Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy

What do you think of bio-identical hormone replacement therapy?

I am over 50 and considering bio-identical hormone replacement therapy. any thoughts?

It looks like the latesst expensive gimmick…
Compounded “bioidentical hormones” are plant-derived hormones that pharmacists prepare and label as drugs. The products are claimed to be biochemically similar or identical to those produced by the ovaries or body. However, the relevant chemicals (steroids) in plants are not identical to those in humans. To make products that work in humans, raw materials from the plants must be converted to human hormones synthetically. Thus, to the extent that they are potent, the “bioidentical” products would pose the same risks as those of standard hormones—plus whatever problems might be introduced during compounding.
The FDA regards “bio-identical” as a marketing term that implies a benefit for which there is no medical or scientific basis. Some were also making unsupportable claims that their drugs are better than FDA-approved menopausal hormone therapy drugs

Melissa Dean, MD – Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 10th, 2007 at 6:55 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.