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Menopause is a natural occurrence that transitions a woman back to a time in her life where she can no longer conceive and bear children. Although it has been problematic for many, it should not be looked at as a disease. God had a plan for women to transition naturally and that plan needs to be examined and we need to determine what happened between puberty and perimenopause to create this imbalance. When this is figured out, a plan can be set in place to restore balance.

Hormones are constantly created and broken down by the body. Sometimes the rate of production and the rate of degradation fall out of balance. This can happen due to liver toxicity since the liver is the primary organ involved in hormonal breakdown. After the ovaries stop producing the majority of hormones, the adrenal glands use cholesterol to form the hormones now necessary. Cholesterol imbalance, stress, weak adrenals and nutritional deficiencies can all contribute to decreased hormone production and eventually imbalance.

Since postmenopausal women do not have fluctuating hormones, it is usually rather simple to determine hormonal imbalance. A simple test using two ml of saliva can give us accurate levels of three forms of estrogen, progesterone, DHEA, and testosterone. When these levels have been determined a supplementation schedule can be established to balance the hormonal levels.

Change does not have to be a difficult time and it is encouraging to see a woman transition back into a healthy postmenopausal period without the use of dangerous hormones – the way it was intended to be.

Post-Menopausal Issues

Information from Diagnos-Techs, Inc. Clinical and Research Laboratory

The right balance of hormones is important to long-term emotional, mental and bodily health.

Literally, menopause means the cessation of the monthly menstrual cycle and signals the end of a woman’s natural childbearing years. Menopause is neigh neither a disease nor an illness; it is a natural and usually gradual change in glandular function. It has its origins in the beginning of menses and culminates in a series of hormonal changes that result in the cessation of menstrual flow. This transition produces a variety of bodily manifestations and symptoms, and is due to changes in production of hormones and the timing of their release.

Various body parts undergo change and can produce one or more of the following symptoms:

• Endocrine
  • Bleeding irregularities
  • Vaginal dryness
  • Hot flashes/sweats
  • Changes in sex drive
• Nervous system
  • Insomnia
  • Nervousness, irritability
  • Headache
  • Mood changes
  • Depression
• Metabolic changes
  • Skin aging/cosmetic changes
  • Osteoporosis
  • Altered fat and carbohydrate metabolism

What can you do about it?

There are several therapeutic options which may minimize or even eliminate many of the symptoms:

1. Treat symptoms using synthetic hormones without hormone level testing.
2. Treat symptoms using natural hormones with any testing.
3. Treat and correct symptoms using natural hormones with testing for hormone levels before and after treatment.

Why should you test?

Hormones are powerful substances that control multiple functions throughout the body. Hormone levels should be sufficient and balanced. Too much or too little of them is not conducive to long-term emotional, mental and bodily health.

By not measuring the hormones before and after treatment your hormone picture is, at best, an educated guess, since hormone levels from woman to woman can vary 200 – 1500%. In fact, many women need only one hormone, while others require 3 or 4 different kinds. Just as you cannot balance your bank account without numbers on your bank statements, hormone testing provides both a basis for treatment and proximity to your goal.

One can then…

1. Customize natural hormone dosing to meet individual needs.
2. Optimize hormone levels for minimum dose to relieve symptoms. Avoid overdosing.
3. Achieve appropriate and compatible physiologic levels of several hormones.
4. Increase sense of “well-being” by removing underlying hormone deficit and balances.

What do we test for and what does it tell you?

We test for male and female natural hormones. One, two, six or eight of them, depending on the need. WE utilize your saliva as a sample for measuring hormones, such as Testosterone, DHEA, Progesterone, Estriol, Estrone, Estradiol, Dihydrotestosterone*, and Androstenedione*.

The brain derived regulating hormones, FSH** and LH**, are also measured to help assess efficacy of control and feedback between the brain and ovaries.

Saliva hormone values reflect the tissue concentration of your hormones. Blood and serum contains the total hormone, but your tissues are only bathed with the active or effective fraction as found in saliva. Active fraction measurements are superior to blood and urine measurements both in diagnosis and treatment.

*Part of the Male Hormone Test™

**Included in the expanded PHP-1™

How can we help you?

Let us take a look at a common example:

A woman suffers from several symptoms – migraines, hot flashes and emotional fragility. She is having irregular periods, one every 6-8 months. Her doctor treats her with natural estrogens, but he does not do any testing to determine quantities or types of hormones that will meet her specific needs.

The symptoms are under control, but her risks are the following:

• Increased blood pressure
• Endometrial cancer (uterine cancer)
• Fibroid growth
• Gallbladder disease
• Over 15 years, at least twice the risk of breast cancer

What could we have found out if we had tested her saliva hormone levels? We would have know that she has too much estrogen, not enough progesterone to balance the estrogen, low DHEA, and marginal testosterone.

But, she felt good on the estrogen, many will say. Yes, however, the silent killers (cancer, blood pressure, heart disease) rarely make anyone feel bad at the start. Her best course is a new treatment plan, designed around the objective saliva hormone measurements.

How do you benefit?

There are five distinct areas that you will benefit from using the saliva tests.

1. They are affordable and less expensive than blood or urine tests. Blood testing for 6 hormones costs $250-300 more than saliva testing.
2. Collection procedure spares you the pain of venipunctures with a needle.
3. Results are more clinically reflective of your hormone status and needs.
4. Results can lead to an individualized and customized treatment plan using natural hormones.
5. You will minimize overdosing and under-dosing. This will insure that you use only the proper hormones in the appropriate amounts.