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Understand Hormone Replacement Options With Philadelphia Functional Medicine Methods


By Lyndon Zerna


The aging process, environmental elements, and certain diseases can bring about major changes one's hormonal balance. When these levels no longer synchronized as they should be, one might experience symptoms which can make life rather uncomfortable at times. Philadelphia customized wellness programs can assist people in replacing missing hormones using functional medicine approaches.

This field looks at health care approaches differently. Mainstream physicians typically determine the condition affecting the individual, and then routinely prescribe whichever pharmaceutical product or surgery is currently the standard method for those circumstances. This alternative field actually gets to the problem's primary cause and addresses it to alleviate the symptoms as a whole.

For most people, the initial signs of hormonal imbalance begin manifesting in the mid-thirties. Some symptoms include changes in sexual desire, bone loss, mood swings, metabolic fluctuations, depression, hair loss, weight gain, hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, and anxiety. A typical mainstream approach to the situation would be to prescribe a different medication for each of these issues.

In functional medicine, once testing has determined that those issues are the result of hormonal imbalances, their approach would be to attend the root cause, rather than each symptom. This means replacing those elements that the body is no longer producing properly. Some hormones that commonly need replacing are estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, and those of the thyroid.

To replace those elements that are missing, traditional medical practices often choose to utilize synthetic products. These are produced by pharmaceutical companies via chemical means and in static dosages. They are often accompanied by unwanted side effects and there is a risk that the patient may not to get enough, or even too much, of the hormones that they are lacking.

The alternative option for replacing what one is lacking is bioidentical hormone therapy. They are also created in a lab, however, they are made from only naturally produced ingredients that have the capability of identically matching the molecular structure of what the body manufactures itself. The dosage is customized for each patient through compounding pharmacies, in order to ensure the individual receives exactly what is needed.