The Little Hormone Book

Click to print "The Little Hormone Book."                                                                                                       Click to print "The Symptom Checklist" only.

     As a practicing obstetrician/gynecologist for over 40 years, I have helped thousands of women through the rigors of childbirth and the trauma of menopause. I understand and appreciate the profound level of trust my patients confer upon me to give them the best care possible. My goal is to always be worthy of their trust. It was in that spirit that 25 years ago, I began to seriously rethink the standards of conventional hormone replacement therapy for my perimenopausal and menopausal patients.

     It required a personal event for me to see the picture clearly. My wife had undergone a hysterectomy with the removal of both ovaries. Despite having top-notch surgical treatment and a quick recovery, she felt terrible on the standard hormone replacement therapy (non-human estrogen). I could not understand why.

     My wife was on the same treatment that I had been prescribing for years to my own patients. Despite my assurances that her hormone therapy was absolutely the accepted standard, she continued to report an instinctive feeling that something was radically wrong…that she did not feel like herself. Was it possible that this reaction was unique to my wife alone? Surely not. As I began to survey my own post-menopausal patients, a disturbing pattern began to emerge. Most of them confessed that they had stopped taking their hormones after a few months because they felt bad. Others had simply continued taking the hormones and tolerated the resultant symptoms. They had not told me, either for fear of reproachment or because they did not want to hurt my feelings.

     I was literally stunned. They were protecting me! From that moment on, my vision became clear. It was obvious that women were being asked to endure the painful, baffling, and often debilitating side effects of traditional hormone therapy in silence. If an alternative existed, it must be found.

     The first step in my journey was to revisit my biochemistry textbooks. Amazingly, it was all there and had been since 1955. All the natural human hormones are very clearly identified for anyone who wants to read about them.

     In summary, the story of hormones is this:

     Hormones are critical to our body's health - in fact, we could not live without them. They are produced in the adrenal glands and ovaries or testes, and are the chemical messengers in our body that tell other cells what to do. They regulate virtually every bodily function. The natural hormone cycle of men and women is designed to flower briefly giving us the vigor and vitality to reproduce our species and to protect and guide our young, and then begin to decline as part of aging. The perimenopausal and menopausal years for women are literally a process of withering away on the inside, losing bone and muscle mass, becoming weaker, developing arteriosclerosis, and losing mental acuity as bodily hormone production decreases.

     It was at this point in my research that I enlisted the help of a respected friend and brilliant colleague, Dr. Bernard Rice. His specialized knowledge of endocrinology plus invaluable experience with human hormones supplied much of the scientific background behind the all-natural hormone replacement therapy.

In our combined 60 years of experience with natural hormones, we have found that this therapy rebuilds your immune system. You get sick less often and, yes, you can actually prevent cancer from forming in the first place. Painful and fibrocystic breasts become less of a problem. Menstrual irregularities stop occurring. Tissues, once sleepy, awaken to new life. Natural hormones are the catalyst that drives protein back into the muscle and bone, making you stronger. Your body actually starts to become younger.

     No doubt you have noticed that the word "natural" keeps appearing. It is important to note that there is a critical difference between natural hormone therapy and traditional hormone replacement. Traditional therapy does not utilize human hormones. In fact, the most widely prescribed hormone for women in America today is derived from the urine of pregnant horses! Many of my patients are dumbstruck by that fact. They invariably ask, “How can this be true?” There are several reasons. The most common is simply that the practice is widely accepted. It needn't be. We should be using human hormone replacement therapy on humans. Only human hormones can restore nature's blueprint of a younger you. Horse hormones are great for horses, not humans.

     Adding to the overall confusion are poorly researched stories in the media about hormone replacement therapy and whether it is beneficial or not. The truth is that we simply need to follow nature’s plan—to replace diminishing hormones with natural hormones that we've known about for decades. It is all very safe. The benefits are numerous and dramatic:

Human hormones do not cause cancer, they prevent it.

Heart and vascular disease is prevented.

Aging of cells is significantly slowed.

Osteoporosis is prevented or even reversed.

Mental and/or emotional dysfunction is prevented or reversed.

Anti-depressant drugs are frequently rendered unnecessary or the dosage can be lowered.

     When describing the difference between non-natural hormones and natural human hormones to my patients, I often compare the human body to an extremely valuable and expensive machine. Assume this machine requires a special oil to keep it working properly. When the machine is new from the manufacturer, the special oil is at an optimal level.

     As the machine ages, the special oil drops to 1/2 or 1/3 of what it was when the machine was new. Because the special oil is low, the valuable machine begins to break down and function less efficiently. Now we have a choice. Should we use tractor oil to replace the special oil in the valuable and expensive machine or should we use the original oil that came with the machine from the manufacturer? The answer is obvious. We should use the special oil that was designed specifically for our valuable and expensive machine, and restore the oil to the full level.

My patients frequently ask why more doctors do not prescribe natural hormone replacement therapy. Certainly, doctors
want to do the right thing for their patients. However, doctors must rely on the research of pharmaceutical companies to
guide them in these complex issues and in their prescribing habits. Pharmaceutical companies will continue to produce
miracle drugs that do incalculable good. However, these companies also must make a profit. In order to generate revenue,
they must first create a product to patent and sell. They cannot patent what already exists in nature so they must find a substitute. When the product created by a pharmaceutical company is a hormone, this substitute hormone only mimics the activity of the natural hormone and frequently has side effects because it is not natural to the human body.

     Before new drugs can be brought to market, clinical studies must be conducted. These trials are expensive and usually
the pharmaceutical companies are the only entities with resources sufficient to run them. Obviously, there is a vested
interest for these studies to show the product to be extremely beneficial. Once approved, the subsequent marketing efforts
on behalf of these drugs are all out campaigns designed to convince the public that these pretender hormones are every bit
as beneficial as the authentic article.

     So successful are these efforts that several brand names have become entrenched in the public consciousness to the
extent that most people believe them to be the natural substance. For example, you will hear the word "progestin" when
talking about hormones. Progestin is a hormone created by Man—not nature. It is used to replace the natural occurring progesterone as it declines. Progestins are usually poorly tolerated and can involve risk to some patients who take them.

Progesterone is part of nature's blueprint.

Progestin is Man's interference.

     As stated earlier, I have been fortunate to share the momentous event of childbirth with patients. I can tell you that seeing
the phenomenal change in some women when they begin the all-natural hormone replacement therapy is every bit as momentous as the event of childbirth.

     You can start feeling and looking younger again by restoring your natural hormones to the level they were when you were younger. Your skin, hair and fingernails will become healthier and more youthful. Dry eyes and light sensitivity will stop. Healthy tissue reforms in your gum line. Your bones and muscles get stronger. Joints stop aching. Body fat decreases. Your body will respond to exercise as it did when you were younger. You will feel motivated to exercise and enthusiastic about projects you had been postponing or even dreading. Mentally, you will feel younger, memory comes back, and headaches stop or become less frequent and less severe. You become positive about people and ideas. A twinkle returns to your eye.

I want you to experience this as well. I want you to feel young again by restoring your hormones to that previous level.

     I wrote this book so that you can be more proactive and prevent the diseases of aging that occur because of hormone decline.

     You can be young at 90 and feel great, too. Restore the hormones to youthful levels and look, think, and feel young again.

     With all natural hormone replacement therapy, one of three things happens:

1. You'll feel better. When you feel better, you instinctively know that you are on the right mix.

2. You may feel no different. If this is the case, follow the replacement therapy knowing that it is helping your body as you age and doing you no harm.

3. In a small percentage of women, there may be a negative response to one of the ingredients, causing a skin blemish or eczema around the edge of your scalp. You absolutely do not have to put up with any negative side effects. Dosages can be easily adjusted or components can be eliminated entirely to eradicate the unwanted symptoms.

     As you read through the “Patient Testimonials”, you will get a glimpse of just some of the responses I hear when my patients start on natural human hormones.

     You need to know that there are options available to traditional treatment. You can educate yourself about the natural alternative to traditional hormone replacement.

     This little book is designed to help you accomplish just that.

     You do have a choice!

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Click to print "The Little Hormone Book."

Click to print "The Symptom Checklist" only.