advanced breast cancer would drop off, but that's not happening.
Instead the incidence of breast cancer seems to have gone up since widespread screening became part of our yearly exams. Why?
Women know that early detection of breast cancer can save lives, but that doesn't make going for that yearly mammogram any less nerve wracking or uncomfortable.
We endure the testing because we've been told we need to find lumps when they're too small to feel or bring symptoms, before they have a chance to grow and cause trouble.
But do all cancers cause problems?
Late last year a large Norwegian study of mammography screening for breast cancer found that some invasive cancers might spontaneously regress over time, leaving no sign that they were ever present in a woman's body.
The study authors pointed out, "This raises the possibility that the natural course of some screen-detected invasive breast cancers is to spontaneously regress."
Makes you wonder, now that we can screen for it, if breast cancer isn't over diagnosed or over treated.
This latest BMJ report citing an over-diagnosis rate for invasive breast cancer of 35% could truly have you re-thinking that yearly mammogram.
Besides breast cancer, over-diagnosis has also been mentioned for cancer of the prostate as well as neuroblastoma, melanoma, thyroid cancer and lung cancer.
The latest work on over-diagnosis comes from researchers out of the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen.
The team looked at the findings of studies that spanned a 14-year period. 7 years before public mammography screenings were available, and 7 years after government run mammography-screening programs were in place in five different countries (United Kingdom, Canada, New South Wales, Australia, Manitoba, Sweden and areas in Norway)
They found an over-diagnosis rate of 52% for all cancers, 35% for invasive breast cancer.
The data shows a jump in breast cancer incidence just after the screening programs were put in place.
What this work suggests, as did the Norwegian study before it, that perhaps not all cancers need to be treated, some might grow too slowly to affect a patient and others may resolve on their own.
It's important to know that no doctor or current screening technique can tell the difference between a cancer that's dangerous and one that might not be.
In a BMJ editorial that's published along with the research, professor of medicine Dr. H. Gilbert Welch of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Research recognizes the problem of over-diagnosis, understanding the trauma and terror a woman endures after being given such news by her doctor.
Surgery and chemotherapy bring their own set of difficulties that are physically demanding and emotionally draining, and a terrible trial for patients and families. Especially those whose cancers might not have needed to be treated at all.
While this latest study is still not an excuse, or recommendation, to put off your yearly mammogram, it does raise some rather nagging questions.
Until we know more, each woman has to decide for herself, keeping in mind the words of breast cancer experts.
"We do know that breast cancer survival has increased, and we do know that screening increases survival," points out Dr. Richard J. Bleicher, a breast cancer surgeon with Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. "Some of that screening has let us detect earlier cancers."
To your good health and replace your hormones that mimic a healthy, fertile, cycling, female!
Call my office to set up an appointment or email me 815-476-5210 or jones.gretchen@gmail.com
Dear Reader,
Today breast cancer is the second leading cause of death in women, after lung cancer.
As a result, a yearly mammogram has become common for women over 40, or anyone at high risk of developing this dangerous, disfiguring disease.
Now that programs like this are in place, experts had expected that the number of cases of advanced breast cancer would drop off, but that's not happening.
Instead the incidence of breast cancer seems to have gone up since widespread screening became part of our yearly exams. Why?
Women know that early detection of breast cancer can save lives, but that doesn't make going for that yearly mammogram any less nerve wracking or uncomfortable.
We endure the testing because we've been told we need to find lumps when they're too small to feel or bring symptoms, before they have a chance to grow and cause trouble.
But do all cancers cause problems?
Late last year a large Norwegian study of mammography screening for breast cancer found that some invasive cancers might spontaneously regress over time, leaving no sign that they were ever present in a woman's body.
The study authors pointed out, "This raises the possibility that the natural course of some screen-detected invasive breast cancers is to spontaneously regress."
Makes you wonder, now that we can screen for it, if breast cancer isn't over diagnosed or over treated.
This latest BMJ report citing an over-diagnosis rate for invasive breast cancer of 35% could truly have you re-thinking that yearly mammogram.
Besides breast cancer, over-diagnosis has also been mentioned for cancer of the prostate as well as neuroblastoma, melanoma, thyroid cancer and lung cancer.
The latest work on over-diagnosis comes from researchers out of the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen.
The team looked at the findings of studies that spanned a 14-year period. 7 years before public mammography screenings were available, and 7 years after government run mammography-screening programs were in place in five different countries (United Kingdom, Canada, New South Wales, Australia, Manitoba, Sweden and areas in Norway)
They found an over-diagnosis rate of 52% for all cancers, 35% for invasive breast cancer.
The data shows a jump in breast cancer incidence just after the screening programs were put in place.
What this work suggests, as did the Norwegian study before it, that perhaps not all cancers need to be treated, some might grow too slowly to affect a patient and others may resolve on their own.
It's important to know that no doctor or current screening technique can tell the difference between a cancer that's dangerous and one that might not be.
In a BMJ editorial that's published along with the research, professor of medicine Dr. H. Gilbert Welch of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Research recognizes the problem of over-diagnosis, understanding the trauma and terror a woman endures after being given such news by her doctor.
Surgery and chemotherapy bring their own set of difficulties that are physically demanding and emotionally draining, and a terrible trial for patients and families. Especially those whose cancers might not have needed to be treated at all.
While this latest study is still not an excuse, or recommendation, to put off your yearly mammogram, it does raise some rather nagging questions.
Until we know more, each woman has to decide for herself, keeping in mind the words of breast cancer experts.
"We do know that breast cancer survival has increased, and we do know that screening increases survival," points out Dr. Richard J. Bleicher, a breast cancer surgeon with Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. "Some of that screening has let us detect earlier cancers."
To your good health and replace your hormones that mimic a healthy, fertile, cycling, female!
Call my office to set up an appointment or email me 815-476-5210 or jones.gretchen@gmail.com
Monday, August 10, 2009
ASPARTAME POISONING (something other than hormones)
In October of 2001, a woman started getting very sick. She had stomach spasms and she was having a hard time getting around. Walking was a major chore. It took everything she had just to get out of bed; she was in so much pain. By March 2002, she had undergone several tissue and muscle biopsies and was on 24 various prescription medications. The doctors could not determine what was wrong with her. She was in so much pain, and so sick she just knew she was dying. She put her house, bank accounts, life insurance, etc.., in her oldest daughter's name, and
made sure that her younger children were to be taken care of. She also wanted her last hooray, so she planned a trip to Florida (basically in a wheelchair) for March 22nd. On March 19 she had blood tests done by her physician and they didn't find anything abnormal on the tests, but they believed she had MS. She was never asked if she drank diet soda. She did drink diet soda. Lots of it. Once she stopped drinking the diet soda she found after 36 hours she could walk! The muscle spasms went away. She said she didn't feel 100% but, she sure felt a lot better. She said she was going to her doctor with this article. Her doctor called all of his MS patients to find out if they consumed artificial sweeteners of any kind. In a nut shell, she was being poisoned by the Aspartame in the diet soda, and literally dying a slow and miserable death. When she got to Florida March 22, all she had to take was one pill, and that was a pill for the Aspartame poisoning! She is well on her way to a complete recovery. And she is walking! No wheelchair! This article saved her life. If it says 'SUGAR FREE' on the label; DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!
At the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE on 'ASPARTAME,' marketed as 'Nutra Sweet,' 'Equal,' and 'Spoonful.'the keynote address by the EPA, it was announced that in the United States in 2001 there is an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus. It was difficult to determine exactly what toxin was causing this to be rampant. I will explain why Aspartame is so dangerous: When the temperature of this sweetener exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis... Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants. The methanol toxicity mimics, among other conditions, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus. Many people were being diagnosed in error. Although multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, Methanol toxicity is! Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis, especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers. The victim usually does not know that the Aspartame is the culprit. He or she continues its use; irritating the lupus to such a degree that it may become a life-threatening condition. We have seen patients with systemic lupus become asymptotic, once taken off diet sodas. In cases of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, most of the symptoms disappear. We've seen many cases where vision loss returned and hearing loss improved markedly. This also applies to cases of tinnitus and fibromyalgia. During a lecture, I said, 'If you are using ASPARTAME (Nutra Sweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting, pains, numbness in your legs, Cramps, Vertigo, Dizziness, Headaches, Tinnitus, Joint pain,Unexplainable depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss you probably have ASPARTAME poisoning!' People were jumping up during the lecture saying, 'I have some of these symptoms.. Is it reversible?'
Yes! Yes! Yes!
STOP drinking diet sodas and be alert for Aspartame on food labels! Many products are fortified with it! This is a serious problem. Dr. Espart (one of my speakers) remarked that so many people seem to be symptomatic for MS and during his recent visit to a hospice; a nurse stated that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke addicts, had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence! Diet soda is NOT a diet product! It is a chemically altered, multiple SODIUM (salt) and ASPARTAME containing product that actually makes you crave carbohydrates. It is far more likely to make you GAIN weight! These products also contain formaldehyde, which stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs. Formaldehyde is an absolute toxin and is used primarily to preserve 'tissue specimens.' Many products we use every day contain this Chemical but we SHOULD NOT store it IN our body! Dr. H. J.. Roberts stated in his lectures that once free of the 'diet products' and with no significant increase in exercise; his patients lost an average of 19 pounds over a trial period Aspartame is especially dangerous for diabetics. We found that some physicians, who believed that they had a patient with retinopathy, in fact, had symptoms caused by Aspartame. The Aspartame drives the blood sugar out of control. Thus diabetics may suffer acute memory loss due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are NEUROTOXIC when taken without the other amino acids necessary for a good balance. Treating diabetes is all about BALANCE. Especially with diabetics, the Aspartame passes the blood/brain barrier and it then deteriorates the neurons of the brain; causing various levels of brain damage, Seizures, Depression, Manic depression, Panic attacks, Uncontrollable anger and rage. Consumption of Aspartame causes these same symptoms in non-diabetics as well. Documentation and observation also reveal that thousands of children diagnosed with ADD and ADHD have had complete turnarounds in their behavior when these chemicals have been removed from their diet...
So called 'behavior modification prescription drugs' (Ritalin and others) are no longer needed. Truth be told, they were never NEEDED in the first place! Most of these children were being 'poisoned' on a daily basis with the very foods that were 'better for them than sugar.' It is also suspected that the Aspartame in thousands of pallets of diet Coke and diet Pepsi consumed by men and women fighting in the Gulf War, may be partially to blame for the well-known Gulf War Syndrome. Dr. Roberts warns that it can cause birth defects, i.e. mental retardation, if taken at the time of conception and during early pregnancy. Children are especially at risk for neurological disorders and should NEVER be given artificial sweeteners. There are many different case histories to relate of children suffering grand mal seizures and other neurological disturbances talking about a plague of neurological diseases directly caused by the use of this deadly poison.' Herein lies the problem:There were Congressional Hearings when Aspartame was included in 100 different products and strong objection was made concerning its use. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings, and still nothing has been done. The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets. Sadly, MONSANTO'S patent on Aspartame has EXPIRED! There are now over 5,000 products on the market that contain this deadly chemical and there will be thousands
more introduced.. Everybody wants a 'piece of the Aspartame pie.'I assure you that MONSANTO, the creator of Aspartame, knows how deadly it is. And isn't it ironic that MONSANTO funds, among others, the American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association and the Conference of the American College of Physicians? This has been recently exposed in the New York Times. These [organizations] cannot criticize any additives or convey their link to MONSANTO because they take money from the food industry and are required to endorse their products. Senator Howard Metzenbaum wrote and presented a bill that would require label warnings on products containing Aspartame, especially regarding pregnant women,children and infants. The bill would also institute independent studies on the known dangers and the problems existing in the general population regarding seizures, changes in brain chemistry,
neurological changes and behavioral symptoms. The bill was killed. It is known that the powerful drug and chemical lobbies are responsible for this, letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting and uninformed public. Well, you're informed now!
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW!
Call my office to set up an appointment or email me 815-476-5210 or jones.gretchen@gmail.com
made sure that her younger children were to be taken care of. She also wanted her last hooray, so she planned a trip to Florida (basically in a wheelchair) for March 22nd. On March 19 she had blood tests done by her physician and they didn't find anything abnormal on the tests, but they believed she had MS. She was never asked if she drank diet soda. She did drink diet soda. Lots of it. Once she stopped drinking the diet soda she found after 36 hours she could walk! The muscle spasms went away. She said she didn't feel 100% but, she sure felt a lot better. She said she was going to her doctor with this article. Her doctor called all of his MS patients to find out if they consumed artificial sweeteners of any kind. In a nut shell, she was being poisoned by the Aspartame in the diet soda, and literally dying a slow and miserable death. When she got to Florida March 22, all she had to take was one pill, and that was a pill for the Aspartame poisoning! She is well on her way to a complete recovery. And she is walking! No wheelchair! This article saved her life. If it says 'SUGAR FREE' on the label; DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!
At the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE on 'ASPARTAME,' marketed as 'Nutra Sweet,' 'Equal,' and 'Spoonful.'the keynote address by the EPA, it was announced that in the United States in 2001 there is an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus. It was difficult to determine exactly what toxin was causing this to be rampant. I will explain why Aspartame is so dangerous: When the temperature of this sweetener exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis... Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants. The methanol toxicity mimics, among other conditions, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus. Many people were being diagnosed in error. Although multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, Methanol toxicity is! Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis, especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers. The victim usually does not know that the Aspartame is the culprit. He or she continues its use; irritating the lupus to such a degree that it may become a life-threatening condition. We have seen patients with systemic lupus become asymptotic, once taken off diet sodas. In cases of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, most of the symptoms disappear. We've seen many cases where vision loss returned and hearing loss improved markedly. This also applies to cases of tinnitus and fibromyalgia. During a lecture, I said, 'If you are using ASPARTAME (Nutra Sweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting, pains, numbness in your legs, Cramps, Vertigo, Dizziness, Headaches, Tinnitus, Joint pain,Unexplainable depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss you probably have ASPARTAME poisoning!' People were jumping up during the lecture saying, 'I have some of these symptoms.. Is it reversible?'
Yes! Yes! Yes!
STOP drinking diet sodas and be alert for Aspartame on food labels! Many products are fortified with it! This is a serious problem. Dr. Espart (one of my speakers) remarked that so many people seem to be symptomatic for MS and during his recent visit to a hospice; a nurse stated that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke addicts, had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence! Diet soda is NOT a diet product! It is a chemically altered, multiple SODIUM (salt) and ASPARTAME containing product that actually makes you crave carbohydrates. It is far more likely to make you GAIN weight! These products also contain formaldehyde, which stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs. Formaldehyde is an absolute toxin and is used primarily to preserve 'tissue specimens.' Many products we use every day contain this Chemical but we SHOULD NOT store it IN our body! Dr. H. J.. Roberts stated in his lectures that once free of the 'diet products' and with no significant increase in exercise; his patients lost an average of 19 pounds over a trial period Aspartame is especially dangerous for diabetics. We found that some physicians, who believed that they had a patient with retinopathy, in fact, had symptoms caused by Aspartame. The Aspartame drives the blood sugar out of control. Thus diabetics may suffer acute memory loss due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are NEUROTOXIC when taken without the other amino acids necessary for a good balance. Treating diabetes is all about BALANCE. Especially with diabetics, the Aspartame passes the blood/brain barrier and it then deteriorates the neurons of the brain; causing various levels of brain damage, Seizures, Depression, Manic depression, Panic attacks, Uncontrollable anger and rage. Consumption of Aspartame causes these same symptoms in non-diabetics as well. Documentation and observation also reveal that thousands of children diagnosed with ADD and ADHD have had complete turnarounds in their behavior when these chemicals have been removed from their diet...
So called 'behavior modification prescription drugs' (Ritalin and others) are no longer needed. Truth be told, they were never NEEDED in the first place! Most of these children were being 'poisoned' on a daily basis with the very foods that were 'better for them than sugar.' It is also suspected that the Aspartame in thousands of pallets of diet Coke and diet Pepsi consumed by men and women fighting in the Gulf War, may be partially to blame for the well-known Gulf War Syndrome. Dr. Roberts warns that it can cause birth defects, i.e. mental retardation, if taken at the time of conception and during early pregnancy. Children are especially at risk for neurological disorders and should NEVER be given artificial sweeteners. There are many different case histories to relate of children suffering grand mal seizures and other neurological disturbances talking about a plague of neurological diseases directly caused by the use of this deadly poison.' Herein lies the problem:There were Congressional Hearings when Aspartame was included in 100 different products and strong objection was made concerning its use. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings, and still nothing has been done. The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets. Sadly, MONSANTO'S patent on Aspartame has EXPIRED! There are now over 5,000 products on the market that contain this deadly chemical and there will be thousands
more introduced.. Everybody wants a 'piece of the Aspartame pie.'I assure you that MONSANTO, the creator of Aspartame, knows how deadly it is. And isn't it ironic that MONSANTO funds, among others, the American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association and the Conference of the American College of Physicians? This has been recently exposed in the New York Times. These [organizations] cannot criticize any additives or convey their link to MONSANTO because they take money from the food industry and are required to endorse their products. Senator Howard Metzenbaum wrote and presented a bill that would require label warnings on products containing Aspartame, especially regarding pregnant women,children and infants. The bill would also institute independent studies on the known dangers and the problems existing in the general population regarding seizures, changes in brain chemistry,
neurological changes and behavioral symptoms. The bill was killed. It is known that the powerful drug and chemical lobbies are responsible for this, letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting and uninformed public. Well, you're informed now!
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW!
Call my office to set up an appointment or email me 815-476-5210 or jones.gretchen@gmail.com
Saturday, August 8, 2009
How can BHRT help me?
Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapy
Suzanne Somers has brought the subject of bio-identical hormone replacment therapy, known as BHRT, into the spot light. In her books, The Sexy Years and her most recent, Breakthrough, she describes how bio-identical hormones have helped her achieve amazing anti aging results and relieved her menopausal symptoms.
Everyday, millions of women suffer uncomfortable disabling symptoms associated with the hormonal imbalance of pre-menopause and menopause. This hormone imbalance may be causing you to feel depressed, anxious, fatigued, sexless, generally ill...or just feeling under the weather.
The signs of menopause and related hormonal issues include:
- Hot flashes
- Night sweats
- Fatigue
- Weight gain
- Mood swings
- Depression
- Trouble sleeping
- Vaginal dryness
- Loss of sex drive
- Urinary incontinence
- Irritability
- Loss of muscle
Many women don't have access to the health care needed to get better and thrive. This is where I can help you, by offering hormone treatments that combine diet, exercise and the essential bio-identical hormone medications that are taken in a topical cream form.
What Are Bio-identical Hormones?
A bio-identical hormone is defined as a hormone that is identical in structure to the hormone produced by your body. These hormones are obtained from sterol analogues found in many varieties of plants, primarily the wild yam. These estrogen, progesterone and testosterone-like compounds are then transformed to human bio-identical natural hormones.
Bio-identical hormone therapy otherwise known as natural hormone replacement therapy is safe, effective and generally free from side effects caused by synthetic hormones. Synthetic hormones like Premarin™, Prempro™, Provera™ and Estratab™ are not bio-identical compared to human hormones. For example, Premarin™ is from a natural source (pregnant mares' urine) but it contains hormones found only in horses and is therefore not natural to the human body.
The great appeal of bio-identical hormones is that they are natural, and our bodies can metabolize them as it was designed to do, minimizing side effects. Synthetic hormones are quite strong and often produce side effects. The compounded bio-identical hormone medications that I offer can be matched individually to each woman's needs — something that's impossible with mass-produced synthetic hormones.
After treating hundreds of women I have come to the conclusion that the inevitable decline in hormones does not have to be part of “normal aging” and that standard HRT protocols involving synthetic hormone cause more problems then they are worth. Many women diagnosed with depression do better with bio-identical hormone therapy instead.
Potential Benefits of Bio-identical Hormone Therapy:
- Increased bone mineral density
- Better hair, nails and skin
- Improved sexual desire
- Improved cognitive function
- Increase ability to cope with stress
- Decreased heart disease
- Improved blood sugar and insulin levels
- Reduction of fat levels
- Increase self assurance and confidence
- Improved mood and well-being
How Do I Get Started With Bio-identicl HRT?
Bio-identical hormone replacement therapy must be customized for each woman following an extensive evaluation with blood tests and a thorough history and physical. Only after a thorough review of symptoms and history along with a specific lab test can an effective regimen be designed.
You may contact me if you are interested in getting more information on getting the lab tests to properly diagnose your hormonal status.
When the lab test results are in you will then follow up to discuss the importance of good nutrition, fitness and lifestyle choices in your journey to better health with bio-identical hormones.
Eating healthy and exercising are important aspects of a successful bio-identical hormone therapy or hormone replacement therapy (HRT). If your hormones are out of balance, your body will not optimally respond to improved nutrition and exercise. As your hormones, nutrition and fitness, improve – you should begin to feel like your old self with improved vigor, vitality and results.
Bio-identical HRT Case Study
Grace was a 49-year old woman who had menopausal symptoms. We ordered a complete hormone panel and after her evaluation we changed her diet to low-glycemic foods with good sources of lean protein and plenty of vegetables and fruit. We added pharmaceutical grade daily vitamins and recommended that she continue with her gym membership and keep on exercising 3 – 4 days a week.
We placed Grace on a specially compounded cream consisting of bio-identical estradiol (a form of estrogen), and progesterone. She was also HGH deficient, so she also opted for an injectable HGH treatment.
Five weeks later she came back for a check up and a follow up blood test to measure her hormones. “I feel fantastic,” she said, and explained that she hadn't felt this good since her late twenties. She said that her friends, family and husband had noticed a big difference in her and the hormone replacement was one of the best things she had ever done!
A year later Grace still feels great. She follows her diet and exercise program religiously, takes her hormones and follows the protocol faithfully. Her most recent hormone panel shoes that her hormones are all in balance and are completely optimized.
Not every patient is as easy to help as Grace. She put a lot of work in at her end with her discipline and commitment and it paid off big time. In some patients we have to adjust the dose 3 to 5 times to get it right and sometimes have to adjust the diet and exercise program. There is no one-size-fits-all and no recommended amount here because we are all different. And that's the key to it all. Individualized hormone optimization programs that combine diet, exercise, nutritional supplements and bio-identical hormone medications all work together to ensure better vitality, health and quality of life.
Friday, August 7, 2009
A testimonial from reading Sex, Lies, and Menopause
If you read the "Sex, Lies and Menopause" and Suzanne Sommer's book "The Sexy Years", you find out that medical doctors only get about 4 hours of training in college for hormones. Ideally, if you can find a reproductive endocrinologist who specializes in hormones, he/she would be well versed in hormones. I don't think there is one in Tucson but, I don'tknow about Phoenix. I may look because it would be worth the trip, believe me. Suzanne Sommers says that she has to drive over 3 hours to see her doctor but it is well worth it to find a doctor who knows what they are doing and will work with you. At this point, I am ready to go to Denver to find someone.
I was on "natural" hormones from the compounding pharmacy (Reed's onSpeedway) but they don't do the Wiley Protocol. They do try to tailor your hormonal needs to you but ultimately, all they do is mix estrogen and progesterone together and you take all of the hormones at the same time. That is not what nature does. What doctors don't tell you and you don'tknow is that hormones needs are just as individualized as people are themselves. Doctors/pharmaceuticals want to lump everyone into one category, produce one pill and makes lots and tons of money (synthetics). What the Wiley Protocol does is to match your various hormone intake withwhat they were when you were in your 20's. When you think about it, women in their 20's don't have heart disease, Alzheimer's, arthritis, osteoporosis, or cancer and all of the other diseases of aging. Women in their 20's also produce estrogen all month long in various amounts then ovulation occurs and the last 2 weeks of the cycle, the progesterone kicks in taking you up to your period. That is the way nature intended your body to use hormones. In the Wiley book, you find out that your hormones, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA which are minor hormones can have a major effect on the major hormones which are cortisol, insulin and melatonin. All of a sudden, I am insulin resistant. I am willing to bet that once I am up and running on the Wiley Protocol, the insulin resistance will go away. It also can have a major effect on your weight.
Some people say, well, menopause is the "natural" thing to have happen. That's true but what they don't realize is that humans have been on earth for thousands and thousands of years. The menstrual cycle was very much tied to the moon and seasons of the year. Our bodies are still trying to work under that system but humans have changed the rules. People also don't stop to realize that menopause happens normally in the early 50's because until recently, women didn't live past 50. So, now that our life expectancy is getting longer and longer, our bodies are being asked to live without the hormones that your body requires, hence diseases of aging set in. Like Isaid, their premise is that women in their 20's seldom ever get those diseases. Think about that!
The MAIN problem that Wiley has with the synthetic hormones is that they don't match what the human body produces. Natural hormones cannot be patented because they occur in nature so the Pharmaceuticals go in and start changing the natural hormones at a cellular level so they can patent them and makes lots of money. That DOES NOT WORK IN THE HUMAN BODY! But, they don't care because it's all about the bottom line. You have to read "Sex,Lies and Menopause" where it explains some of the terrible things that the drug companies do. Premarin is made by keeping horses pregnant, tied up in a stall and forcing them to urinate so they can get the hormones from the urine. They are asking a human body to use horse hormones - it doesn't work that way. The book also discusses all of the other hormones that your body has to have to live. Incidentally, this is just as true for men. Wiley is coming out with a book about men's hormones in December. I know so many with prostate problems and cancer that I highly suspect that hormones are involved. Testosterone and DHEA to start with.
I am having terrible problems with palpitations. I have had all of the heart studies done and there is nothing wrong with my heart. I went to my internist to complain. I told him that I thought it was hormones and he said quote, "Oh, hormones won't give you palpitations"! I almost fell out of my chair! He didn't even know what he was talking about.
I have gone on way too long trying to paraphrase several hundred pages of a book. I told Gretchen that every time I turned the page, I was more and more shocked and astounded. Suzanne Somers came to the point where she had to make a decision about radiation, chemo, etc. Please, ask them about the damage that radiation can do. I hope you will read the books before youf inally decide. You mention that the doctors have been great, I loved Evers, but the truth is, THEY DON'T KNOW!!!!! Evers knows that!
Potter's mother took Tamoxifen for 5 years. Now studies show that Tamoxifen causes a much greater incidence of a worse kind of cancer in your other breast.
Please stay in touch, I promise next time I won't be so long winded! :-)
Call my office to set up an appointment or email me 815-476-5210 or jones.gretchen@gmail.com
I was on "natural" hormones from the compounding pharmacy (Reed's onSpeedway) but they don't do the Wiley Protocol. They do try to tailor your hormonal needs to you but ultimately, all they do is mix estrogen and progesterone together and you take all of the hormones at the same time. That is not what nature does. What doctors don't tell you and you don'tknow is that hormones needs are just as individualized as people are themselves. Doctors/pharmaceuticals want to lump everyone into one category, produce one pill and makes lots and tons of money (synthetics). What the Wiley Protocol does is to match your various hormone intake withwhat they were when you were in your 20's. When you think about it, women in their 20's don't have heart disease, Alzheimer's, arthritis, osteoporosis, or cancer and all of the other diseases of aging. Women in their 20's also produce estrogen all month long in various amounts then ovulation occurs and the last 2 weeks of the cycle, the progesterone kicks in taking you up to your period. That is the way nature intended your body to use hormones. In the Wiley book, you find out that your hormones, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA which are minor hormones can have a major effect on the major hormones which are cortisol, insulin and melatonin. All of a sudden, I am insulin resistant. I am willing to bet that once I am up and running on the Wiley Protocol, the insulin resistance will go away. It also can have a major effect on your weight.
Some people say, well, menopause is the "natural" thing to have happen. That's true but what they don't realize is that humans have been on earth for thousands and thousands of years. The menstrual cycle was very much tied to the moon and seasons of the year. Our bodies are still trying to work under that system but humans have changed the rules. People also don't stop to realize that menopause happens normally in the early 50's because until recently, women didn't live past 50. So, now that our life expectancy is getting longer and longer, our bodies are being asked to live without the hormones that your body requires, hence diseases of aging set in. Like Isaid, their premise is that women in their 20's seldom ever get those diseases. Think about that!
The MAIN problem that Wiley has with the synthetic hormones is that they don't match what the human body produces. Natural hormones cannot be patented because they occur in nature so the Pharmaceuticals go in and start changing the natural hormones at a cellular level so they can patent them and makes lots of money. That DOES NOT WORK IN THE HUMAN BODY! But, they don't care because it's all about the bottom line. You have to read "Sex,Lies and Menopause" where it explains some of the terrible things that the drug companies do. Premarin is made by keeping horses pregnant, tied up in a stall and forcing them to urinate so they can get the hormones from the urine. They are asking a human body to use horse hormones - it doesn't work that way. The book also discusses all of the other hormones that your body has to have to live. Incidentally, this is just as true for men. Wiley is coming out with a book about men's hormones in December. I know so many with prostate problems and cancer that I highly suspect that hormones are involved. Testosterone and DHEA to start with.
I am having terrible problems with palpitations. I have had all of the heart studies done and there is nothing wrong with my heart. I went to my internist to complain. I told him that I thought it was hormones and he said quote, "Oh, hormones won't give you palpitations"! I almost fell out of my chair! He didn't even know what he was talking about.
I have gone on way too long trying to paraphrase several hundred pages of a book. I told Gretchen that every time I turned the page, I was more and more shocked and astounded. Suzanne Somers came to the point where she had to make a decision about radiation, chemo, etc. Please, ask them about the damage that radiation can do. I hope you will read the books before youf inally decide. You mention that the doctors have been great, I loved Evers, but the truth is, THEY DON'T KNOW!!!!! Evers knows that!
Potter's mother took Tamoxifen for 5 years. Now studies show that Tamoxifen causes a much greater incidence of a worse kind of cancer in your other breast.
Please stay in touch, I promise next time I won't be so long winded! :-)
Call my office to set up an appointment or email me 815-476-5210 or jones.gretchen@gmail.com
From my mom to one of her friends...
So good to hear from you, first things first, how are you feeling? Not just physically but emotionally? Please talk to me because I care very much! I have been hesitating to mention this to you after what you just went through but, if I could ever beg you from the history of our friendship, would you please, please, please do yourself and me a huge favor??? I just finished this book and with every page, I was aghast and horrified at what the drug companies and the medical profession are doing to women and I highly suspect, also to men! I just finished T.S. Wiley's book written in 2003 called "Sex, Lies and Menopause". Then I bought Suzanne Sommers book "The Sexy Years". She, as I am sure you know, had breast cancer. Her book just validates what T.S. Wiley's book reports. The Wiley book was written with an female oncologist and a PH.D. scientist. I DID NOT KNOW that gynecologists don't normally delve into hormones. I am shocked and horrified! I thought that was what they did. Gretchen is on Facebook, big time, please type in her name and go to her page. She has tons of information about hormones. She has a blog called "Love my Hormones" that will blow you away. "I" have even received emails from her patients telling me how good and brilliant she is. The internist she works with sent his own wife to Gretchen for hormone therapy. This kid is doing wonderful things for women! I am so proud of her because she so wants to help women. Whether they are premenopausal, menopausal, have a uterus still or have had a hysterectomy. I told her about you and what happened to you with the Vagifem (That's probably spelled wrong). Bottom line, please go to Facebook and contact Gretchen and get the Wiley book, it can make the difference in the way you feel and live for the rest of your life! I am going on the Wiley Protocol natural hormones starting tomorrow. Gretchen can help you with them if you decide to do that. I have been looking for a doctor in this area but Gretchen ordered the hormones for me from a Compounding Pharmacy in Indiana who Gretchen has sent hundreds of women to!
Call my office to set up an appointment or email me 815-476-5210 or jones.gretchen@gmail.com
Call my office to set up an appointment or email me 815-476-5210 or jones.gretchen@gmail.com
Thursday, August 6, 2009
My doctor doesn't listen...
Hi there. Just wanted to catch u up on my Dr.'s appt. It was alwful :(
Unfortunately, this new Dr. Tassone and I didn't really hit it off. He wasn't interested in Wiley and complained that he was in Susan Somers book and since then has had to deal with a bunch of hormone patients. He does bioidentical but doesn't follow up like the Wiley. He said Wiley sounds way to complicated to him. The good/fun part was that I had the ability to engage with him since reading Wileys books and most of all from your information. I told him that it was really sad that he was closed minded because after all this is a womens health issue and that was his field. He complained that he had to spend time with me talking about this. It was really weird. He uses pills under the tongue. He was reluctant to even order the FSH test, but he did. He wanted me to get my blood drawn right there and then. I told him no, because I wanted done on day 12.
He looked at me like I was crazy.
He is however, going to do an ultrasound on me at his office. He said he would be able to see if I have tiny cysts in my ovary. They were never able to see it before when I had my right ovary removed (turned out it was filled with tiny cysts). He also said that I wasn't in menopause. I told him about the 70 yr. old lady who began having periods again and he said 'that' is not natural. I told him that I like the way that the Wiley was made from plants and that the body recognizes it as its own. He replied that chemotherapy drugs were made from plants and is able to kill you. Weirdo. He wasn't interested in womens testimony either. At the end he said maybe he wasn't as closed minded as he appeared. So, I guess I'll get my ultrasound there and blood work results, records and move on. He suggested that I go down Reed's Compounding Pharmacy and Chat with the owner. What do you think about all of this? Maybe I could send you the results??Sherrie
Sherrie, honestly he sounds like the typical "standard of care" doctor around here. That is because cyclic hormone replacement is not the Standard of Care treatment and he doesn't have anyone training him on what it is or how it works; i.e. Pharmaceutical drug reps that train him on how his "drugs" work. That's all. He'd rather prescribe you something that HE doesn't have to think about. Yes, what I do takes a lot of understanding, patience, and the ability to talk to women on a different level. So he won't be able to help you. Your ovaries are filled with tiny cysts, called follicles, because that is what ovaries are full of. Tiny cysts that are full of estrogen that is ripened every 28 days in a cycle we call a menstrual cycle. And when that cycle begins to stop that means the follicles never mature to pop out an egg and guess what, that means no progesterone! I don't think the compounding pharmacist is going to be any bigger help to you. They didn't go to medical school to understand the hormonal system either. So unless you get lucky and find someone who really understands it they will try to give you troches and lozengers and daily dosing schemes too that don't mimic a normal hormonal cycle. I know because I have heard all this from my patients who have been down the same path you are going down. This is why Sherrie I am so passionate about what I do and want to really spread the word and help women like you and the tens of thousands of others who feel like crap. It's not all about making money to me. There just isn't another way to mimic the hormonal cycle except mimicing the hormonal cycle when females are healthy and cycling. TS Wiley has done all the hard work of coming up with a systimatic way of taking hormones. All she needs is more doctors to understand how it works and how simple it is but it does take some time with talking to your patients to get the patient to understand their own hormones and how they work. It's the same as teaching a diabetic patient how to use insulin.
Call my office to set up an appointment or email me 815-476-5210 or jones.gretchen@gmail.com
Unfortunately, this new Dr. Tassone and I didn't really hit it off. He wasn't interested in Wiley and complained that he was in Susan Somers book and since then has had to deal with a bunch of hormone patients. He does bioidentical but doesn't follow up like the Wiley. He said Wiley sounds way to complicated to him. The good/fun part was that I had the ability to engage with him since reading Wileys books and most of all from your information. I told him that it was really sad that he was closed minded because after all this is a womens health issue and that was his field. He complained that he had to spend time with me talking about this. It was really weird. He uses pills under the tongue. He was reluctant to even order the FSH test, but he did. He wanted me to get my blood drawn right there and then. I told him no, because I wanted done on day 12.
He looked at me like I was crazy.
He is however, going to do an ultrasound on me at his office. He said he would be able to see if I have tiny cysts in my ovary. They were never able to see it before when I had my right ovary removed (turned out it was filled with tiny cysts). He also said that I wasn't in menopause. I told him about the 70 yr. old lady who began having periods again and he said 'that' is not natural. I told him that I like the way that the Wiley was made from plants and that the body recognizes it as its own. He replied that chemotherapy drugs were made from plants and is able to kill you. Weirdo. He wasn't interested in womens testimony either. At the end he said maybe he wasn't as closed minded as he appeared. So, I guess I'll get my ultrasound there and blood work results, records and move on. He suggested that I go down Reed's Compounding Pharmacy and Chat with the owner. What do you think about all of this? Maybe I could send you the results??Sherrie
Sherrie, honestly he sounds like the typical "standard of care" doctor around here. That is because cyclic hormone replacement is not the Standard of Care treatment and he doesn't have anyone training him on what it is or how it works; i.e. Pharmaceutical drug reps that train him on how his "drugs" work. That's all. He'd rather prescribe you something that HE doesn't have to think about. Yes, what I do takes a lot of understanding, patience, and the ability to talk to women on a different level. So he won't be able to help you. Your ovaries are filled with tiny cysts, called follicles, because that is what ovaries are full of. Tiny cysts that are full of estrogen that is ripened every 28 days in a cycle we call a menstrual cycle. And when that cycle begins to stop that means the follicles never mature to pop out an egg and guess what, that means no progesterone! I don't think the compounding pharmacist is going to be any bigger help to you. They didn't go to medical school to understand the hormonal system either. So unless you get lucky and find someone who really understands it they will try to give you troches and lozengers and daily dosing schemes too that don't mimic a normal hormonal cycle. I know because I have heard all this from my patients who have been down the same path you are going down. This is why Sherrie I am so passionate about what I do and want to really spread the word and help women like you and the tens of thousands of others who feel like crap. It's not all about making money to me. There just isn't another way to mimic the hormonal cycle except mimicing the hormonal cycle when females are healthy and cycling. TS Wiley has done all the hard work of coming up with a systimatic way of taking hormones. All she needs is more doctors to understand how it works and how simple it is but it does take some time with talking to your patients to get the patient to understand their own hormones and how they work. It's the same as teaching a diabetic patient how to use insulin.
Call my office to set up an appointment or email me 815-476-5210 or jones.gretchen@gmail.com
Let's Talk about BRCA I and BRCA II - Markers for Breast Cancer
Many women, after more than one mammogram, underwent genetic testing for what science determined to be a "marker" for breast cancer - a mutated, or altered form of the regulatory genes BRCA I and BRCA II. Mutation is always assumed by science to be a bad thing, which is not the case, because it makes no sense that an organism would ever mutate to die. Mutation is always for good, to enhance survival. In fact, research shows that breast cancers in women with the altered form of the BRCA gene are far less invasive and aggressive than breast cancers in women who possessed the functional forms.
An examination of BRCA I and II also shows clear evidence that, far from causing breast cancer in its "mutated" forms, unmutated BRCA is in charge of the repair mechanisms for radiation damage done to double stranded DNA. That means that if you have a mutated copy of BRCA I and II, getting a mammogram is particularly dangerous because you have no repair mechanism for the radiation damage that enhances cancerous growth from the injury done by the machine to your DNA. Any constant source of ionizing radiation would be worse than the episodic nature of exposure in a once-a-year mammogram.
That may mean that living under power lines on Long Island, a famous cancer "hot spot", would be particularly dangerous for women genetically predisposed to BRCA I and II mutations. Many of the highly prone cancer families that participated in early breast cancer genetics research were of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Because of the relatively small population of Ashkenazim had inbred for centuries, in both their native eastern Europe and later throughout the world, they turned out to (as any group with highly concentrated genes would) have an extremely high rate of three specific gene mutations--two in BRCA I and one in BRCA II. Estimates are now suggesting that as many as one in forth Ashkenazic women carry one form of the mutation or another. Many of these women were terrorized by these statistics into volunteering for prophylactic masectomies when genetic testing confirmed that they carried the altered form of the gene, but they were only given half of the information. Many of the women lived under excessive radiation from the power lines crisscrossing small Long Island communities where they lived.
We believe that the evidence of the BRCA I and II mutations leaving these women particularly vulnerable to radiation points to the possibility that radiation from the power lines exacerbated, as mammography would, a gene deficit that would never have mattered except under power lines, under light exposure after dar, or on the occasion of being injured by the pressure of the X-ray machine. Since breast cancer can still occur in women after prophylactic bilateral mastectomies, it's safe to say that mastectomy will not necessarily prevent breast cancer. The women who were sold on prophylactic mastectomy really just needed to sell their houses and move, and still do.
Or get bio-identical cyclical hormone replacement - PRONTO.
Rose Kushner was a Jewish woman who could not have been aware of the BRCA I and II. She lobbied for free, accessible mammograms for all women, which means she, too, as a breast cancer "survivor", would have had more than a few over the years. But after Dr. Bailer exposed the BCDDP for not informing women of the risk of mammogram in 1975, Rose, as a friend and colleague of surgeon Dr. Bernard Fisher - the driving force behind tamoxifen's approval - became a candidate for teh next big thing: chemoprotection, now known as adjuvant "hormonal" therapy or tamoxifen. In the early 1970's tamoxifen was promoted on the premise we've now shown was never valid, that estrogen causes cancer and that blocking your estrogen receptors to stop estrogenic action would stop breast cancer.
It just doesn't work that way.
Call my office to set up an appointment or email me 815-476-5210 or jones.gretchen@gmail.com
An examination of BRCA I and II also shows clear evidence that, far from causing breast cancer in its "mutated" forms, unmutated BRCA is in charge of the repair mechanisms for radiation damage done to double stranded DNA. That means that if you have a mutated copy of BRCA I and II, getting a mammogram is particularly dangerous because you have no repair mechanism for the radiation damage that enhances cancerous growth from the injury done by the machine to your DNA. Any constant source of ionizing radiation would be worse than the episodic nature of exposure in a once-a-year mammogram.
That may mean that living under power lines on Long Island, a famous cancer "hot spot", would be particularly dangerous for women genetically predisposed to BRCA I and II mutations. Many of the highly prone cancer families that participated in early breast cancer genetics research were of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Because of the relatively small population of Ashkenazim had inbred for centuries, in both their native eastern Europe and later throughout the world, they turned out to (as any group with highly concentrated genes would) have an extremely high rate of three specific gene mutations--two in BRCA I and one in BRCA II. Estimates are now suggesting that as many as one in forth Ashkenazic women carry one form of the mutation or another. Many of these women were terrorized by these statistics into volunteering for prophylactic masectomies when genetic testing confirmed that they carried the altered form of the gene, but they were only given half of the information. Many of the women lived under excessive radiation from the power lines crisscrossing small Long Island communities where they lived.
We believe that the evidence of the BRCA I and II mutations leaving these women particularly vulnerable to radiation points to the possibility that radiation from the power lines exacerbated, as mammography would, a gene deficit that would never have mattered except under power lines, under light exposure after dar, or on the occasion of being injured by the pressure of the X-ray machine. Since breast cancer can still occur in women after prophylactic bilateral mastectomies, it's safe to say that mastectomy will not necessarily prevent breast cancer. The women who were sold on prophylactic mastectomy really just needed to sell their houses and move, and still do.
Or get bio-identical cyclical hormone replacement - PRONTO.
Rose Kushner was a Jewish woman who could not have been aware of the BRCA I and II. She lobbied for free, accessible mammograms for all women, which means she, too, as a breast cancer "survivor", would have had more than a few over the years. But after Dr. Bailer exposed the BCDDP for not informing women of the risk of mammogram in 1975, Rose, as a friend and colleague of surgeon Dr. Bernard Fisher - the driving force behind tamoxifen's approval - became a candidate for teh next big thing: chemoprotection, now known as adjuvant "hormonal" therapy or tamoxifen. In the early 1970's tamoxifen was promoted on the premise we've now shown was never valid, that estrogen causes cancer and that blocking your estrogen receptors to stop estrogenic action would stop breast cancer.
It just doesn't work that way.
Call my office to set up an appointment or email me 815-476-5210 or jones.gretchen@gmail.com
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Osteoporosis and Osteopenia
Big drug companies that make drugs like Fosamax, Boniva, Evista and Actonel are marketing to women who are in perimenopause and menopause because these women don't have the bone making hormone PROGESTERONE any more so what happens is they lose the bone building ability that progesterone has when it is available in the human body. Bisphosphonate medicine (as mentioned above) slows down the bone loss that occurs with age. It does nothing, however, to build bone back for women! This is not explained to women. They think it will improve their bones, when in actuality it can't. Only progesterone used in conjunction with estrogen can do that. Standard of Care Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) IS dangerous for women. HRT is synthetic drugs or bioidentical drugs given in static low dosing. That means the same low dose every day. No rhythmic, cyclic doses are given in ascending and descending amounts that creates an amplitude and pulse with every heart beat. So no wonder it is very confusing for women when they read drug sponsored web sites about HRT and medications/therapies to treat bone loss.
Below is a typical description of the avaialble treatments for osteoporosis and osteopenia. They ALL have side effects, not mentioned here, but read the information at their web sites in the small print and you will see what I mean. Some really serious side effects that have been PROVEN because in order for a drug to become commercially available a study has to be done to prove its efficacy and safety. There are many studies done on The Wiley Protocol that are around the globe that have proven to be safe and effective for women and not cause adverse side effects, unless you think feeling young, energetic and calm is a side effect that you don't want. The Wiley Protocol has been used in breast cancer patients and where they should have had reoccurrence rates equal to that of the standard of care patients, the Wiley Protocol patients had lower reoccurrence rates. Wow! That is huge.
There are five main types of Osteoporosis, Osteopenia medications:Bisphosphonates such as alendronate or risedronate. Bisphosphonates bind to the mineral surface in bone and they interfere with the work of osteoclasts. (The bone cells that remove bone.) Thus bisphosphonates slow bone loss.The main Bisphosphonates in use are Alendronate (Fosamax), Risendronate (Actonel) and now bandronate (Boniva) For more information about these drugs go to Fosamax or Actonel or BonivaThere are three additional bisphosphonates have been approved for use. All are zolendronic acid, which is a bisphosphonate.
These drugs are taken by infusion, rather than by pill. The names of these two drugs are: Aclasta which is sold in the United States as Reclast and the other form of zolendronic acid known as Zometa . Some people have found that their health care providers want to recommend one of these drugs as treatment.
Calcitonin . Calcitonin also inhibits the work of osteoclasts. This osteopenia medication can be admininstered by injection or by nasal spray. The nasal spray is used once a day and it can be taken at any time of the day. It has few negative side effects. Some report a 'runny nose'. Calcitonin has been shown to decrease spinal fractures and increase bone density of spinal vertebrae by 2.4% when used as directed for two years.
If you want to read more about this Osteopenia / Osteoporosis medication go to Calcitonin Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)- Sometimes called Estrogen Replacement Therapy (ERT). HRT has been approved for both the treatment and prevention of Osteoporosis. HRT slows the accelerated bone loss that occurs in most women during and right after menopause.There are a number of serious risks with Standard of Care HRT including an increased lifelong risk of endometrial cancer and increased lifelong risk of breast cancer. Any woman considering Standard of Care HRT as an osteopenia medication needs to discuss both benefits and risks with her health care provider - especially if she has a family history of cancer or other cancer risk factors. Your own hormones given back to you in rhythmic, cyclic dosing to mimic a hormone cycle like you had when you were age 20 gives you back cell control. Your hormones don't "cause" cancer. Your hormones "control" cells. And that loss of cell control is when cancer cells can take control.
Strontium ranelate - Protelos is a new drug which both stimulates the osteoblasts and inhibits the osteoclasts. Information can be found at Protelosv Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators: Raloxifene - Evista. Although SERMS sometimes act like estrogen, they are not estrogens. SERMS occupy the estrogen receptor site and block your own estrogen from working like it suppost to work. That's pretty scary!
More information about Raloxifene, Evista as an osteopenia medication may be found at Evista Forteo or Teriparatide is a medication sometimes prescribed for spinal Osteoporosis. Although Forteo is not usually prescribed for Osteopenia, I include it since so many readers have asked me to add a page about it.Go to Forteo .
Thiazide diuretics. This group of medications is usually prescribed for hypertension. Not many physicians think of them as an Osteoporosis or Osteopenia medication. But research shows they can be an effective for treatment of bone loss. The New England Journal of Medicine published, "Thiazide effect on the mineral content of bone". by RD Wasnich, RJ Benfante, K Yano, L Heilbrun and JM Vogel in 1983.This study included 1368 men with a mean age of 68 years. Of these 323 were taking thiazides for hypertension. Thiazide users had significantly more bone mineral content at all sites tested than did non-users.The authors concluded: "These findings suggest the possibility of a preventive or therapeutic role for thiazides in osteoporosis".Another study was published in Lancet in 1989. It was done by the Department of Preventive Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee. It also concluded that thiazides protect against Osteoporosis in elderly people.
Other studies can be found at: Osteopenia Medications -Thiazide Diuretics Although most health care providers do not usually think of thiazide diuretics as osteopenia medication, if you have hypertension you may want to raise this in your discussion of your osteopenia care plan.
New medication in clinical trials: Densoumab There is a new medication Densoumab in clinical trials whichappears to hold great promise for those with bone loss. If you want to read about it, go to Denosumab an injection for better bones Other drugs for Osteopenia or Osteoporosis
In Japan and Italy, there is a drug called Ipriflavone which is marketed under different names.
In other countries Ipriflavone can be bought as a natural supplement.In the EU there is Protelos or Strontium Ranelate.
In other countries where Protelos is not yet approved, some are using Natural Strontium SupplementsResources used in creating this page:Karine Bohme with Frances Budden, MD. The Silent Thief. 2001. Nancy E. Lane, MD. The Osteoporosis Book 1999.
Call my office to set up an appointment or email me 815-476-5210 or jones.gretchen@gmail.com
Below is a typical description of the avaialble treatments for osteoporosis and osteopenia. They ALL have side effects, not mentioned here, but read the information at their web sites in the small print and you will see what I mean. Some really serious side effects that have been PROVEN because in order for a drug to become commercially available a study has to be done to prove its efficacy and safety. There are many studies done on The Wiley Protocol that are around the globe that have proven to be safe and effective for women and not cause adverse side effects, unless you think feeling young, energetic and calm is a side effect that you don't want. The Wiley Protocol has been used in breast cancer patients and where they should have had reoccurrence rates equal to that of the standard of care patients, the Wiley Protocol patients had lower reoccurrence rates. Wow! That is huge.
There are five main types of Osteoporosis, Osteopenia medications:Bisphosphonates such as alendronate or risedronate. Bisphosphonates bind to the mineral surface in bone and they interfere with the work of osteoclasts. (The bone cells that remove bone.) Thus bisphosphonates slow bone loss.The main Bisphosphonates in use are Alendronate (Fosamax), Risendronate (Actonel) and now bandronate (Boniva) For more information about these drugs go to Fosamax or Actonel or BonivaThere are three additional bisphosphonates have been approved for use. All are zolendronic acid, which is a bisphosphonate.
These drugs are taken by infusion, rather than by pill. The names of these two drugs are: Aclasta which is sold in the United States as Reclast and the other form of zolendronic acid known as Zometa . Some people have found that their health care providers want to recommend one of these drugs as treatment.
Calcitonin . Calcitonin also inhibits the work of osteoclasts. This osteopenia medication can be admininstered by injection or by nasal spray. The nasal spray is used once a day and it can be taken at any time of the day. It has few negative side effects. Some report a 'runny nose'. Calcitonin has been shown to decrease spinal fractures and increase bone density of spinal vertebrae by 2.4% when used as directed for two years.
If you want to read more about this Osteopenia / Osteoporosis medication go to Calcitonin Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)- Sometimes called Estrogen Replacement Therapy (ERT). HRT has been approved for both the treatment and prevention of Osteoporosis. HRT slows the accelerated bone loss that occurs in most women during and right after menopause.There are a number of serious risks with Standard of Care HRT including an increased lifelong risk of endometrial cancer and increased lifelong risk of breast cancer. Any woman considering Standard of Care HRT as an osteopenia medication needs to discuss both benefits and risks with her health care provider - especially if she has a family history of cancer or other cancer risk factors. Your own hormones given back to you in rhythmic, cyclic dosing to mimic a hormone cycle like you had when you were age 20 gives you back cell control. Your hormones don't "cause" cancer. Your hormones "control" cells. And that loss of cell control is when cancer cells can take control.
Strontium ranelate - Protelos is a new drug which both stimulates the osteoblasts and inhibits the osteoclasts. Information can be found at Protelosv Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators: Raloxifene - Evista. Although SERMS sometimes act like estrogen, they are not estrogens. SERMS occupy the estrogen receptor site and block your own estrogen from working like it suppost to work. That's pretty scary!
More information about Raloxifene, Evista as an osteopenia medication may be found at Evista Forteo or Teriparatide is a medication sometimes prescribed for spinal Osteoporosis. Although Forteo is not usually prescribed for Osteopenia, I include it since so many readers have asked me to add a page about it.Go to Forteo .
Thiazide diuretics. This group of medications is usually prescribed for hypertension. Not many physicians think of them as an Osteoporosis or Osteopenia medication. But research shows they can be an effective for treatment of bone loss. The New England Journal of Medicine published, "Thiazide effect on the mineral content of bone". by RD Wasnich, RJ Benfante, K Yano, L Heilbrun and JM Vogel in 1983.This study included 1368 men with a mean age of 68 years. Of these 323 were taking thiazides for hypertension. Thiazide users had significantly more bone mineral content at all sites tested than did non-users.The authors concluded: "These findings suggest the possibility of a preventive or therapeutic role for thiazides in osteoporosis".Another study was published in Lancet in 1989. It was done by the Department of Preventive Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee. It also concluded that thiazides protect against Osteoporosis in elderly people.
Other studies can be found at: Osteopenia Medications -Thiazide Diuretics Although most health care providers do not usually think of thiazide diuretics as osteopenia medication, if you have hypertension you may want to raise this in your discussion of your osteopenia care plan.
New medication in clinical trials: Densoumab There is a new medication Densoumab in clinical trials whichappears to hold great promise for those with bone loss. If you want to read about it, go to Denosumab an injection for better bones Other drugs for Osteopenia or Osteoporosis
In Japan and Italy, there is a drug called Ipriflavone which is marketed under different names.
In other countries Ipriflavone can be bought as a natural supplement.In the EU there is Protelos or Strontium Ranelate.
In other countries where Protelos is not yet approved, some are using Natural Strontium SupplementsResources used in creating this page:Karine Bohme with Frances Budden, MD. The Silent Thief. 2001. Nancy E. Lane, MD. The Osteoporosis Book 1999.
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