Biote® Hormone Replacement Therapy
Biote® is a brand of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) that uses pellets to help balance hormones and relieve symptoms.
How does hormonal imbalance affect mental health?
During the normal aging process, shifts in hormone levels, particularly decreases in estrogen, testosterone, and thyroid hormones can lead to issues like sleep disturbances, changes in sexual functioning, fatigue, and mental fog, potentially intensifying depression and anxiety.
Dr. Bennett says, “People generally don’t think about the brain as being a target for these hormones. But the brain has steroid hormone receptors, and for optimal brain functioning, sometimes we really want to have optimal hormone levels to make it easier for the brain to do its job.”
When treating depression and other mental health issues, if a patient is improving but not quite at their optimal level, it’s important to consider secondary causes, which can sometimes be traced back to hormones decreasing over time.
Sometimes hormone optimization through treatments and lifestyle changes may help alleviate some of the hormone-related imbalances that commonly occur with healthy aging. A lab test is used to determine if a hormone imbalance could be affecting a patient’s mental health.
How does Biote hormone replacement therapy work?
Biote is a pioneer in healthy aging through bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT), and an innovator in subcutaneous hormone pellet therapy.
Pellets are tiny, custom-compounded therapies for symptoms that stem from hormonal imbalances. These pellets use hormones that are bioidentical to those found in the human body, and may help keep a patient’s hormone levels consistent throughout the day.
Hormones delivered by pellet therapy bypass the liver, do not affect clotting factors, do not increase the risk of thrombosis, and avoid the fluctuations of hormone levels some patients may experience. (Please note these statements have not been evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration.)
Biote bioidentical hormone pellets are made from soy or the yam plant to create estradiol and/or testosterone molecules, unlike synthetic hormones, which are made from animal parts or urine and have a different molecular structure than what the body produces.
Can supplements improve mental health?
Certain Biote nutraceuticals may benefit some patients as a supplement to antidepressants.
The term “nutraceutical” combines the two words of “nutrient,” which is a nourishing food component, and “pharmaceutical,” which is a medical drug. The philosophy behind nutraceuticals is to focus on prevention.
Methylfolate, for example, has clearly been shown to improve depression and make antidepressant treatments work better. And the DIM SGS+ supplement helps modulate how estrogen is metabolized. There also may be situations where a probiotic would be recommended.
If your provider recommends the use of a supplement, Biote nutraceuticals can be purchased from our Online Store
Progressive Therapies for Difficult to Treat Mental Illness
Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, with about 9.5 percent of adults in the United States experiencing it annually. When individuals suffer from depression that remains unresponsive to conventional treatments, novel therapies often can improve outcomes.