Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy Research Articles

Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) is a fascinating field of medicine with enormous amounts of research devoted to it. We have pulled together relevant BHRT articles for those who are interested in a deeper review. The list of scientific studies will help you gain additional insight into the ongoing research and its implications.

Fundamental Concepts Regarding Testosterone Deficiency and Treatment: International Expert Consensus Resolutions

PUBLISHED by Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines, 2016. AUTHORS: Abraham Morgentaler, MD (Chairman); Michael Zitzmann, MD (Cochairman); Abdulmaged M. Traish, PhD (writing group); Anthony W. Fox, MSc, MD (writing group); T. Hugh Jones, MD (writing group); Mario Maggi, MD (writing group); Stefan Arver, MD; Antonio Aversa, MD; Juliana C.N. Chan, MD; Adrian S. Dobs, MD; Geoffrey I. Hackett, MD; Wayne J. Hellstrom, MD; Peter Lim, MD; Bruno Lunenfeld, MD; George Mskhalaya, MD; Claude C. Schulman, MD; and Luiz O. Torres, MD

ABSTRACT

An international panel of experts met in October 2015 in an attempt to put together a group of consensus statements on the benefits and safety of testosterone therapy. Following the summit, the panel made 9 resolutions. The abstract clearly defines these 9 resolutions. (1) Testosterone (T) Deficiency (TD) is a well-established, clinically significant medical condition that negatively affects male sexuality, reproduction, general health, and quality of life; (2) symptoms and signs of TD occur as a result of low levels of T and may benefit from treatment regardless of whether there is an identified underlying etiology; (3) TD is a global public health concern; (4) T therapy for men with TD is effective, rational, and evidence based; (5) there is no T concentration threshold that reliably distinguishes those who will respond to treatment from those who will not; (6) there is no scientific basis for any agespecific recommendations against the use of T therapy in men; (7) the evidence does not support increased risks of cardiovascular events with T therapy; (8) the evidence does not support increased risk of prostate cancer with T therapy; and (9) the evidence supports a major research initiative to explore possible benefits of T therapy for cardiometabolic disease, including diabetes. These resolutions may be considered points of agreement by a broad range of experts based on the best available scientific evidence.

Misperceptions of Testosterone Replacement Therapy and Heart Disease Risk (video)

RECORDED in Madrid, Spain, at the annual meeting of the European Association of Urology (EAU), March 2015. AUTHORS: Dr. Abraham Morgentaler

SUMMARY

The Mortality Toll of Estrogen Avoidance: An Analysis of Excess Deaths Among Hysterectomized Women Aged 50 to 59 Years

PUBLISHED on American Journal of Public Health, February 2013. AUTHORS: Philip M. Sarrel MD, Valentine Y. Njike MD MPH, Valentina Vinante MD, David L. Katz MD MPH

ABSTRACT

Objectives: We examined the effect of estrogen avoidance on mortality rates among hysterectomized women aged 50 to 59 years.

Methods. We derived a formula to relate the excess mortality among hysterectomized women aged 50 to 59 years assigned to placebo in the Women’s Health Initiative randomized controlled trial to the entire population of comparable women in the United States, incorporating the decline in estrogen use observed between 2002 and 2011.

Results: Over a 10-year span, starting in 2002, a minimum of 18 601 and as many as 91 610 postmenopausal women died prematurely because of the avoidance of estrogen therapy (ET).

Conclusions: ET in younger postmenopausal women is associated with a decisive reduction in all-cause mortality, but estrogen use in this population is low and continuing to fall. Our data indicate an associated annual mortality toll in the thousands of women aged 50 to 59 years. Informed discussion between these women and their health care providers about the effects of ET is a matter of considerable urgency.

No VTE Risk Seen With Testosterone Therapy

PUBLISHED on MedPage and Mayo Clinic Proceedings, July 2015. AUTHORS Jacques Baillargeon, PhD, Randall J. Urban, MD, Abraham Morgentaler, MD, Charles J. Glueck, MD, Gwen Baillargeon, MS, Gulshan Sharma, MD, MPH, Yong-Fang Kuo, PhD

BACKGROUND & RESULTS

Several poorly designed observational studies over the last two years have implicated testosterone as a cause for venous thrombosis or blood clots. In addition, these same studies have stated that testosterone increases the risk of having a heart attack in the first three months of use. In response to these article the FDA demanded testosterone manufactures to include a warning.

During the past year, several well designed studies have begun to clear up this misinformation. Not only is there no increased risk in having a clot while on testosterone therapy, there is solid evidence of the cardiac benefit of this treatment. In addition, testosterone therapy decreases the risk of osteoporosis and dementia. I have included a link to a recent publication from the Mayo Clinic Proceedings on this topic.

Estrogen Replacement Therapy in Breast Cancer Survivors: a Matched-Controlled Series

PUBLISHED on Menopause – The Journal of the North American Menopause Society, July 2003, Volume 10, Issue 4, pp 277-285. AUTHORS Decker, David A. MD; Pettinga, Jane E. MD; VanderVelde, Nancy MD; Huang, Raywin R. PhD; Kestin, Larry MD; Burdakin, John H. MD

CONCLUSIONS

Estrogen Replacement Therapy After Breast Cancer: A 12-Year Follow-Up

PUBLISHED on Annals of Surgical Oncology, Dec 2001, Volume 8, Issue 10, pp 828-832. AUTHORS George N. Peters MD, Tomasina Fodera MD, Jennifer Sabol MD, Stephen Jones MD, David Euhus MD

CONCLUSIONS

Study Finds No Convincing Evidence of Increased Cardiovascular Risk with Testosterone Therapy

PUBLISHED on HCPLive Resources, 2015. AUTHORS Andrew Smith.

QUOTE

Testosterone Therapy and Cardiovascular Risk: Advances and Controversies

PUBLISHED on Mayo Clinic Proceedings,, 2015. AUTHORS Abraham Morgentaler, MD, Martin M. Miner, MD, Monica Caliber, MSc, Andre T. Guay, MD, Mohit Khera, MD, Abdulmaged M. Traish, PhD.

ABSTRACT

Two recent studies raised new concerns regarding cardiovascular (CV) risks with testosterone (T) therapy. This article reviews those studies as well as the extensive literature on T and CV risks. A MEDLINE search was performed for the years 1940 to August 2014 using the following key words: testosterone, androgens, human, male, cardiovascular,stroke, cerebrovascular accident, myocardial infarction, heart attack, death, and mortality. The weight and direction of evidence was evaluated and level of evidence (LOE) assigned. Only 4 articles were identified that suggested increased CV risks with T prescriptions: 2 retrospective analyses with serious methodological limitations, 1 placebo-controlled trial with few major adverse cardiac events, and 1 meta-analysis that included questionable studies and events. In contrast, several dozen studies have reported a beneficial effect of normal T levels on CV risks and mortality. Mortality and incident coronary artery disease are inversely associated with serum T concentrations (LOE IIa), as is severity of coronary artery disease (LOE IIa). Testosterone therapy is associated with reduced obesity, fat mass, and waist circumference (LOE Ib) and also improves glycemic control (LOE IIa). Mortality was reduced with T therapy in 2 retrospective studies. Several RCTs in men with coronary artery disease or heart failure reported improved function in men who received T compared with placebo. The largest meta-analysis to date revealed no increase in CV risks in men who received T and reduced CV risk among those with metabolic disease. In summary, there is no convincing evidence of increased CV risks with T therapy. On the contrary, there appears to be a strong beneficial relationship between normal T and CV health that has not yet been widely appreciated.

Research on Benefits and Risks of Testosterone Replacement Affected by Poorly Done Studies

PUBLISHED on Wiley Online Library by AlphaMed Press, 2014. AUTHORS Jo CH, Lee YG, Shin WH, Kim H, Chai JW, Jeong EC, Kim JE, Shim H, Shin JS, Shin IS, Ra JC, Oh S, Yoon KS.

QUOTE

“…this was an observational study that was retrospective in nature and this type of study is fraught with compounding biases that are difficult to control as expressed in the discussion section of this study. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) would have much more power than this type of study. Also the problem with an observation study is that it does not prove causation as would an interventional study in a blinded fashion. Therefore observational studies can’t prove causation as well as RCTs and what we should take away from the study is that which the researchers state in the last paragraph, that more studies are necessary before definitive conclusions can be made as to cause and effect. Also, treatment decisions should not be based solely on one study but rather on a trend of studies. Unfortunately the editorial comment section did not express this clearly.

Testosterone Therapy May Lower Risk of Heart Disease

PUBLISHED on RTT News, 2013.

SUMMARY

Early Initiation of HRT ‘Halves Risk of Death or CVD’

PUBLISHED on Pulse – Atthe Heart of General Practice, 2012 AUTHORS David Swan

SUMMARY

Testosterone Keeps Women’s Brains Sharp

PUBLISHED on MedPage Today, 2013. AUTHORS Todd Neale

SUMMARY

Testosterone Therapy May Improve Sexual Function for Women

PUBLISHED on Inquisitr.com, 2013.

SUMMARY

Estrogen Is a New Weapon Against Urinary Tract Infection in Post Menopausal Woman

PUBLISHED on Science Daily, 2013. AUTHORS Karolinska Institutet

SUMMARY

Estrogen Can Reduce Risk of Liver and Heart Disease in Women

PUBLISHED on BioOptics World, 2013. AUTHORS Lee Mather

SUMMARY

Estrogen Replacement Therapy May Save Lives After All

PUBLISHED on Forbes, 2013. AUTHORS Alice Walton

SUMMARY

Women should talk openly with their doctors about the benefits and risks of the HRT, particularly of estrogen, and the timeframe in which it’s begun. “Stated bluntly,” concludes Katz, “we think the mortality toll of estrogen avoidance is not merely a clear, present, and on-going danger, it is a worsening one. More women are dying from this omission every year. And the next one in that calamitous line could be a woman you love; it could be you.”

Testosterone Therapy Does Not Hike Risk of Aggressive Prostate Cancer

PUBLISHED on Renal and Urology News, 2013. AUTHORS Jody Charnow

SUMMARY

Hormone Therapy Makes Menopause Easier

PUBLISHED on Get Healthy by The Times, 2013.

QUOTE

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Dr. Scott Brandt completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and attended medical school at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He then completed his anesthesiology residency training and internship at the University of Illinois and Michael Reese Hospitals in Chicago. Dr. Brandt has trained extensively across the country and become one of the nation’s top stem cell therapy doctors. He provides the highest quality patient care available. He continues to incorporate advancements in the field as rapidly as scientific evidence supports their addition. This combined with Dr. Brandt’s unparalleled expertise in minimally invasive injection techniques, utilizing live image guidance, allows him to ensure the best biologic solutions are placed exactly in the areas of tissue damage.

Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy Research Articles

Fundamental Concepts Regarding Testosterone Deficiency and Treatment: International Expert Consensus Resolutions

Misperceptions of Testosterone Replacement Therapy and Heart Disease Risk (video)

The Mortality Toll of Estrogen Avoidance: An Analysis of Excess Deaths Among Hysterectomized Women Aged 50 to 59 Years

No VTE Risk Seen With Testosterone Therapy

Estrogen Replacement Therapy in Breast Cancer Survivors: a Matched-Controlled Series

Estrogen Replacement Therapy After Breast Cancer: A 12-Year Follow-Up

Study Finds No Convincing Evidence of Increased Cardiovascular Risk with Testosterone Therapy

Testosterone Therapy and Cardiovascular Risk: Advances and Controversies

Research on Benefits and Risks of Testosterone Replacement Affected by Poorly Done Studies

Testosterone Therapy May Lower Risk of Heart Disease

Early Initiation of HRT ‘Halves Risk of Death or CVD’

Testosterone Keeps Women’s Brains Sharp

Testosterone Therapy May Improve Sexual Function for Women

Estrogen Is a New Weapon Against Urinary Tract Infection in Post Menopausal Woman

Estrogen Can Reduce Risk of Liver and Heart Disease in Women

Estrogen Replacement Therapy May Save Lives After All

Testosterone Therapy Does Not Hike Risk of Aggressive Prostate Cancer

Hormone Therapy Makes Menopause Easier

Meet Our Doctor, Dr. Scott Brandt

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