What has a facial got to do with it?
Well Dr. Phil inadvertently told us with the help of his wife Robin on his show yesterday. Read about Becky and her hormone make-over. Her husband was thrilled. He is getting sex again. And Michelle. Her husband too is thrilled to be getting it again . She even jumped him a couple of times. Whoo hoo! Pity the camera missed that poignant moment.
And who do we thank for these miracle makeovers? The Hall Centre located in Santa Monica California. Have a look at their website. They offer laser skin treatments as well as colon hydrotherapy and, oh, bio-identical hormones. It’s BHRT meets Beauty Spa or Beauty Spa meets BHRT. Bit of the chicken and the egg there.
Speaking of eggs. That’s what menopause is all about. Not having any. So you can BHRT all you like and you can laser yourself to your skin’s content and you can even shove a hose up your “you know where”. But the fact of the matter is as far as reproduction is concerned, stem cells aside, it’s game over. And with good reason. If you are ovulating, you have periods. And who on earth wants to be dealing with having their periods at 70 or 80 or 90? No-one. Yet serious educated people have pondered the point of menopause. They offer us the “Grandmother” theory. How about the “enough already” theory?
So what is trend in BHRT all about if not eggs? It’s about chickens. Of the Spring variety. It’s about anti-aging. Counteracting the aging that comes hand in hand with menopause.
The media shift on BHRT has gone from a means to provide relief to the minority of women who suffer debilitating symptoms related to menopause to anti-aging properties of bio-identicals for every woman. And it is probably not surprising that businesses such as The Hall Centre are popping up all over the place.
A press release yesterday about a similiar Manhattan operation claimed that BHRT “gives you back your youth.” Not surprisingly, they too offer Botox and Laser treatments. All these places have to add is Hairs Cuts and Mani/Pedis and they are a one stop shop for all those aspiring to reach today’s benchmark for menopausal woman. Looking 40 until the day you die.
She did teh same routine on The Doctors. Check it out
http://bodylogicmd.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/robin-mcgraw-talks-on-the-doctors-about-menopause-and-hormones/
Looks like Mrs. Phil and Dr. Hall have a dog and pony show going.
I guess a point to note from what they are saying is that any hormone replacement process is not a replacement process at all but a supplemental process. You are not taking out hormones and replacing them with something else. You are adding to the hormones already there. With BRHT you are adding hormones identical in composition to your own. With HRT, you are not. So BHRT is perceived as safer than HRT.
And while one objective of B/HRT is to increase specific hormone levels e.g. estradiol the overall objective is to provide some balance between the sex hormone (estrogen, progesterone and testosterone) levels because they work together.
But what does balance mean? And is this what they are saying? Because I don’t really hear “balance” when I listen to what this duo say. I hear “increase”.
So let’s look at what they are really selling because let’s face it they are selling something. They are selling the concept of compounded BHRT versus OTC BHRT. Why? Well there are three possibilities:
1. Compounded BHRT is better
2. There is more money to be made in compounded BHRT in terms of services and possibly product
3. Both.
So hidden issue here is the OTC approach where one size fits all versus the compounding approach where one size fits you.
But how does compounded fit you? Since no-one can tell you what your hormone levels should be/would be at any given time, they are comparing to an “average range”. So your compounded just for you BHRT solution is in fact a formula to adjust your hormone levels to an average which is not exactly just for you when you think about it …
Whereas OTC gives you a standard dose without any targets – average or otherwise.
To know if item 1 above is anywhere near true, we need is a study to see if compounded gets any better results than OTC.