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Helping women be hormonally balanced, feel great and be protected from the diseases of aging is my passion and my mission. Too many moms have died, and too many daughters are suffering the symptoms of hormone imbalance (hotflashes, bloating, irritability, PMS, depression, night sweats, breast lumps). And, by the way, these changes are happening to men as well! The mid-life hormone change in men is called “Andropause.” The decreasing levels of testosterone and increased levels of cortisol and insulin has men get fat, grouchy and lose their competitive edge. Men can use bioidentical hormones too! How My Journey Began In 1995 my Mom, Joyce Olson, died of metastatic breast cancer after a 4 1⁄2 year fight. She died on my 34th birthday; I was 5 months pregnant with her first grandchild, Lily Joyce. Several months after her death, my Dad handed me 3 folders--my Mom’s medical records from 1969 on. Years later I was finally able to read these records, and to my astonishment, I discovered the end sequence of my Mom’s final journey, and how I believe, she ended up with breast cancer. Chemical Hormones Mom started having hormone imbalances in her 30’s, and by her 40’s had many of the danger signs of a hormone imbalance called “estrogen dominance” (weight gain, breast changes, uterine changes). At age 52 she began suffering from hot flashes. To relieve these symptoms she was prescribed Prempro. 18 months later she had breast cancer. Prempro, a synthetic combination of estrogen from a pregnant horse mare’s urine, and a chemically altered “tinkertoy” progestin, was prescribed for almost 50% of all women over the past 30-40 years for the symptoms of menopause. In July 2002, the National Institute of Health cancelled a research study by the Women’s Health Initiative on Prempro (2 1⁄2 years early) due to early findings that it increased a woman’s chance of breast cancer, heart attack and stroke. This isn’t just a story about my Mom. After her death, things started to unravel for me, too. I was a new mom, a new doctor, and my marriage of 14 years was ending. The sadness of Mom’s death, the exhaustion of working and mothering, and the end of my marriage took their toll. I was suffering from post-traumatic stress and post-partum blues. Now I had a hormone collapse of my own. Bioidenticals & The Schwarzbein Principle As a mom, a business owner and a doctor, I had to find an answer. My convictions and search lead me to Dr. Diana Schwarzbein. I discovered the new movement to be hormonally balanced, to feel well, and protect women against their three big killers: heart attack, breast cancer and stroke. I learned about the four different kinds of hormone options: herbal, animal, tinkertoy and bioidentical. I became convinced the answer was in bioidenticals. Bioidentical hormones are made from plant sources like yams, but are structurally altered in the lab to be exactly identical to what our own bodies make. You cannot tell the difference under the microscope between these altered yam molecules and our bodies own hormones! Bioidenticals allow hormones to be replenished, not just replaced. |
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