Nowadays, the spread of many diseases has increased, and by extension, the need for new therapies increased. This led to increasing the side effects of chemical drugs.
Therefore, the world of pharmaceutical compounding has recently resorted to introducing natural and safe compounds into the therapeutic field to decrease the probable side effects resulting from chemical drugs, especially in hormonal replacement therapy.
One of these compounds is Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy(BHRT).
The challenge of BHRT is to achieve efficacy and safety over conventional hormone therapies
One of these challenges is introducing BHRT to treat Thyroid disorders.
This is the goal of Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy(BHRT), to re-establish the hormone levels in your body.
What’s BHRT?
natural hormones, that are identical to hormones your body makes.
it can deliver an adjusted dose of hormones (with a substantial and stable release) into the body.
The use of traditional hormonal therapy has declined since the Women’s health initiative(WHI) publicized that there is a risk of stroke and venous thrombosis and breast cancer from the long-term use of traditional hormonal therapy. So there has been increased interest in alternative approaches
Bioidentical hormones are compounded for each person individually, it is important for people who suffer from a hormonal imbalance and for people who do not make enough hormones naturally.
There are common Symptoms of hormonal imbalance:
- Weight gain
- Mood swings
- Fatigue
- Depression
- Fibromyalgia
- Anxious
- Hot flashes
- Low libido
How do bioidentical hormones differ from traditional
hormones?
Bioidentical hormones have lower risks and are more officious than traditional hormones
Bioidentical hormones provide stable and detectable doses which avoid hormonal imbalance.
Recent clinical trials have demonstrated an increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women using oral hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
Bio-identical (BHRT) is widely used by alternative healthcare practitioners for the treatment of symptoms of menopause.
BHRT provides the benefits of HRT while attenuating the risk.
It is common to use BHRT to adjust sex hormones for men and women to help in postmenopause and aging and osteoporosis ..etc, where it achieved huge benefits in this field.
So, it was an excellent step to apply this excellent technique to thyroid disorders…why?
To avoid the risk of imbalance and unadjusted dose of traditional hormonal therapy, as we mentioned before.
Because over-treatment of hypothyroidism with levothyroxine may cause an increase in heart rate, cardiac wall thickness, and cardiac contractility; may precipitate angina or arrhythmias, particularly in patients with cardiovascular disease and in elderly patients.
Levothyroxine has a narrow therapeutic index.
So, over or undertreatment may have negative effects on growth and development, cardiovascular function, bone metabolism, reproductive function, cognitive function, emotional state, gastrointestinal function, and on glucose and lipid metabolism in adult or pediatric patients.
Myxedema coma is a life-threatening emergency characterized by poor circulation and hypometabolism and may result in unpredictable GI(gastrointestinal) absorption of levothyroxine.
On the other side Overtreatment of hyperthyroidism results in heart disease and osteoporosis, particularly for old patients and pregnant women.
There was a study in the United States that reported that 31% of pregnant women who received methimazole, and 9% of those who received propylthiouracil, terminated their pregnancy selectively because of the fear of teratogenicity.
How BHRT improves thyroid function and hormone imbalance?
Because effective thyroid replacement therapy may be elusive for some patients, BHRT is considered an opportunity to deliver more effective therapy.
The ratio of T4 to T3 that the human thyroid gland produces is about 14:1
And we know that T3 is the active form of thyroid hormones.
As there is Some patients may be poor converters of T4 into T3.
So, It was very important to interfere with compounds that contain high levels of T3 according to T4.
Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy provided a commercial combination has 4:1 as a T4:T3 ratio which improves thyroid functions and avoids hormonal imbalance.
It is so important for thyroid hormones to be balanced as they affect each other through many signals between these hormones and the brain and the glands.
So, any imbalance or unadjusted dose from traditional hormone replacement therapy will affect all the body functions.
What are the sources of BHRT?
It is extracted from a natural origin, maybe plants like yams and soya beans, or animal origin like pigs.
What are the side effects of BHRT?
BHRT mimics the hormones your body makes, so the side effects from it are low. But your body is still not used to the new levels of hormones.so, there are side effects that may occur especially after the first use of BHRT.
Some common side effects of BHRT:
- Cramping
- Blurred vision
- Acne
- Mood swings
- Weight gain
- Tiredness
What are the potential risks of BHRT?
Many healthcare providers who use BHRT say that it’s safer than traditional hormonal therapy, but long-term use of hormonal therapy may cause stroke, heart disease, and gall bladder disease.
You can ask your healthcare provider to check your hormone levels continuously to avoid these risks.
How can you find the right bioidentical hormone replacement therapy?
You can get it only from the compounding pharmacies after a discussion with your healthcare provider to do some tests which detect the proper compounding for you.
You can communicate with Welltopia to talk to your healthcare provider and get your online consultation.
Don’t hesitate to consult your healthcare provider about any symptoms, treatments, side effects, or any other questions.
Bioidentical HRT may be in many forms:
- Pills
- Gels
- Creams
- Implanted pellets
- Shots
- Batches
Your health care provider discuss with you the suitable form for you.
What is the treatment plan for thyroid disorders with BHRT?
- Consultation with your health care provider
- lab testing to determine the type and severity of thyroid disorder.
- Prescription for thyroid replacement according to the result of your tests.
- Recommendations for a proper diet to get the best results from your therapy.
- Follow up to maintain the best treatment.
Why it’s Important to consult a healthcare professional for your treatment plan?
The treatment plan is determined according to your personal lab testing and you should be watched closely.
Your healthcare provider may adjust your dose according to changes in your tests.
The goal is to relieve symptoms with a low dose, high efficacy, and short time.
So, the Potential benefits of BHRT for thyroid orders:
1. Mimics your natural hormones.
2. achieves hormonal balance
3. Protect from risks resulting from overtreating of hypothyroidism:
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Angina
- Cardiac contractility
- Arrhythmia
4. protects from undertreating effects of hypothyroidism on:
- Growth and development.
- Bone metabolism
- Cardiovascular function
- Emotional state
- Reproductive function
- Glucose and lipid metabolism.
5. prevention from myxedema coma which is a life-threatening condition.
6. Avoid risks that resulted from over-treatment of hyperthyroidism
- Heart diseases.
- Osteoporosis.
Finally, scientists and healthcare providers always seek to reach the best formula with low side effects and high efficacy. and this was targeted in our BHRT(bioidentical hormone replacement therapy).
References :
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33048485/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31605389/
- https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=ar&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=bio identical+hormone+replacement +therapy&oq=Bioidentical+#d=gs_qabs&t=1680758390182&u=%23p%3DRGn_J6G_EF8J
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23072197/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ term=Sources+of+bioidentical+hormone+ replacement+ therapy +for+thyroid
- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/15660-bioidentical-hormones
