In How to Achieve Healthy Aging, (WorldLink Medical Publishing, 2004) author Neal Rouzier, M.D., champions his beliefs in the benefits of using bio-identical hormones. After treating people for many years for a plethora of age-related issues, Dr. Rouzier has become a leading expert in the field of bio-identical hormone replacement therapy.
While his book discusses the importance of all hormones, many women are drawn to the chapter entitled, Testosterone: The Woman’s Side of the Story.
Testosterone Benefits Women
Dr. Rouzier carefully explains that women also manufacture testosterone along with estrogen and progesterone. What surprises many, however, is how vital testosterone is for a woman’s bone growth, overall well being and sex drive.
It comes as a bit of a shock to most women when they find their libido plunging to depressing depths. Many women awake one morning and find they could care less if they ever engage in sexual relations again. Not only has the libido expired, but vaginal walls have become dry, tender and fragile. Sexual activity has becomes painful and, as a natural result, undesired.
According to Rouzier, testosterone can reverse this condition, making a woman’s libido once again come to life, allowing her to engage in sexual activity without pain. “The most obvious effect of testosterone depletion is the lack of sexual desire” (p. 152). Oddly, most doctors who prescribe hormone replacement therapy for women to help combat menopausal symptoms, fail to provide testosterone supplementation, erroneously believing that only men need testosterone, or that testosterone replacement for women is not all that important.
Testosterone for Osteoporosis
While sexual malfunction may dominate many women’s minds, Rouzier goes further and says that “Research now shows that when testosterone is incorporated into a woman’s hormone treatment program, there is an improvement in bone density” (156) and that this change in bone density when using testosterone, “…is more dramatic than estrogen and progesterone supplementation alone” (156).
Other Benefits of Testosterone
Testosterone is also touted to prevent skin wrinkling and thinning, along with protecting against muscle, ligament, joint, tendon and bone deterioration (160).
Side effects, such as abnormal hair growth and acne, only occur when the dosage is too high. Dr. Rouzier states that in low doses, testosterone has no serious side effects for women.
Rouzier has been joined by a host of others who tout the benefits of bio identical hormone replacement therapy, and testosterone replacement therapy in particular.
Controversy Over Bio Identical Hormones
Despite the growing legions of alternative health care practitioners and medical doctors who support natural bio identical hormone therapy, there are a number of objections to this form of treatment, most notably from the FDA and pharmaceutical companies.
Because bio identical hormones are made from “natural substances” that are supposedly made to match a person’s own naturally produced hormones, pharmaceutical companies are unable to patent these ingredients. In addition, many bemoan the lack of extensive clinical trials and refer to the abysmal results of the Premarin debacle in the WHI studies as evidence that all hormone replacement therapy is dangerous. Because compounded drugs often do not meet FDA standards of purity and potency, and have not been subjected to clinical testing, patients are advised to “steer clear” of these products.
Buyer Beware
Ultimately, whether drugs are compounded in a pharmacy or mass produced by pharmaceutical companies, one should always use them with caution and consult with M.D.s who are truly knowledgeable. Whether to use hormone replacement therapy at all requires diligent study to make an educated decision.
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