Natural hormone replacement therapy or NHRT is the use of plant hormones to treat different medical conditions caused by hormone deficiencies or imbalances. These plant hormones, as the name suggests, are derived from various plants. They are not synthetic and by their properties they are bio-identical to body own hormones, such as progesterone, estrogens or testosterone.
Another name for plant hormone is phytohormones. They have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for several thousands of years, but the modern medicine takes some time until the crystallization and isolation of these hormones from the plants. The breakthrough happened in 1938, when scientist crystallized natural progesterone, but it waited some 50 years, until the 80s, to become commercially available for the patients.
These days NHRT has been used as the substitute for hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Many women found the conventional HRT ineffective and its adverse effects and risks as highly problematic, so they turned to natural hormones.
NHRT Caution Measures
Natural hormone replacement therapy has been approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), but these are not medications, according to the US law. Keep that in mind when deciding to switch to NHRT from any other therapy or just when you want to start with natural hormones treatment.
There is also a problem with the amount of active substance (also known as bioavailability) that will enter your bloodstream, when you use these products. If you need low concentrations of hormones these NHRT products might be helpful, but it is not sure that they will be helpful in other cases.
NHRT hasn’t been well studied and therefore there is no proof that these natural hormones really work. Potential risks are also unknown, and as much as we know, NHRT might cause the same problems as the conventional hormone therapy. It is possible to increase the risk of heart problems, stroke, breast cancer or pulmonary embolism, as the HRT does.
Natural androgen replacement therapy is not recommended to be given to young people in their teen age.
Be aware of “natural” label on the bottles, since manufacturer may label something as natural hormone, and it could derivate from some other source (animal for instance).
Potential NHRT Benefits
NHRT is frequently used by menopausal women, to compensate the decline of estrogens, progesterone and testosterone. Many andropausal men also use these products, in order to balance the decrease of testosterone in the body. It is said that most symptoms improve after the NHRT treatment, and most people need one to 3 months of therapy with these natural hormones.
Some studies have revealed the possibility to use NHRT in: heart disease, cancers, osteoporosis and breast problems. Men could benefit the treatment with NHRT for the increase of their libido, energy and muscle mass, and these natural occurring hormones are believed to improve middle-aged men concentration and productivity as well.
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