Hormone Therapy

Hormone related symptoms may occur throughout a woman's lifetime, often becoming more severe later in life when the body produces fewer hormones naturally.

Nekos-Dedrick’s Pharmacy offers Customized Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) in Ulster County and throughout the Hudson Valley. The hormones are compounded by us in our own lab, using precise doses and the best administration methods determined by your doctor following examination, medical history review, and lab tests.. Our HRT uses hormones that have the same molecular structure as those that are made by the human body. This molecular or chemical structure is the key to the actions or side effects that a hormone will have in the body. In order for a replacement hormone to fully replicate the function of human hormones which are produced by the human body, the chemical structure must exactly match the original. Researchers have long held that there are significant differences between human hormones and synthetic or animal-derived preparations.

Why have Synthetic Hormones been so popular and widely available?

A chemical structure, such as a hormone, may be modified by adding side chains. This creates a unique synthetic product that can be patented, and patented drugs can be very profitable. Naturally occurring hormones, however, can not he patented. Much of the medical research that takes place is funded by drug companies. Scientific studies of natural hormones are less profitable, therefore they are not as numerous.

Advantages of Customized Hormone Replacement Therapy

Our knowledge of steroid metabolism has improved dramatically in the last 50 years, yet unfortunately many women still receive much of the same therapy that was prescribed 25 years ago! It is the structure of the hormone, not its origin, that ultimately determines how it will be used and metabolized, and which benefits and side effects will be realized. Synthetic hormones may contain "conjugated estrogens" for example, but they are estrogens that are never produced naturally in the human body. For many years only pork and beef insulin was available to treat humans. Advances in recumbent DNS technology now allows for mass production of insulin that is structurally identical to human insulin, and patients with diabetes have benefited tremendously. The compounding lab at Nekos~Dedricks Pharmacy leverages similar technology to provide better and safer hormone replacement therapy.

Goals of Customized Hormone Replacement Therapy

The goal of any form of hormone replacement therapy should he to provide an adequate supply of the deficient hormone in a form that is as close as possible to that which the body originally produced, therefore resulting in normal physiologic effects. Every person is unique. Therefore, it is a sensible approach for patients and health care professionals to work together to customize hormone replacement therapy in the most appropriate strength and dosage form for administration via the preferred route to meet each individual’s needs. Based on this, we have very specific goals of our own with regard to our customized hormone replacement therapy:

• Alleviate the symptoms caused by the natural decrease in production of hormones by the body
• Restore the protective benefits which were originally provided by naturally occurring hormones
• Re-establish a hormonal balance
• Minimize or eliminate possible side effects of the treatment
• Provide the best means of administration for each specific patient