Understanding Bio-Identical Hormones by Robert Seik, PharmD, FAARFM, RKC

Understanding Bio-Identical Hormones by Robert Seik, PharmD, FAARFM, RKC

The term ‘hormone’ comes from the Greek and is interpreted as “to excite.’ With the right hormone levels, the body is excited into action. Hormones not only help athletes run faster, they help the body repair faster, think faster, and perform using less energy. Life without hormones is less life, less action and a more rapid demise.   

From age 40 to 50 women’s hormones drop 30% and with menopause, a 90% drop in estrogens and a 75% drop in testosterone occur. Men are now losing 25-40% of their ‘manly’ hormones from 35 to 50. No wonder we see so much depression, insomnia, hot flashes, decreased sex drive, and disease.  Many symptoms of hormone deficiency are now considered “normal”.  However, hormone wellness practitioners know that is it not normal for their patients to not sleep, feel fatigued all the time, have no sex drive, feel chronic pain, and have no zeal. Our bodies are falling apart without our life-sustaining hormones and Partell Specialty Pharmacy now has two locations to help medical practitioners and their patients get them back.

Using sophisticated laboratories, Partell compounds to the absolute highest standards of quality in preparing hormone capsules, creams, sublingual troches, and more.  Many practitioners and their patients prefer to use implantable pellets which steadily deliver hormones over 3 to 6 months, just like the body is supposed to do. Learn more at www.revitapel.com.

A movement in the United States has formed against dangerous synthetic hormones, some of them pregnant horse urine, and Partell Pharmacy is a leader in the field. Numerous doctors and their patients now avoid the synthetic hormone drugs and use compounds for natural estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone. Partell Pharmacy has mixed these natural hormones in topical creams, capsules, sublingual dosage forms, and implantable pellets for years. And because they are ‘natural’, structurally identical to human hormones, they avoid many of the inherent problems of the synthetics like Premarin and PremPro.

As Suzanne Somers accurately stated: “There are four steps to getting appropriate medical treatment. (1) Recognize your symptom. (2) Measure the decrease from ‘normal’ in your blood stream. (3) Take the bio-identical hormone and re-measure to see that a normal range has been met. (4) See if your original complaint has been resolved. If not, go back to the doctor and get another answer.

Men too are realizing that there is no more beneficial substance to their health than a hormone, manly testosterone. Large studies show that men with the highest levels of this crucial hormone have the lowest risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.  Partell’s pharmacists are also trained on the importance of nutrients like zinc for men to optimize testosterone and CoQ10 for all patients to protect muscles and the brain. As one of the most important antioxidants in the body, CoQ10 is dramatically depleted by “statin” drugs to treat cholesterol. Known side effects of these drugs include muscle weakness and pain, exactly the symptoms associated with CoQ10 deficiency. It’s important to use a CoQ10 form this is well-absorbed and made at a high enough dose. Ask Partell’s pharmacists about CoQClear 100, the best CoQ10 product on the market.  Other nutrients are important too. Hormones are crucial but each hormone requires several internal chemical reactions to express its effects. Vitamins and minerals, are the cofactors for these reactions. Pharmacists and physicians who are specially trained in functional medicine use the replacement approach to treat deficiencies of hormones and nutrients rather than toxic drugs that only mask the symptoms.

The Importance of Vitamin D:

Mother Nature didn’t make a mistake.  In early December, a report was released by a Committee of the Institute of Medicine which states that a 3 year old child needs the same amount of Vitamin D as a 50 year old adult. This doesn’t make sense because most medicines are dosed by body weight so we should be dosing our nutrition by body weight also. This report states that any dose of Vitamin D over 600 I.U.'s per day is unnecessary and could be dangerous. Now, think about that for a minute:

Caucasian skin produces approximately 10,000 IU of vitamin D in response to 20-30 minutes of summer sun exposure-50 times more than the US government's recommendation of 200 IU per day! This high rate of natural production of vitamin D3 in the skin is the single most important fact every person should know about vitamin D-a fact that has profound implications for the natural human condition. Does anyone believe God made a mistake and we're not supposed to be in the summer sun for 30 minutes? What do we all know to do if a newborn baby has yellowish skin (suggestive of jaundice)? Put them in the sunshine for 10-20 minutes every day! According to this new Report, the amount of Vitamin D from 10-20 minutes of sunshine per day to newborn infants would be dangerous. Does that make sense to you?

This type of Report is a grave injustice to the tens of thousands of people who are suffering, and now will be overly apprehensive about using Vitamin D at therapeutic doses when they truly need it.  Vitamin D3 is available in high-potency sublingual drops over-the-counter at Partell Pharmacy.  It is a critical nutrient that is documented to reduce cancer risk, prevent osteoporosis, calm inflammation, and can even improve insomnia.  Ever wonder why you sleep so well after a day at the beach?  It might have something to do with vitamin D made abundantly in the skin from natural sun exposure.   

Don’t let standard Western medicine convince you that we’re all just supposed to get old, cold, tired, fat, and dumb with age. Give your body and mind an edge in the race and find a practitioner who specializes in bio-identical hormone replacement and nutritional medicine. Partell Specialty Pharmacy, www.partellpharmacy.com, has specially trained pharmacists with fellowship credentials from The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, A4M, and can refer patients to a number of expert practitioners who use natural hormone therapy and targeted nutritional replacement.

Robert Seik, PharmD, FAARFM, RKC is a principal owner of Partell Specialty Pharmacy.  He is a fellow of The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine and an expert in the application of functional medicine for the management and prevention of disease.