A local doctor worked for years to help his patients obtain the bioidentical hormone replacements they needed and wanted. He tested and listened, yet he found no direct correlation between the test results and what hormones would work - and in what doses. He actually stopped testing and prescribing bioidentical hormones. He said he would return when someone could tell him how to read results and decide on appropriate therapy. Until then he would continue to order Premarin (estrogens derived from pregnant mare urine) for women who were experiencing hormone related symptoms.

It was this action that provided me with the impetus to investigate the testing process and think about its validity.

I am convinced that if a person needs evaluate hormone levels, salivary tests are probably the better choice. They are easy, inexpensive, non-invasive, and seem to correlate well with symptoms. However, they also seem superfluous because the dominant cause of hormone symptoms is a simple situation of imbalance. It is so simple that it seems almost insufficient. People - women and men - are estrogen dominant. This does not mean too much estrogen. It means too much unbalanced estrogen activity.

What balances estrogen? Other hormones, primarily progesterone.

If you are experiencing symptoms (menopausal; for women and prostate for men) talk to someone about using a simple, safe,progesterone cream. You will be delighted and you won't find yourself chasing lab values with different hormones supplements.