These days everyone seems to have an opinion about what is best.Synthetic or natural. Bio-identical or Premarin. Natural Thyroid Hormone or Levothyroxine.Testosterone (both for male and females) or an extract of.you know what.

What is missing from the arguments is perhaps the most relevant question of all: what is best for You. The individual suffering from either menopause or low thyroid symptoms or an absence of libido. Can one answer be given as the most beneficial for the entire human race? My take is that our failure to provide answers to the million of people suffering from hormone imbalances is in the fact that we do not address their individual bio-chemical complexities. The answer is not what type of hormones is best, but what works best fro an individual person.

Consider the following cases of two woman that came to see us for the treatment of menopausal symptoms.

Carolyn was 54 and still having periods, although less and less frequent. Her hot flushes were minimal, but her main concern was depression and heart palpitations. She had considered herself content most of her life and could not bear the feelings of despair and hopelessness she had been suffering from in the last 3 years. She had a good home life, a close nit family and enjoyed her work. Since she correlated the depression with the advent of peri-menopause she was ready to try hormone replacement therapy and be done with it (her words).

Lena was 51 and had stopped having periods 1 year ago. Since then she had consistent and very pronounced hair loss, killer hot lashes (her words) and a total absence of libido. She had remarried 5 years earlier to a man 7 years her junior and she feared the relationship would not survive if her menopause symptoms did not improve. She was an avid exerciser and ate a pretty good diet (her opinion). She had tried herbs (Black Cohosh) with no relief. She wanted to go natural all the way.

When looking at a patient with hormonal imbalances I rarely just take into account hormonal levels.Many other markers can affect how we feel once there is an hormonal imbalance.

Carolyn may have felt ready for hormones, but she did not need them.And furthermore, she may not have responded well enough to just a hormonal protocol. Her mineral analysis showed an extreme magnesium deficiency and brain neurotransmitter levels showed marked dopamine and serotonin deficiency.Once she was given the right amino acids, minerals and herbs, she did extremely well.

In Lena’s case- although she would have preferred not to use any hormones- we recommended she uses bio-identical estradiol and progesterone for 12 months.On of my main reasons was based on the result of a bone density that showed an advance state of osteoporosis. I wanted to assure bone density build up while at the same time she used correct levels of vitamin D and K and other bone building nutrients. After a year and a much better bone density she continue with nutrients and herbs.

Bio-identical hormones are neither safer nor more dangerous. The truth is that we do not have long term data on them. So how and for who are utilized is of paramount importance. Family history of cancers, liver ability to detoxify and the state of all other organs of elimination need to be taken into account.

For those of you that are looking for the answers in the next scientific review or the media.look instead for a well trained practitioner that can see further than your hormones into who you are as a whole.

And by the way..the answers are similar for thyroid imbalance, testosterone deficiency or adrenal burn out. Glands tell us a story, but it is always more complex than just one organ.