Hormone therapy refers to medical treatment that replaces or supplements hormones when your body is not making enough on its own. As we age or go through certain life stages, hormone levels can get thrown out of balance, leading to symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats, low libido, fatigue, weight gain, and more. Hormone therapy can help restore optimal hormone levels to relieve symptoms and protect long term health. For example, estrogen therapy is commonly used to treat menopause symptoms in women, while testosterone replacement is used for testosterone deficiency in both men and women.
Many high quality Grand Rapids hormone therapy clinics offer bioidentical hormones rather than synthetic versions. Bioidentical hormones have the same molecular structure as the hormones naturally made in your body. Options may include bioidentical estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, thyroid hormone, and more. Clinics can customize therapy based on your lab testing and symptoms. Delivery methods include pills, creams, patches, pellets, shots, and vaginal rings. Pellet therapy, using rice-sized pellets inserted under the skin to release steady hormone levels for months at a time, is becoming increasingly popular.
Both men and women can benefit from hormone therapy for issues tied to aging, menopause, and other natural dips in hormones over the lifespan. As early as your 30s-40s, we start making less of key hormones like progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, thyroid and growth hormone. Anyone struggling with symptoms of low hormones like fatigue, low sex drive, hot flashes, or weight gain could likely benefit. Your Grand Rapids clinician will evaluate your lab work and symptoms to determine if you’re a fit for therapy.
Patients often feel like “their old selves again” on properly balanced hormone therapy. Benefits can be both immediate symptoms relief and long term disease prevention. Potential benefits include reduced hot flashes, better mood and cognitive function, improved libido, increased muscle mass and energy levels, deeper sleep, balanced metabolism supporting healthy weight, and stronger bones, heart health and immunity. Balancing key hormones also has anti-aging and disease prevention benefits.
For most healthy people, hormone therapy under the care of an experienced functional or anti-aging clinician is very safe. However, your provider should monitor your progress carefully with regular lab testing to make sure hormones stay in optimal ranges for you. There are some health considerations where hormone therapy would not be recommended or dosage would be carefully customized, such as history of certain cancers or heart disease. For optimal safety and results, work with a qualified Grand Rapids hormone therapy clinics like Mill City Medical, BodyLogicMD or Optimal Aging.
