Hormone Replacement Therapy with Dr. Marcia Harris: Rational Wellness Podcast 419

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS

Dr. Marcia Harris discusses Hormone Replacement Therapy with Dr. Ben Weitz.

[If you enjoy this podcast, please give us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, so more people will find The Rational Wellness Podcast. Also check out the video version on my WeitzChiro YouTube page.]

 

Podcast Highlights

---

Dr. Marcia Harris is an OBGYN who’s practice is focused on Wellness and Preventative Medicine and Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy for both men and women. Dr. Harris primatily uses BHRT pellets. She runs the Wellness Restoration Center in New York City and her website is DrMarciaHarris.com.

Dr. Ben Weitz is available for Functional Nutrition consultations specializing in Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders like IBS/SIBO and Reflux and also Cardiometabolic Risk Factors like elevated lipids, high blood sugar, and high blood pressure.  Dr. Weitz has also successfully helped many patients with managing their weight and improving their athletic performance, as well as sports chiropractic work by calling his Santa Monica office 310-395-3111.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

---

Podcast Transcript

Dr. Weitz: Hey, this is Dr. Ben Weitz, host of the Rational Wellness Podcast. I talk to the leading health and nutrition experts and researchers in the field to bring you the latest in cutting edge health information. Subscribe to the Rational Wellness Podcast for weekly updates and to learn more, check out my website, drweitz.com.  Thanks for joining me, and let’s jump into the podcast.  Hello, Rational Wellness podcasters, today our topic is Hormone Replacement Therapy with Dr. Marcia Harris. For those who have not followed the history of hormone replacement therapy for women after menopause, a lot of the story revolves around a women’s health initiative study that was published in the Journal of the Medical Association in 2002 Women as compared to men were at reduced, are at reduced risk of heart disease due to the protective effects of estrogen prior to menopause. However, after menopause, their heart disease risk rises without the protection of estrogen. We also know that estrogen is protective of bone health, brain health, and many other aspects of health.

Prior to the Women’s Health Initiatives study, it was widely believed that hormones were beneficial in the prevention of chronic diseases and mortality, and many women took hormones after menopause. After the Women’s Health Initiative study was published, this number dropped to two to 3%. This study, the Women’s Health Initiative study concluded that women who took conjugate, conjugated, equine, estrogen, and a synthetic progestin had a higher risk of heart disease, blood clots, and breast cancer.  Doctors in the US largely stopped prescribing hormone replacement therapy due to these perceived risks. Now 23 years later, and numerous re-analysis of the Women’s Health in Initiative and many studies later, hormone therapy is now finally starting to be accepted again by mainstream medicine such as the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, which now generally recommends hormone therapy for managing menopausal symptoms.  Of course, with a preference for FDA approved formulations and discourages the use of compounded formulations. Today to discuss this topic, we have Dr. Marcia Harris, who went to medical school at Columbia University. She practiced allopathic medicine for her first 20 years in practice, though for the last 17 years, she’s been focused on wellness and preventative medicine and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy from both men and women.  Dr. Harris prides herself on being able to take care of the whole patient and getting to the root cause of whatever the problem is, which I would regard as functional medicine, which is the focus of this podcast. In addition, Dr. Harris runs the Wellness Restoration Center in New York City, and she successfully run a cash practice for all these years.  So Dr. Harris. Thank you so much for joining us.

Dr. Harris: Thank you for having me, Dr. Weitz.

Dr. Weitz: Yes. And congratulations for running a successful cash practice, because that’s a big achievement. Why don’t we start by, I’m just curious, what made you decide to opt out of the insurance model?

Dr. Harris: Oh, that actually goes back to when I started my OB GYN practice.  Right. I literally started, I finished my residency in 79 80, and I started the OB GYN practice. Then the first patient I delivered was the wife of the chief resident in ophthalmology at one of the New York City hospitals.

Dr. Weitz:   Okay.  

Dr. Harris: And city insurance was at the time, GHI. Now, I had spent six months getting myself into all the insurance plans, like all 35 of them, you know?  And the first check I got, which was now, I think I got the check in September. September or October. And the bill at that time for total obstetrical care was $1,800. Total Obstetrical care, we’re talking about 1980. Okay.

Dr. Weitz: Yeah.

Dr. Harris: Check from GHI was for $555 and 41 cents. Please don’t forget the 41 cents, okay?  I looked at the check and I looked at my office manager and I said, Madeline, what’s this? And she very proudly and excitedly said, oh, that’s the payment on Esther. And I said, but for what? The bill was for 1800. She says, yes, but you say you participate with the insurance and if you participate, you cannot bill for the balance that you have to take what they give you.  I said, are you kidding me? So I just took care of this woman for nine months of a pregnancy, sat there with her for 24 hours, delivered her baby, took care of her for the six weeks after. For less than a third of the going rate. I said, please, before you leave, bring me all the contracts. And I literally sat in my office and hand wrote the letters 34 times, taking myself out of every insurance.  I don’t even take Medicare. 

Dr. Weitz:  Right.

Dr. Harris:  I take nothing, and this goes back, as I said, to 1980, 45 years. 45 years.

Dr. Weitz:  Well, to be honest with you, if you got close to a third of your bill from insurance, you did incredibly well.

Dr. Harris: Well, you know, my husband, my then husband was an ophthalmologist. And at the time Medicare was paying ophthalmologist $2,200 for a cataract.  Okay.

Dr. Harris: One cataract, $2,200. I lived to see, and I’m not sure over what period of time, but I actually lived to see them now getting $650. For a cataract, right? That 2200 was whittled down over a period of time to 650. 

Dr. Weitz:  Right? And which is incredibly challenging. If you’re in practice and you, your rent goes up 3% every year and the salaries go up and everything else goes up, and then the insurance companies pay you less.

Dr. Harris: 3%. This is New York City, my rent went up 3%, 3%, 3%. 20%. 20%. 20%. I told you I just moved and that’s the reason I moved. My rent literally almost doubled.

Dr. Weitz:  Wow.  I grew up in New York, but I’ve been out in LA for a long time now. So,

Dr. Harris:  I don’t know. Is it any better?

Dr. Weitz:  I don’t know. I don’t really know how to compare, but typically we usually get a lease where the rent goes up 3%.

Dr. Harris:  Right. That’s what you would expect. Right. But they did that for three or four years and then they just, I don’t know.  I guess there was an escalation clause, which I guess I didn’t catch.

Dr. Weitz: Ah, so, okay. Well, let’s get into our discussion about hormone therapy. So perhaps you can first start by giving us your opinion observations about the Women’s Health Initiative Study.

Dr. Harris: Well, let me put it, let me start. I actually found hormones for me because I was completely non-functional.  And when I started going through menopause and I couldn’t I, my symptoms were so severe that I literally couldn’t function.

Dr. Weitz: Why? Why were your symptoms?

Dr. Harris: My, oh, especially the vasomotor stuff. Most people get four or five or six or eight hot flashes a day. I was getting 20. Right, and they were severe. I was waking up at night drenched in sweat.  I, I mean, it was really bad, right? That and my irritability and anxiety. The nurses would see me get off the elevator and they would duck into rooms. It’s like, let’s see what mood she’s in today before we. Go close to her.  Okay. It was that

Dr. Harris: bad. Okay. And I tried everything. I tried everything and everything worked a little bit for a little while, and then I had to move to something else.  And I, as I stepped it up and stepped it up and stepped it up, I [00:10:00] eventually found. The bioidentical hormones, you know, did my research, found them. I actually went out to Scottsdale, Arizona to get trained and we’re talking about, when was that? We’re talking about, I think 96, 97. So this was even before the Women’s health initiative study.  Okay. We as gynecologists at that time. I mean, I was well trained on hormones, you know, air quotes, hormones, but we were using at the time the horse’s urine stuff, right. Yeah, no, they con conjugated, equine, estrogen.

Dr. Weitz: I’m still amazed that we thought it was a good idea to give women hormones from horses.  Now you damn well know that they never prescribed horses hormones to men.

Dr. Harris: There you go. Isn’t it amazing that, you know, we’re treated like second class citizens? We’re always treated like second class citizens, and in addition to which very little of the research is done on women, right. You know, so e even with regular drugs, very little of the research is done on women.

Dr. Weitz: Yes, absolutely.

Dr. Harris: Basically the day the woman’s and you forget about

Dr. Weitz: Any research studies that are looking for grant money today that have the focus on women.

Dr. Harris: Forget it not happening, you know? Yeah. Well, the day the Women’s health Initiative study. Made New York Times and Wall Street Journal headlines.  If my phone didn’t ring 150 times, it didn’t ring once. I mean it rang off the hook. [00:12:00] Women, I mean, everybody was calling. What do we do? Right? The problem with the Women’s Health Initiative study. Now, first of all, let me backtrack a little bit. We had been, as I said, trained on hormones in medical school, residency, et cetera.  However, the. The, there were no studies. There were all observational studies. We thought we knew that it was protective of the heart. We thought we knew that it protected the brain. We thought we knew that it built the bone. I mean, we saw this definitely going forward, but there were no, you know, pro active prospective.  Going forward studies. Right. So this was a concerted effort to do that. Right. Which [00:13:00] was very commendable, you know, to get everybody to come together. 166,000 women. And we’re now going to prove that yes, estrogen does indeed protect the heart. Yes, it does protect the bone. Yes, it does protect the brain.

We, were now going to prove this so very commendable. However, the study was flawed from day one. As you know, we, they actually, first of all. How are you going to do a study on menopause and not include women who are symptomatic? Right? Women who were symptomatic were not included. So the younger women, the 40 and 45 and 50 and 55 year olds, [00:14:00] 80% of them were not eligible to be a part of the study because they were all symptomatic, right?

So the 20% who were not, or who had completed their symptoms are the ones that were included. The average age of the patients in the Women’s Health Initiative study was 64, 65 years old, right? Made no sense. So from the beginning it was flawed, right from the very beginning. Now, so the average age 65 years old, nobody with symptoms was included. Secondly the arms of the study, the estrogen arm, the estrogen and progestin arm, and that was the one that actually, that arm is the one that actually made the problem because they were using a synthetic progestin, not progesterone. So even in addition to the horse’s, urine estrogen, they literally were using a progestin.  And that synthetic progestin is what actually, it turns out after the fact is what made most of the problems. Right. So, that was, you know. Literally when and let me go one step further. When these studies are done, they are analyzed. The committees sit down, they go over them, and they write up the paper as to how they’re going to announce it.  And you know, this is what we found. They put it together and it is. Released the epidemiologist or I think he was an epidemiologist slash pharmacist who looked [00:16:00] at the data and literally went to the press. Nobody sat down, they didn’t review it. This man got up, took it upon himself to go to the press and said, we’ve got a problem.  Hormones cause cancer. So for front page New York Times, I re, I remember the day. Hormones cause cancer. I mean, I know where I was the day John F. Kennedy was killed. I know where I was in nine 11. I know where I was and what I was doing that day. The day the Woman’s Health Initiative study was broken to the world, hormones cause cancer and the panic

Dr. Weitz: for women’s health.

Dr. Harris: indescribable. It was a terrorist attack.

Dr. Weitz: Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s pretty clear there were so many problems with that study. They used oral. [00:17:00] Estrogen instead of transdermal. You got  it.

Dr. Weitz: Estrogen from a horse, which is not you got it. Same as human estrogen.  They use synthetic progestin instead of progesterone. Yes. If estrogen is protective against heart disease. Let’s say, you know, it’s protective against atherosclerosis, and now women have no estrogen for 15 years during which time they’re developing heart disease, all this track and all this buildup, and then they start taking the estrogen.

Dr. Harris:  It’s a little late. 

Dr. Weitz:  It’s totally late, right?

Dr. Harris: Which is another problem there. It was just so flawed. It’s, and

Dr. Weitz: even after all that, if you just looked at the arm of the women who took estrogen only, they had, they did fine. They did fine. Exactly. They had no increased risk of cancer.

Dr. Harris: They did fine.  As a matter of fact, we now know based on subsequent studies that you know, with estrogen alone. [00:18:00] It’s actually protective against breast cancer, right? That, believe it or not, has now been proven study, proven that estrogen alone. Now, of course, now we’re dealing with the plant-based and the bioidentical.  We’re not dealing with the conjugated equ, equine estrogen anymore. Well, wait a minute. All

Dr. Weitz: that’s still being prescribed.

Dr. Harris: I know and that’s so sad.

Dr. Weitz: I know, but

Dr. Harris: what can I tell you? Yeah I know 

Dr. Weitz: And synthetic progestins are still being prescribed as well.

Dr. Harris: I know. They, I had a patient also recently who went to her gynecologist who told her she would give it, she would give her hormone replacement, but for only a short period of time to tide her over and then take her off it because of how dangerous it is. Right. You know, and then one of my patients referred her to me, you know, so.

Dr. Weitz: You know, if you think about it just in terms of how the body works and what’s in the body naturally, how can it be the case that the hormones that have been in women’s bodies for decades that are having all these incredible functions and how our body works.  Yes. And then after menopause, putting those same hormones back in her body, suddenly they’re harmful when they were helpful and promoted health for decades.

Dr. Harris: Makes no sense.

Dr. Weitz: Makes no sense.

Dr. Harris: Our hormones, there are hormone receptors on every single cell in the body.

Dr. Weitz: Absolutely.

Dr. Harris: And our hormones are involved in almost 400 different functions.  Right. So it makes sense that when we, when the hormones decline. Every cell is going [00:20:00] to get affected. Yeah. And that’s what happens, which is why I tell patients all the time, your great-great-great grandmother and mine didn’t live past 50. The average age of menopause is 51 or 52. So by the time our ancestors were getting ready.  To go through menopause or started going through menopause, they were also getting ready to die.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dr. Weitz: I’ve really been enjoying this discussion, but I just want to take a few minutes to tell you about a product that I’m very excited about. Imagine a device that can help you manage stress, improve your sleep, and boost your focus.  All without any effort on your part. The Apollo wearable is designed to just to do just that, created by neuroscientists and physicians. This innovative device uses gentle vibrations to activate your parasympathetic nervous system, helping you feel calmer, more focused, and better rested. Among the compelling reasons to use the Apollo wearable are that users experience a 40% reduction in stress and anxiety.  Patients feel that they can sleep. Their sleep improves up to additional 30 minutes of sleep per night. It helps you to boost your focus and concentration and it’s scientifically backed. And the best part is you can get all these benefits with a special $40 discount by using the promo code whites.  W-E-I-T-Z, my last name at checkout to enjoy these savings. So go to Apollo Neuro and use the promo code Weitz today.  And now back to our discussion.  

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dr. Weitz:  So when it comes to estrogen, what is your preferred form of estrogen? Do you some doctors will prescribe in the functional medicine world, they’ll prescribe transdermal  Biest formulations of estradiol and Estriol. What do you think about that versus estradiol?

Dr. Harris: Well, I’m a rebel again, because 29 years ago I actually brought. Pellets to New York City. Okay? And I know a lot of people don’t like pellets, but it’s because of the fact that they are not accustomed to them.  They’ve never been trained and they don’t know how to use them because dosed properly. There’s nothing like pellets. [00:23:00] Now that is estradiol. Do I use biased? I do. Yes, I use it transdermally or sublingual. Those are the two ways, either transdermal or sublingual. The problem with both transdermal and sublingual is it’s as if you’re on the Coney Island rollercoaster because you put it on and your level goes way up, and you’re good for 12, 16, 18 hours, and then you crash and burn again.  So you’re constantly doing this.  Okay. You know,

Dr. Harris: whereas with the pallets, your body takes it as it needs it, and it’s gradual. You build up to a level, it peaks. It basically stays at that peak [00:24:00] level until it starts getting used up. And when it starts getting used up, you make sure that they never get back to rock bottom, or they don’t get back to the foot of the hill or the bottom of the rollercoaster because you give them more at that point.  So it’s more of a steady state and your body uses it as it needs it.

Dr. Weitz: What about the patch, which has been shown to deliver more consistent transdermal levels?  Yes.

Dr. Weitz: Or a transdermal patch that’s been shown to deliver more consistent blood levels of estrogen.

Dr. Harris: Transdermal patch works. Works pretty well.  Works pretty well. The problem is with the patch. You cannot, depending on where they put it, and what else is going on, you know. You can’t guarantee. For example, if I give somebody, [00:25:00] pick a dose, I give somebody a hundred milligrams of something. I can’t tell you whether the person’s getting 20 milligrams or 80 milligrams.  That’s the only problem.

Dr. Weitz: I think studies have shown that the that the patch gives pretty consistent levels.

Dr. Harris: It does, it gives pretty consistent levels, but we don’t know whether it’s a low level, a higher level. In other words, your skin’s different than mine, whether you oiled it, whether you know, there are so many right factors that come into play, right?

Dr. Weitz:  That now when it comes to pellets. Doctors I talk to who don’t like to use pellets their objections are that it’s hard to know exactly how much a woman is gonna do, perform optimally on. And if you put the pellet in and it’s too high a level, there’s nothing you can do. There’s for three months, there’s nothing you can do

Dr. Harris: about it.

[00:26:00] Right? Well, the person, how we were trained, there is an actual formula. Where 99 times out of a hundred there, I have no problem. In the 29 years I’ve been using pellets, I’ve had a problem three times.

Dr. Weitz: Okay.

Dr. Harris: Three times.

Dr. Weitz: Okay. So now do you start low and gradually go higher, or how do you know what level to start at?

Dr. Harris: I use the formula. There is a formula which based on the person’s lab results, so we do blood tests and everybody, okay. By the way, the testing standard is blood because there’s even controversy about that.

Dr. Weitz: Of course, there is. There’s controversy about everything.

Dr. Harris: What can I tell you? There’s even controversy about that, but using blood.  Yeah, I know. When it comes to

Dr. Weitz: testing, we have blood, we have [00:27:00] urine, we have saliva.

Dr. Harris: The problem with both urine and saliva is that’s giving you an after the fact number. It’s not telling you what’s there, what’s being used, what it’s telling you. It’s giving you the metabolite after it’s been used.

Dr. Weitz: Right. Does that make

Dr. Harris: sense?

Dr. Weitz: Yes. It’s what’s being excreted by the body.

Dr. Harris: That is correct, and I was very excited, like initially with the Dutch test, which I have stopped using. Doesn’t tell, does not give me the same information.

Dr. Weitz: Well, but it does give you information that serum testing does not give you, which is how do you metabolize the estrogen?

Dr. Harris: It does it that it does,

Dr. Weitz: yes. And that’s important for, you know, overall health, isn’t it?

Dr. Harris: It is. Okay.

Dr. Weitz: So, and then some doctors who [00:28:00] use transdermal estrogen feel that saliva testing is better because they feel that it, that the, when you deliver estrogen transdermally it doesn’t show up as easily in a bloodstream.

Dr. Harris: Well, again, most of the time I do pellets. Right. So the gold standard still is blood.

Dr. Weitz: Right. Okay. And do you often find that you have to increase the dosage or you usually get the right dosage the first time,

Dr. Harris: nine times outta 10? I get the right dosage the first time. Okay. And that’s the thing with the formula about how we were trained.  Right, which is another problem because the two largest companies out there right now their training I don’t know about their training ’cause I didn’t take it. I actually have a friend, a colleague in Atlanta who started training. [00:29:00] For the largest company out pellet company out there right now.  And she lasted six weeks. She called and she, I said, how’s it going? She says, girl, I had to leave. She says, they don’t have a clue what they’re doing, and I know they don’t because I get their patients all the time, and I say, pellets, and they’re like, oh, I tried that and it didn’t work. And I said, okay. You used the right word.  Tried. You’re now, you’ve now come to the expert. I’m not going to try it. I’m gonna do it. Let’s see how you do. Okay. And 99 times out of a hundred we’re good.

Dr. Weitz: Right. Okay. And in general, do you believe in using a low level of estrogen or are you trying new supply the level of estrogen that a woman would have, say in her thirties?

Dr. Harris: No. Basically what the formula that we use [00:30:00] gives you enough to maintain you, but not take it through the roof. So, no, we’re not, I’m not trying to bring people back to their thirties.

Dr. Weitz: Okay.

Dr. Harris: That is not what I’m trying to do.

Dr. Weitz: Okay. And what about progesterone? What’s your perspective on progesterone?

Dr. Harris: I love it.

Dr. Weitz: And do you recommend oral progesterone?

Dr. Harris: I do oral because several reasons. Number one, progesterone’s a much larger molecule. So even does, it does not get absorbed properly through the skin. It’s better sublingually but still. Is best if you do it orally. Now the progesterone, the fact that orally it does go through the liver, but it also helps with the insomnia and the sleep and calming and, you know, getting rid of the anxiety and all of that type of thing.  It works very well orally because it’s a much, much larger molecule. Right. So, and even women who’ve had hysterectomies, I still keep them on progesterone. I adjust the dose based on their levels. The important thing with progesterone and estrogen is not the absolute level, it’s the ratio of one to the other.

Dr. Weitz: And what should that ratio be?

Dr. Harris: That ratio should be about 10 to one.

Dr. Weitz: Okay.

Dr. Harris: So if the estrogen is 20, the progesterone should be two.

Dr. Weitz: Okay.

Dr. Harris: If the estrogen’s 200, okay. Then, you know.

Dr. Weitz: Okay. And what about prescribing progesterone for two weeks and then [00:32:00] not doing it for two weeks to mimic the natural progesterone?

Dr. Harris: I have, it depends on the stage. Perimenopausal women, I will definitely try to cycle. Okay. Once you’ve gone through menopause, I, unless the person really wants to be cycled, I don’t. If the person wants to be cycled, I will still do it. But in general, once you’ve gone through, once you’re post-menopausal, it’s more than a year and you’re in definite menopause, we no longer need to cycle you.  I just keep the ratio, the 10 to one ratio as best I can

Dr. Weitz: to play devil’s advocate. Isn’t progesterone naturally secreted only for two [00:33:00] weeks in a month for women?

Dr. Harris: Not true.

Dr. Weitz: Okay.

Dr. Harris: The level goes up after ovulation, but it’s always there.

Dr. Weitz: Okay. But at a very low level. Right?

Dr. Harris: It’s at a lower level. That is correct, but it’s always there.

Dr. Weitz: Okay.

Dr. Harris: Now testosterone for women.

Dr. Weitz: Yes.

Dr. Harris: You haven’t touched that.

Dr. Weitz: I know That’s come, that’s the next question you read my mind.

Dr. Harris: Okay. Because you know, most women are very surprised when I tell them that they need testosterone, but that’s the man’s hormone. No, we all have, not only do we have testosterone.

Just as men, do we have 10 times less?

Dr. Weitz: Yeah,

Dr. Harris: but we have [00:34:00] testosterone. Absolutely. It’s responsible for the same things. It’s responsible for our muscle toning. It’s responsible for our energy. It’s responsible for our libido. It’s responsible for everything that it’s responsible for in the man. As a matter of fact, we have 10 times more.  Testosterone. Then we have estrogen right now. Go figure. We have 10 times more testosterone than we have estrogen. Even though estrogen and progesterone are the uniquely female hormones.

Dr. Weitz: Right. So how do you like to prescribe testosterone as a gel or what?

Dr. Harris: Nope, I do pellets again. Okay. Or injections. Or injections.

Dr. Weitz: Okay.

Dr. Harris: We can’t we shouldn’t give the testosterone orally because of the liver, you know? But [00:35:00] outside of that, it works very well, either by injection or by palate. It does. Now, lately we’ve been using it sublingually, and it looks as if that’s gonna work. As well. Okay. But no, definitely not orally.  You don’t wanna give testosterone orally.

Dr. Weitz: Okay. What about other hormones? What about DHEA? What about pregnenolone?

Dr. Harris: Now, I sometimes have to give women DHEA and pregnenolone men. I give it to almost routinely. The women. Okay. The hormone hierarchy, as you know, we see it, everything starts from cholesterol, right?  And then comes down, you know, with the andro, dione, pregnenolone, et cetera. And then it branches off [00:36:00] and becomes testosterone to the left and estrogen to the right, and progesterone down the middle, and. When it gets to that level on the bottom, they can actually, like if the receptors, one set of receptors are full, they can actually just, you know, convert to something else.  You know, estrogen can convert to testosterone. Usually it’s the other way around. Testosterone can convert to estrogen,

Dr. Weitz: right. And DHEA and OL alone are kind of precursor hormones, so they’re precursor hormones. DGA tends to, once

Dr. Harris: you’ve got the bottom ones stabilized, once you’ve got the bottom one’s, okay, 99 times out of a hundred, you don’t need the middle ones, you don’t need the precursors.

Dr. Weitz: Okay? So, what about women with vaginal symptoms like dryness et cetera? Do [00:37:00] you recommend vaginal estrogen, DHGA or what?

Dr. Harris: I use vaginal estradiol.

Dr. Weitz: Okay.

Dr. Harris: But in general, if they are balanced systemically. It actually believes it. Believe it or not, it actually rebuilds the vaginal mucosa. It rebuilds the vaginal mucosa.  Okay. Just as we know that, you know, estrogen protects and the bone, whereas testosterone builds back the bone. Right? As a matter of fact, there are studies which have shown that. Testosterone rebuilds normal, trabecular bone up to 8% per year.

Wow. Up

Dr. Harris: to 8% per year. I now have orthopods and cardiologists sending me patients [00:38:00] for hormones because they can’t tolerate the bisphosphonates or whatever the.  That stuff is that they’re giving them, that’s eating their guts out, you know? Yeah.

Dr. Weitz: Yeah, no, for sure. Hormones can be very beneficial for low bone density and fracture risk osteopenia, osteoporosis, and is probably underutilized for that. And certainly you don’t hear too many doctors talking about prescribing testosterone for women with osteoporosis.

Dr. Harris: And it works, right? It works. I have actually, I have multiple cases where I have not only maintained, but reversed osteoporosis to [00:39:00] osteopenia and back to normal trabecular bone.

Dr. Weitz: Yeah. And then of course, the importance of exercise and, several weeks ago, we had Dr. Belinda Beckon, who is the one who published the studies to lift more trials, which are the only trials that showed that heavy weight training can actually increase bone density.

Dr. Harris: Yes. It’s, it does,

Dr. Weitz: yeah. So women need to in addition to taking estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, they also need to do heavy weight training.  And I think there’s a bunch of other nutritional supplements they should be taking as well is including vitamin D, vitamin K,

Dr. Harris: absolutely. D three and K two is, you know. There’s a, there is a whole, there is an entire list. Absolutely. I tell everybody the two things, everybody walks out of here. [00:40:00] Out of my office with is knowing their D three status and knowing their inflammation status.  Yeah, because I tell everybody, if we were to get rid of the inflammation and the vitamin D deficiency, 50% of what we treat as physicians would disappear.

Dr. Weitz: Absolutely

Dr. Harris: 50%. So that means

Dr. Weitz: vitamin D is so important for so many things. Yeah. Yep. Yeah, we had Dr. Michael Hollick, who is the world’s expert on vitamin D.  So listen to that episode. It was really incredible. So what do you think about estrogen disrupting substances in our environment, which are very common, we hear about ’em all the time. So we have pesticides, we have bisphenol A, we have Teflon, we have all these different toxic substances, heavy metals that are estrogen are [00:41:00] endocrine disrupting substances.

Dr. Harris: Well, basically. We are and I live in New York City.

Dr. Weitz: Yeah. So

Dr. Harris: I mean, just breathing the air.

Dr. Weitz: Yeah.

Dr. Harris: I am behind the eight ball, you know, breathing the air. I’m behind the eight ball. So that actually makes it even more important in terms of our. Replacement in terms of the you know, because the disruptors, I mean, I don’t know how, at least not living in New York City, I can think of places in the country, right where yes, we could get away with it.  But certainly not in this environment.

Dr. Weitz: Well, look, there’s, there are some things we can’t control, like you said, the air, but there’s some things that we can control. [00:42:00] We can have water purification systems, not drink the tap water. We cannot use plastic. We can change the personal care products. We use the cleaning products in our house, you know, that is correct.

Dr. Weitz: We, we can buy. Furniture that doesn’t inflame retardant chemicals in it. We have to, you know, there’s a lot of things we can do and then we can rev up our body’s natural detoxification capabilities.

Dr. Harris: Yes, absolutely.

Dr. Weitz: Do a detox, add some liposomal glutathione, et cetera.

Dr. Harris: Yep. My, my friend, my person gath.

Dr. Weitz: Yeah,

Dr. Harris: I actually,  Sidebar. I literally take about 30 capsules a day.

Dr. Weitz: I’m right there with you twice a day.

Dr. Harris: I literally take 30 capsules a day. I had company once and I got up in the morning and I’m putting out my, [00:43:00] I have these three little, you know, metal. Things and I’m putting out my supplements and this.  He stood there and he watched me and then said please don’t take them. I’ll be right back. Went upstairs, got his camera, came down and took a picture because he couldn’t believe and I explained what everyone was four, you know. Right. 15 in the morning. Yep. 10 after that, and like six or eight before I go to bed at night.

Dr. Weitz: Yeah.

Dr. Harris: You know, so

Dr. Weitz: yeah, no I’m taking about 30 in the morning and 30 in the afternoon with dinner. And then more, I take some before the gym, I take some before bed and then my patients come in and they go, what, you want me to take five supplements? Are you kidding me? Right. And I understand the way we feel, but.  I, I do want you to take, I feel like that’s not many at all compared to what I take.

Dr. Harris: It’s [00:44:00] not. Yeah. And I mean, let’s face it, we get very little nutrients from the food we’re eating. Absolutely. You know, when I started doing this 50 years ago, a tomato was a tomato.

Dr. Weitz: Absolutely.

Dr. Harris: Now it, it doesn’t even taste.

Right,

Dr. Weitz: right.

Dr. Harris: So you absolutely

Dr. Weitz: know it’s grown in soil that’s depleted of nutrients or maybe has some artificial you know, nutrients put back in. It’s water is used that has many toxins in it. They use a lot of times toxic fertilizers sprayed with pesticides, herbicides. Then it goes to your then it’s stored in frozen containers for weeks and months on end, sometimes transported to other countries, and and then you’re cooking it and destroying nutrients even more.

Dr. Harris: Absolutely. It’s, it really is amazing the state of the food in this country. But we won’t get off [00:45:00] topic that’s another, that, that’s your baby, and it’s another. Talk.

Dr. Weitz: Yeah. But you know, we need to eat organic. We need to try to do the best we can and then we need to try to make sure we have optimal levels of all the nutrients.  And that’s one of the reasons why we like to TaskRabbit and guessing. And you know, we have certain targets that we know. There’s studies showing that. If you get your vitamin D level up to 60, you have significantly decreased risk of breast cancer. Absolutely. You know, there’s a number, we have data showing what is the optimal ranges for these nutrients, and then we supplement till we get to that range,

Dr. Harris: Which is another problem.  ’cause everybody comes in and says, oh, my doctor says I was normal. Right? And I draw my bell curve and say, look. Arbitrarily. They put a line 15 degrees to the left and 15 degrees to the right to the left. They say you [00:46:00] don’t have enough to the right. They say you have too much using vitamin D, 30 to a hundred.  And I draw my bell curve and I say, tell me really if you are 31, are you normal? Of course not. And they look at me and say. You’re right. No, you’re right. I say you’re supposed to be, I don’t use the word normal. I say optimal. You’re supposed to be here.

Dr. Weitz: Yeah. You know, what I tell ’em is normal is what the average American is, and the average American 75% are overweight.  They have heart disease, they have diabetes, they have multiple autoimmune diseases. They’re losing muscle mass. They have low bone mass. I mean, you don’t wanna be like the average American.

Dr. Harris: I’m gonna start using that. I am definitely gonna start using

Dr. Weitz: And you know, during the pandemic when people gained even more weight and were drinking more, some of the labs actually changed the ranges and [00:47:00] raised what’s considered a normal liver enzyme.

Dr. Harris: Yes. It, and it’s funny, it took a while. For that to catch on or catch up. Right. Because right after COVID, everybody’s liver enzymes were elevated. Yep. And it’s like, what’s going on? And it took a while for them to figure out, you know,

Dr. Weitz: whats going on? Well, everybody’s scared shit less than they’re drinking like a fish.

All righty. So final thoughts and then tell us about your contact information.

Dr. Harris: Well, final thoughts really is so important that we understand stand that our hormones. Really do what they do in that they protect us. They [00:48:00] are involved in 400 functions and are therefore necessary. For example, the North American Menopause Society still has in their guidelines that you’re to take hormones for.

As shorter a period of time as possible at the lowest dose possible. Right. Which is not true. I mean, that’s almost counterproductive. I’ll be taking them until they, you know, lay me down for viewing. I, as I, I tried stopping, I tried decreasing. I was not able to, I still. If I go too long, can’t function well.

I love telling people I’ve been out of medical school for 50 years and they look at me and say, oh, [00:49:00] you’re kidding. I thought you were 55 or 60. It’s all the hormones. They really do what we say they do. They are protective. I. All the myths out there, the misconceptions, the misinformation. I mean, I swear menopause has to be the most misunderstood, for want of a better word, diagnosis in Madison.

Dr. Weitz: Have we covered most of the myths in our talk?

Dr. Harris: Well, there are several others. Okay. Once you start hormones, you can’t stop. Not true. Hormones are only for hot flashes and night sweats. Not true brain fog and weight gain is just a part of aging, not true. [00:50:00] All women go through menopause the same way.  Not true. Menopause only affects your reproductive system. Not true. Once your period stops, the symptoms are over. Not true. Okay. You don’t have, you just have to tough it out. Not true. Ladies and gentlemen, you do not have to live with the symptoms and most important hormones are not dangerous. They are not dangerous.  They are actually protective. They’re not dangerous. There are two more women are being told they’re too young to be starting menopause. Perimenopause starts as early as 39 or 40 [00:51:00] normally.

Dr. Weitz: Okay,

Dr. Harris: and the other thing, the last one. Bioidentical hormones are unsafe and unregulated. That is not true. The compounding pharmacies are probably better regulated than the regular pharmacy.

Dr. Weitz: And even if you didn’t want to use compounding pharmacies, you can take the FDA approved patch and you can take bioidentical progesterone pills that are

Dr. Harris: progess. Yeah. FDA approved as well. Yes, that is correct. That is correct. But it’s really it’s so important and we’re playing catchup.

It’s actually finally with Halle Berry and Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon and Oprah. That finally they’re starting to listen [00:52:00] to women, right? Because we have been treated like second class citizens. Yeah, and there is. You don’t have to live with it ladies. There is no reason for you to suffer. There is no reason to feel for you to feel like not a person when there is good treatment out there for you.

Dr. Weitz: Tell it to us, Dr. Harris. That’s good.

Dr. Harris: Yes. So I can be found at the Wellness Restoration Center in New York City. I’m on Madison Avenue, 575 Madison Avenue, 23rd floor. And. What’s the number? 646-478-9833. I don’t use it. I don’t remember it. 6 4 6 4 7 8 9 8 3 3. The website is my name, Dr marcia harris.com.  6 4 6 4 7 8 9 8 3 3. And yes, I do virtual. Consults and everything as well.

Dr. Weitz: That’s great. Thank you so much, Dr. Harris.

Dr. Harris: Thank you so much for having me.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dr. Weitz: Thank you for making it all the way through this episode of the Rational Wellness Podcast. For those of you who enjoy listening to the Rational Wellness Podcast, I would very much appreciate it if you could go to Apple Podcast or Spotify and give us a five star readings and review.  As you may know, I continue to accept a limited number of new patients per month for functional medicine. If you would like help overcoming a gut or other chronic health condition and want to prevent chronic problems and want to promote longevity. Please call my Santa Monica Weitz Sports chiropractic and nutrition office at 310-395-311 1 and we can set you up for a consultation for functional medicine and I will talk to everybody next week.