My mother always taught me that I had to dig out the details of a story to find the truth, so dig we must into the dizzying world of estrogen. The twisting and conflicting medical opinions bounce back and forth like one of my children’s pendulum toys because the difference between the good and the bad estrogen is glossed over. The good estrogen which is the solution to hot flashes and other things to be discussed in future articles is the same estrogen that the female body has always made throughout her entire life prior to the time when her ovaries shut down and she enters “the change or called menopause.” This good form of estrogen is the same, down to the basic molecular level and this is why the mantra in our clinic is that the hormones that you are taking are the same ones that your body has been making.

What does this mean? Put simply, the estrogenic molecule found naturally in the woman’s body is identical to the one that can be prescribed to support the woman in managing her hot flashes and night sweats.  The woman’s body knows this good form of estrogen as intimately as her own flesh and welcomes it as a familiar friend.  Her body knows how to receive it and handle it well without causing any side effects.  This proper, correct and good form of estrogen stands apart in stark contrast to the bad, counterfeit form of estrogen, particularly premarin which is the one that the pharmaceutical companies have pedaled to doctors and advertised to women for decades, in their effort to make as much money as possible, while at great cost and terrible disease side effects to women.  Their mantra is one of deception not truth, confusion not clarity and now after the light has been shown on the bad form of estrogen, they continue to try and encourage woman to use their counterfeit estrogenic hormone saying that you can safely use it if you take the least amount for the shortest amount of time, but cant they see that the least amount of  counterfeit estrogen is none and the least amount of time is never!

In my last article, I talked about a cooling hormone solution to those life disrupting, suffering inducing hot flashes and night sweats. This solution is found in the hormone called estrogen. But wait, you think, I read that estrogen causes cancer and heart attacks. So first, before you toss this article to the side,  I need to explain how the term estrogen is misused and causes so much confusion and exasperation in women who just want to know the truth so that they can feel better and move on with their lives in their menopausal stage of life.

There are two categories of estrogen available and which have been used to support the woman’s body in the postmenopausal time period.  One category consists of the bad form of estrogens which I call counterfeit estrogens. The second category consists of the good form of estrogens, which I call human identical estrogens. This human identical estrogen category is also referred to in the media by the term “bio-identical” and in a later article, I will explain why I avoid the use of this term.

Now, if a woman is prescribed the counterfeit estrogen as her hormone solution, she will experience relief from the hot flashes but unfortunately, using these counterfeit estrogens come at a great cost, in that, she will develop those terrible side effects that you read about in the media, regarding cancer, strokes and heart attacks.

So what was the main counterfeit estrogen hormone being given to women in  the famous Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study in 2002? It was a form of estrogen called PREMARIN. And what is Premarin you wonder. It is an abbreviation of estrogen that is found in a female horse. Yes, you read that right, It is not an estrogen found in a female human being, but rather a female horse. The word premarin stands for PREgnant MARe uRINe.  Now, why in the world would a pharmaceutical company create a pill that utilized as its ingredients , estrogenic hormones from the pregnant female horse?  The main reason is that they can patent it and make tons of money of which they did throughout the 1950’s, 1960’s and continuing on until 2002 when the WHI study demonstrated that using this horse estrogen carried with it terrible side effects of heart attacks and strokes.

This horse estrogen is as foreign to a woman’s body as a lunar rock is to the earth.  I recently visited the Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. and had a chance to see some lunar rocks but I could not touch them because they were kept in a sealed glass container and that is exactly what we should do with the counterfeit estrogen hormone of premarin-keep it  in a glass container not to be touched or swallowed.  This form of estrogen is akin to trying to put gasoline as a substitute for water on a flower bed. It just aint gonna work. However, if a pregnant horse should walk into my office having hot flashes, then I will open up that sealed bottle and give it some premarin!

In my next article, I will discuss the good human identical estrogen.

Trying to create clarity out of the confusing misinformation surrounding the teatments of the most common symptom of menopause is frustrating enough to drive anyone into a cold sweat.  This perimenopausal and menopausal symptom is the random and unpredictable episodes of heat waves coursing through the body varying in intensity from just a slight warmth sensation to a full blown searing heat shock that rivals the strength of the summer noon sun. The impact on the woman ranges from that of slight annoyance to full blown suffering which interferes with her sleep, her work and her peace of mind. If anyone cant relate, just put on your warmest parka, hat and gloves and step into a hot sauna and see how it feels!

Adding to the misery is that the woman might be in the middle of a meeting, giving a presentation, sleeping soundly  or enjoying a lunch or dinner friends and the hot flash comes crashing through disrupting whatever she’s doing and while all those around her may be continuing on as if nothing happened, she is having sweat pour down her body, creating havoc with her make-up, soaking her bed sheets, or perhaps even short circuiting her phone or computer keyboard. As she starts to fan herself, take off her sweater, jacket, turn on her personal fan, people begin to stare and wonder what is wrong with her, their reactions only adding more gas to the raging fire.

A woman does not and should not have to suffer through this! So what is the solution? Yes, we know that lifestyle changes such as doing your yoga practice, cutting down on the red wine, limiting hot coffee, keeping up on your meditation, eating your fruits and veggies all support the woman’s body in being as healthy as possible but despite these lifestyle efforts, hot flashes and night sweats can continue to be just as severe and dehabilitating for a woman. So what is the solution?!

It is estrogen! But wait!! You think, doesn’t estrogen cause breast cancer and heart attacks? And before you start to panic and sweat by even considering the idea of using estrogen, we need some cooling clarity.

The estrogen that causes breast cancer and heart attacks and strokes is not the estrogen that is to be used in your body. There are two types of estrogen and this is where the confusion reigns. The estrogen used in the landmark Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study which is so often quoted as  proving that estrogen would cause these side effects was the wrong estrogen. I like to refer to it as counterfeit estrogen. There is a good estrogen to use however, which is safe and which takes care of these hot flashes and it is what I call human identical estrogen or rather the estrogen that your body always used to make is the one that you should now take!

Both types of estrogen, the bad or counterfeit one, and the good or human identical one, will alleviate your hot flashes. But you should never use the bad, counterfeit estrogen because it has bad side effects of cancer, clots, strokes and heart attacks. Use the estrogen that your body knows, is familiar with and likes to have around, which is the good human identical estrogen. In a follow up article, I will continue this topic of the difference between the good and the bad estrogens.