First of all, let us look at the definition of a bioidentical hormone, and how they differ from the synthetic hormones offered by the mainstream medical system. Bioidentical hormones are the hormones that exist in the human body naturally. Synthetic hormones are these very same human hormones that are chemically altered.
Why Chemically Alter a Human Hormone?
The drug company hires chemists to alter the structure of human hormones in the laboratory so the drug company can obtain a patent on the new chemical structure, which is a new drug. This alteration is required in order for the drug company to obtain a patent which gives exclusive marketing rights to the drug company. The patent is necessary to protects profits. Because of a quirk in our patent laws, only chemically altered substances can be patented. Natural substances like human hormones cannot be patented, and are therefore generally not as profitable to manufacture.
Chemically Altered Hormones are Monster Hormones
Hormones fit onto their receptors just like a ‘lock and key’, so any slight alteration of their chemical structure creates a ‘monster hormone’. These resulting ‘monster hormones’ are never found in the human body or anywhere else in nature. The reality is that these synthetically altered monster hormones should never have been approved for marketing and sale and yet that is exactly what your mainstream medical doctor will offer you if you ask for hormones. Chemical alteration created a monster hormone called Provera, a synthetic altered version of progesterone.
The Information War and Terminology
Years ago, after the invention of synthetic monster hormones, an information war was launched by the drug industry creating confusion in the public and even among medical professionals about the difference between natural human hormones and synthetic monster hormones. Because of this information war, we must now use the term ‘bioidentical hormones’, which really means human hormones in order to differentiate these from the monster altered hormones.
So it is an embarrassment to medical science that we are forced to use the word ‘bioidentical’ for natural hormones found in the human body. We shouldn’t feel that we are forced to do this. It should be sufficient to use the same old names in the biochemistry text books. The simple word ‘hormone’ should suffice. Yet here we are again finding ourselves using the words ‘bioidentical hormone’ thanks to this information war going on between natural medicine and the drug industry.
How do Hormones Work?
Hormones are messengers that attach directly on to the DNA of trillions of our cells and influence gene expression. The hormone enters the cell, attached to a receptor, and then enters the nucleus of the cell where it binds directly to the DNA. Once bound to the DNA, the hormone messenger turns on DNA expression of protein synthesis. DNA contains the source code for the manufacture of proteins. The Hormone is a messenger that tells the DNA to produce these proteins.
Why Are Proteins Important?
Proteins are the major building block for the human body, and all life for that matter. Proteins serve a variety of functions. For example, ‘structural’ proteins make up the structural elements of the body such as bones, skin, arteries, hair, connective tissue, ligaments, tendons, muscles. Other proteins called enzymes are involved in energy production. There are proteins involved in communication, neurological function and cognition called neurotransmitters. There are proteins involved in the immune system called antibodies, and the list goes on. The types of proteins are a very important part of the makeup of the organism.
We need a constant supply of proteins to repair the body’s wear and tear. A marathon runner, for example, suffers wear and tear on the tendons, ligaments and muscles used in the marathon run. Recovery time after a marathon depends on the speed of repair of these injuries. During recovery, new proteins and new cells are manufactured and used for repair.
New Cell Layers Needed for Life
In order to live, we need to make new cells. As our older cells and cell layers age and eventually die, we must have the ability to manufacture new cells. Examples are blood cells that must be replaced by the bone marrow every 90 days, the skin cells that slough off as the outer layer to be replaced by new layers of cells underneath. The gastrointestinal lining is generated at the basal cell layer. These basal cells mature as they migrate to the surface where they eventually live out their life span, die and slough off.
All of the parts of our bodies are require new cells to replace old ones. These new cells are made of proteins, so regeneration of new cell layers requires the DNA to be ‘turned on; to make these new proteins and cells.
Hormone Levels Decline with Age
We know from observational studies that hormones levels decline with age. Starting around age 50, hormones decline to low levels. In women, this sudden decline in hormone levels is called menopause and happens around age 50 with cessation of ovulation. In men, hormonal decline after age 50 is called andropause.
Without the hormone message attached to the DNA, which turns on DNA expression and protein synthesis, we all begin to suffer from the lack of reparative and regenerative proteins leading to the degenerative diseases of ageing. Natural Medicine will provide bioidentical hormone replacement which will serve to prevent or reverse these degenerative diseases of ageing.
BioIdentical Hormones Prevent Degenerative Diseases of Ageing
Since all of these degenerative diseases are directly caused by hormonal decline, they can be prevented or reversed (at least partially reversed) with the use of bioidentical hormones, representing direct economic competition with the drug industry which sells a drug for each degenerative disease. If bioidentical hormones were widely used, this would mean massive lost sales and lost profits for the drug industry.
It is not difficult to understand why there is animosity and competition between the drug industry and natural medicine, and especially between the drug industry and natural bioidentical hormones, with a raging information war going on.
More information
http://jeffreydach.com/2011/08/29/falsehoods-about-bioidentical-hormones-jeffrey-dach-md.aspx
http://anna.blog.wellsprings-health.com/2014/04/21/3-myths-about-bioidentical-hrt-and-cancer-risks/
https://www.bio-hormone-health.com/2014/04/09/how-to-come-off-hrt/