Hormones In The News

May 2009 - Testing the saliva is a great tool to measure the balance of hormones such as estrogen, testosterone, progesterone and cortisol. They are our body's messengers, so it is important that they are balanced, otherwise both physical and emotional distress occurs. Fortunately, once we know what the imbalances are, they can be corrected...

April 2009- Compounding pharmacies are a great way to manage your personal health. They specialize in preparing customized medicine that is not available over the counter. This type of medication is prescribed by both physicians, as well as veterinarians. Some of these pharmacies even offer free educational seminars that discuss all of the benefits of customized...

April 2009- Every minute of the day, four more women enter into menopause. More than 25 million American males between ages 40 and 55 are experiencing some degree of male menopause (andropause). Although a little known fact, the symptoms of menopause and andropause can start as early as 20 or 30 years old. Dr. Phil and his wife Robin are continuing the conversation that Suzanne Somers and Oprah started and have energized even more women and men to...

March 2009 - Concern about the safety of hormone replacement has all but obscured one of the most pressing concerns for women of a certain age: the effects of menopause on their sex lives. Many are reluctant to ask their doctors a question uppermost in their minds: "What has happened to my desire for sex and my ability to enjoy it?" With fully a third of their lives ahead of...

March 2009 - It's the part of a checkup many people dread: the blood draw. Soon, it may not be necessary for many routine blood tests.

Technical advances are making it possible for laboratories to glean detailed diagnostic information from a few drops of blood collected on a paper card. And a finger prick is all that's needed...

March 2009 - I applaud the Wall Street Journal article by Dr. Schwartz, Dr. Holtorf and Dr. Brownstein! They did a great job clearing some of the confusion regarding bioidentical hormone therapy. It has always made sense to me that you would want to utilize hormones in your body that have the exact same chemical structure as a hormone that your body would produce itself. Yet, many from the pharmaceutical and medical establishment continue to try to compare bioidentical hormones to non-bioidentical hormones which creates confusion...

March 2009 - Everything you need to know about menopause (but were too hot, tired, confused, and cranky to ask). Is estrogen safe this week? Does it matter when you start hormone therapy? What does "bioidentical" mean, anyway? Mary Duenwald scours the latest science for the answers even your doctor may not have...

March 2009 - Mainstream medicine has been given a wake-up call on a matter critical to the health of 65 million women in the U.S. At issue are the options for treatment of menopause symptoms that cause significant health problems for women in mid-life as their bodies produce fewer hormones. It doesn't seem like a complicated problem, given advances in medical science. Yet hormone-replacement therapy has become a textbook example of how special interests, a confused medical establishment...

February 2009 - I know that there is a middle ground in the bioidentical hormone debate. Suzanne Somers is on one side of the debate. Pat Wingert and Barbara Kantrowitz appear to be on the other side. The focus of their criticism of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" was mainly on Suzanne Somers and her hormone regimen. Dr Streicher did a great job representing "mainstream medicine." Her point that there are a few pharmaceutical bioidentical hormones available that mainstream physicians can prescribe is well taken. I was also originally trained in Ob/Gyn and practiced...

February 2009 - When Dr. Lauren Streicher, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University's medical school in Chicago, got a call from "The Oprah Winfrey Show" inviting her to discuss menopausal hormones with actress Suzanne Somers, she figured she'd better read Somers's best-selling books on the subject....