What Are Hormones?

Hormones are what your body uses to internally communicate. They’re chemical signals, sent between your organs, and together they have a huge influence on almost every process your body undergoes. Among the many functions to which hormones are critical are:

The organs that produce, send, and receive hormones throughout your body are collectively called the endocrine system. The endocrine system’s job is to produce, release, and maintain your hormones, which include testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, thyroid hormone, and others. If there’s a problem with your endocrine system and it produces surpluses or deficits of a given hormone, the result is hormone imbalance.

What is a hormone imbalance?

Typically, your body will increase the production of necessary hormones like estrogen and testosterone during puberty, then produce these hormones at elevated levels throughout maturity to keep you functioning well. If for any reason hormone production declines, an imbalance happens, and imbalance causes many unpleasant effects. This happens most often to men and women around the age of forty. Maturing people find themselves experiencing symptoms without a clear root cause, symptoms that sap their energy and youth. When there isn’t another reason for these things to be happening, the answer is often hormone imbalance. Problems caused by hormone deficiency include:

In the past, if you brought these concerns to your doctor, you’d probably be told that they were just an inevitable part of aging. But now we can diagnose these as the symptoms of hormone imbalance, and hormone imbalance can be fought. Though it happens to different people at different times and at different paces, the age-related drop in hormone levels will someday happen to everyone.

What are bioidentical hormones?

Bioidentical hormones, which are used in hormone replacement therapy can help alleviate the symptoms of age by rectifying any deficiencies you may experience. Fixing the imbalance in your system will fix the problems it’s caused. Genemedics is at the forefront of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) in Georgia. Our clinicians prescribe doses of bioidentical hormones that fill the role your naturally produced hormones normally would be performing, fighting the effects of imbalance and improving your health. In bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, the hormones involved are exact matches for those produced by your body. This contrasts with synthetic hormone therapy, which uses hormones derived from animals that are only very close analogs of your hormones. Synthetic hormones were commonly used in the past, but they’ve since been largely replaced by bioidentical hormones because bioidentical hormones are perfectly designed to interact with your body.

What are synthetic hormones?

The use of synthetic hormones in hormone replacement therapy was both common and haphazard. These hormones, imperfectly created from animal sources, simply did not affect the body the same way that natural hormones would, and they often produced side effects. Though bioactive, they ultimately could be responsible for big problems in your body. An example is the use of synthetic estrogen to help alleviate menopausal effects in women, which was commonplace for a long time. These strong synthetic estrogens, which were created from the urine of pregnant horses, were designed to lessen menopausal problems while lowering a woman’s susceptibility to serious diseases like breast cancer and stroke. But a bombshell study released in 2004 by the Women’s Health Initiative showed that synthetic estrogen actually made women more likely to contract these diseases: the opposite of what they were designed to do. Since this study, prescriptions for synthetic estrogen have become rare and millions of women have avoided exposing themselves to possible disease-causing agents. Hormone replacement therapy has made great strides since then. Thanks to the science of bioidentical hormones, it’s now possible for Genemedics clinics to offer 100% safe and guaranteed effective hormone replacement with little to no risk of side effects.

How Are Bioidentical Hormones Made?

Bioidentical hormones are created in a precise laboratory process that derives their base molecules from natural ingredients like soybeans and then uses these molecules to produce a perfect analog for the human hormone. Bioidentical hormones come in the form of pills, patches, gels, creams, pellets, and injections.

Bioidentical vs Synthetic Hormones

Bioidentical hormones are undeniably superior to synthetic hormones. Though synthetic hormones are admittedly bioactive, they carry with them the risk of serious side effects, and bioidentical hormones spur more significant positive changes in your body. Since synthetic hormones inevitably include some substances not naturally occurring in your body, they are less effective. In fact, the way they act inside your body is fundamentally different. Hormones are designed to bind to molecules in your body before breaking down and assimilating, but synthetic hormones do not bind and dissolve perfectly due to their inherent differences. This increases a patient’s risk of blood clots, cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy avoids these issues. In BHRT, the hormone analog interacts with your body the way natural hormones would, and the molecules break down perfectly. This makes them much more effective at fighting hormone imbalance and drives down the pernicious side effects patients want to avoid.

What is Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy?

At the base level, bioidentical hormone replacement therapy is the prescription of hormones to bring your endocrine system back into optimal balance. But BHRT goes further than just taking doses of hormones to fight symptoms; it’s a thorough, whole-body approach to improving health. A BHRT program provided by Genemedics begins with a battery of tests of your hormone profile to determine your candidacy for therapy. This involves simple, non-invasive tests like a blood and saliva test, and evaluation of your symptoms by a doctor. Your doctor will then analyze the results of your tests and use them to create a personalized BHRT program for you designed to restore your hormones to ideal levels and give you back the youthful feeling of your twenties and thirties. A program of BHRT is by definition personalized for the patient. To really be effective, it must be tailored to your specific hormone needs, as well as your biology and existing health status.

Benefits of Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy in Georgia

Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy has many powerful effects on your body, and the positive changes set in quickly: it’s not uncommon for patients to report very quick gains in energy level and mood after beginning hormone supplementation. Among the benefits of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy are:

Are There any Side Effects of Hormone Replacement Therapy?

Synthetic hormones pose a far greater risk of side effects than bioidentical hormones do. Nonetheless, if BHRT is mismanaged or designed incorrectly, there still is the risk of side effects. An experienced physician can create hormone replacement programs that work and don’t cause side effects, but physicians without proper training might not understand hormone replacement. Fortunately, all Genemedics doctors are experts at creating bioidentical hormone replacement therapy programs. All physicians at our Georgia clinics have thousands of hours of training and experience, and have already helped many patients. Programs designed by Genemedics are made for your genetic makeup and avoid the risk of side effects. Call one of our clinics today to schedule your initial consultation and hormone status tests.