Monday, June 4, 2012

Natural Hormones

By Jake Alexandre


A hormone is a specific chemical secreted by a cell or a gland in the body, which has the ability of sending chemical messages to the cells in other locations. A hormone serves as a chemical messenger for sending messages from one part of the body, to the other. Every multi-cellular organism produces hormones. The usual mode of transportation of hormones is through blood circulation.

As an aftermath of the trial of estrogen and progestin, the outlook towards hormones therapy changed drastically. It was revealed through researches, that women going through hormone therapy were more exposed to the risk of breast cancer, blood clots, heart disease and strokes. The risk associated with hormone therapy were relatively mild, however, women believed that they must abandon the practice of hormone therapy. When the process was discontinued, these women, again, started experiencing the symptoms of menopause including hot flashes and sleeplessness.

To help relieve these symptoms, some women use hormones. This approach is called Hormone therapy. Hormone therapy is the use of hormones in the medical treatment. Through specific hormones, typically steroid drugs, the endocrine system is manipulated by inhibiting the activities of the hormone antagonist.

It should be mentioned here that even before researchers came up with the alarming news about hormone therapy, women were already seeking other solutions for symptoms of menopause, because most of them could barely cope with the hormone therapy and the after effects. A few women knew about the connection between estrogen and cancer. Other women did not take the drugs for the simple reason that, taking drugs will automatically mean that menopause was a disease, rather than a normal phenomenon of the later stages of life. A large number of women rejected the hormone therapy because of one or the other reason.

Several women believed that natural hormones will be a safer bet. The term 'natural' can, however, have several meanings.

Technically, anything that contains a plant, animal or mineral as its main source, is natural. In which manner the product is sold is of little consequence. The product could be sold at the stores, packed in fancy boxes, filled in capsules or turned into tablets.

To ease the menopause symptoms women began to look for natural hormone supplements. Natural hormones refer to the supplements which have animals, plants or animals in them. For example natural hormones like estrogen and progesterone are made from plants such as soy or yams. Some people also call them natural hormones, because they are supposed to be chemically the same as the hormones naturally made in the woman's body. Use of natural products such as glandular extracts cause cancer. Artificial and natural hormone therapies pose this serious disease. It results in breast and prostate cancer.

Natural hormone supplements that have soy as their main source have not yet been tested by researchers, so one is sure if they are a hundred percent safe. It is also known that soy possesses a few components that have the ability of augmenting breast cancer. Taking all these facts into account, we can easily say that natural does not necessarily mean safe.

Focus on natural hormone therapy paved the way for a new phenomenon that came to be known as bio-identical hormones. The molecular structure of these hormones is similar to the hormones that are produced inside a female body. Bio-identical hormone therapy is also known as natural hormone therapy, since they act exactly as the natural hormones produced by the body itself. However, it is imperative that medical advice be sought before opting for any of the above therapies.




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