As we age, our hormone levels drop and throughout the history of modern medicine, this process has been accepted as natural and eventual. In order to address the issues that develop as a result of these lower hormone levels, many medications have been developed in an attempt to help patients find relief. Anti-inflammatory drugs like NSAIDS, the go to drug of choice for treating pain related to inflammation, were developed to help ease the effects, but no pain management drug program can completely ease the suffering and the diseases continue to progress.

What if you were told there was a treatment that can not only help relieve your arthritis pain but also reverse the effects of osteoarthritis, a condition commonly present in women over the age of 50 and associated with menopause? Wouldn’t you want have that treatment? Well there is something out there and it is called bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. This treatment was developed by researchers who found a connection between diminishing hormone levels and inflammatory and degenerative diseases.

Researches thought that if they could replenish the patient’s natural hormone level, the patient would find some relief. What they have found that not only did patients report relief, but with regular treatment, doctors found that osteoarthritis actually reversed. Patients taking bioidentical hormone replacement therapy were not only reporting improved joint function and less pain, but the disease itself was reversing. Studies also showed that women taking bioidentical hormone replacement therapy had a lower risk for osteoporosis compared to women not taking HRT.

A study conducted by Dr. Genant and published in 1996 in the Archives of Internal Medicine titled “Association of estrogen replacement therapy with the risk of osteoarthritis of the hip in elderly white women” looked at women over the age of 64 and found that 38% of the group taking estrogen had a reduced risk of hip fracture and their x-rays showed healthier hip joints.

The Farmingham Study published in 1998 looked at knees over an 8 year period in women over the age of 63 and found an astonishing 60% decrease of incidents of osteoarthritis in those taking HRT compared to those who did not. Researchers in Denmark discovered a correlation between hormone intake and joint health, publishing their results in 2008. Their conclusion was that HRT significantly improved joint health and in their opinion should be considered for use to keep bone and cartilage healthy as we age.

There are many more studies that show bioidentical hormone replacement therapy can do what our current big pharma medications cannot, yet because these corporations are extremely powerful, HRT has been largely ignored, despite the overwhelming evidence of its effectiveness in fighting degenerative and inflammatory diseases. The ideal treatment would be a combination of natural estrogen and progesterone such as an absorbable cream. However, treatment should never be undertaken without supervision of a a physician. Only a doctor can determine if you are a candidate for bioidentical hormone replacement treatment therapy, so call for an appointment today.