I was first introduced to the Wiley protocol in late 2004, when a patient brought in the book, Sex, Lies, and Menopause, shortly after its publication, requesting to be placed on this method of bio-identical hormone replacement therapy.  She was perimenopausal and had been suffering from horrible migraine headaches, to the point that she was literally incapacitated 3 days out of a week, which made it very difficult to operate her business.  She had been researching ways to improve her quality of life, and expressed her disbelief to me of how lagging behind the learning curve conventional medical practitioners were in this field, still insisting on prescribing the one size fits all approach of pharmaceutical, non-bioidentical drugs.  After reading through the book, I  couldn't agree with her more! 

This book struck a chord with me, as well as with the many women who came to me seeking for answers to so many of their symptoms which had seriously affected their quality of lives as they were transitioning into menopause.  If we were going to replace sex hormones which had suddenly taken a nose dive to undetectable levels because of the abrupt onset of menopause, why would we not replace it in the manner and to the degree that mother nature orchestrated for us in our youthful reproductive life?  The menstrual cycle of a healthy reproductive female is the only biological template we have from mother nature, and none of the conventional methods of HRT aim to replicate this template!  The peaking of both estrogen and progesterone to ovulation ranges were obviously designed for reasons, and our conventional low dose (or high doses, in cases of oral contraceptives), flat-line approaches to HRT bore little resemblance to the rhythmic menstrual cycle created by mother nature.  I found the information in this book extremely engaging, and the vital pieces of information in evolutionary biology really helped me to think in terms of the big picture rather than perpetuate the current dogma of microscopic, piecemeal, fragmented, way of thinking in conventional medicine.  I found this new perspective refreshing, especially in light of my background in academics.  

A few months after I prescribed the Wiley protocol for my patient for her perimenopausal symptoms and incapacitating migraine headaches, she returned to see me, stating that her quality of life had dramatically improved, and that she was extremely grateful such a protocol existed.  She also facilitated my making contact with T. S. Wiley, whom I found to be extremely approachable and a wealth of information not only in terms of medicine, but in many subtleties of hormone balancing for women as well as men.  I have learned so much from both T. S. Wiley and the oncologist onboard through our numerous conversations, as well as working with many women who have elected to go on the Wiley protocol since that time.  While the Wiley protocol may not be the solution to every woman's hormonal problems, for the right woman, the impact has been very positive in my observation.  In fact, more and more women in the community are spreading the message regarding their personal success with the protocol, a testimonial to its effectiveness as well as their excitement regarding the protocol.

I invite medical practitioners to join me in utilizing this protocol to improve the quality of lives of many women (and men, who have the option of the Wiley protocol for men) who continue to suffer needlessly, esp. in the aftermath of the highly publicized Women's Health Initiative (WHI) results.  Practitioners who have thoroughly analyzed the WHI data as well as the those of available randomized controlled trials realize the multiple limitations, including the lack of statistical power to test the outcomes of HRT during transition to menopause and that the results do not necessarily apply to all women.  For those women who have elected to use the Wiley protocol, I salute your ability to think outside the box and your zest for life, with all of its qualities of energy, vigor, and vitality, not just the quantity!

Best wishes,
Yun-Ching Chen, M.D.
Internal Medicine
www.balancedapproaches.com
720-A Capitola Ave.
Capitola, CA   95010
831-462-6013 (Tel.)
831-465-9519 (Fax)