A Hormone Riddle Video Series

For decades, healthy menopausal women have been prescribed hormone replacement therapy (HRT) by their clinicians to ease their symptoms. Despite the accumulative literature, the debate over HRT can leave clinicians feeling conflicted. Such controversies are opportunities in disguise, but only if we connect the dots and successfully define and seize the window of opportunity about hormone replacement therapy.

We know the average premenopausal woman has levels of progesterone we define as “normal,” whether we look in serum, urine, or saliva. We can nitpick differences between these tests, but when no exogenous hormones are given, premenopausal women end up with distinctly higher levels of progesterone than postmenopausal women and lower than levels they experienced during pregnancy.

The mystery surrounding this inspires us to wonder why, if a premenopausal amount of progesterone is given to a woman percutaneously (on the skin in a cream), how can serum and urine levels remain in the postmenopausal range while saliva levels increase above pregnancy levels? The riddle I discuss in the first of three videos below begs the question, HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE, AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

As a researcher, I have spent the last 20 years digging into this topic. Over this past year, I took some renewed interest in the subject and comprehensively looked at every angle of this issue I could find. I believe I have found some profound truths buried in this confusion, and I want to take you with me through this journey.

I invite you to join me in better understanding this apparent paradox to be more fully prepared and confident in prescribing HRT and how (and in some cases “if”) to monitor HRT effectively.