Welcome to the podcast with Dr. Brendan McCarthy!
Can you start hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or bioidentical hormones without lab testing? Technically—yes. But should you? In this episode, Dr. Brendan McCarthy, Chief Medical Officer of Protea Medical Center, shares his medical perspective on why skipping labs could put your health at risk.
Responding to viral videos that suggest lab work is unnecessary, Dr. McCarthy walks you through:
✅ Why objective data matters—especially for hormone care ✅ The dangers of prescribing hormones without testing ✅ How HRT can be safely and affordably customized ✅ Real-life clinical scenarios that show the power of lab-guided treatment
Whether you're navigating perimenopause, menopause, or curious about functional medicine, this episode aims to inform—not attack—and to elevate the standard of care all patients deserve.
Dr. Brendan McCarthy founded Protea Medical Center in 2002. While he’s been the chief medical officer, Protea has grown and evolved into a dynamic medical center serving the Valley and Central Arizona. A nationally recognized as an expert in hormone replacement therapy, Dr McCarthy s the only instructor in the nation who teaches BioHRT on live patients. Physicians travel to Arizona to take his course and integrate it into their own practices. Besides hormone replacement therapy, Dr. McCarthy has spoken nationally and locally before physicians on topics such as weight loss, infertility, nutritional therapy and more.
Citations:
- O'Connell, Mary Beth. "Pharmacokinetic and pharmacologic variation between different estrogen products." The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 35.9S (1995): 18S-24S..
- Qureshi, Rehana, et al. "The major pre-and postmenopausal estrogens play opposing roles in obesity-driven mammary inflammation and breast cancer development." Cell metabolism 31.6 (2020): 1154-1172..
- Bagot CN, Marsh MS, Whitehead M, Sherwood R, Roberts L, Patel RK, Arya R. The effect of estrone on thrombin generation may explain the different thrombotic risk between oral and transdermal hormone replacement therapy. J Thromb Haemost. 2010 Aug;8(8):1736-44. doi: 10.1111/j.1538-7836.2010.03953.x. Epub 2010 Jun 14. PMID:
Thank you for tuning in and don't forget to hit that SUBSCRIBE button! Let us know in the COMMENTS if you have any questions or what you may want Dr. McCarthy to talk about next!
Check out Dr. Brendan McCarthy's Book! https://www.amazon.com/Jump-Off-Mood-...
-More Links-
Instagram: www.instagram.com/drbrendanmccarthy
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/drbrendanmccarthy
Clinic Website: www.protealife.com
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.