Bioidentical Hormones: Are They Safer?

Bioidentical Hormones: Are They Safer?

Based on the recent estimates, each day approximately 6000 females reach natural menopause within United States.

According to latest projections, the population of females older than 55 years will cross 46 million in United States alone.

With the declining levels of female sexual hormones, a number of women develop disturbing symptoms like insomnia, hot flashes, sexual dysfunction, sagging of breast and skin, osteoporosis and cardiovascular diseases. The information above entails the need and requirement of a safe, effective and reliable therapeutic option to maintain the quality of life in females even after menopause.

Safety and Efficacy of Bioidentical Hormones:

• Bioidentical hormones are safer and much more effective than traditional hormone replacement therapies because:
• The dose of natural hormones can be calibrated/ standardized via simple tests like salivary and/or blood serum levels. On the other hand, most synthetic formulations vary in the potency, efficacy and duration of action which makes the dose monitoring process very troublesome.
• The risk of adverse effects is low because bioidentical hormones are exactly similar to the hormones produced by your body. Thereby, your body does not treat these hormones as foreign or ‘drug’ and therefore the risk of an abnormal response is fairly low.
• According to the study reported in the Journal of Women’s Health (2), most conventional hormonal regimens include bioidentical hormones to enhance the safety and efficacy of the regimen.
• According to another study reported in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine (3) investigators suggested that bioidentical progesterone is far more superior to the synthetic progestin (present in most conventional HRTs), since it can be given in low doses (depending upon individual needs).
• Bioidentical progesterone is the preferred choice in individuals with known allergy to peanuts, because the FDA approved varieties of progestin are prepared in the suspension of peanut oil (3)
• The new French study (4) suggested that the bioidentical hormones are associated with a lower risk of breast cancer as compared to conventional hormone replacement therapies, in which individuals are 30% more vulnerable to develop breast malignancy).

In short, several studies and clinical investigations have supported the use of bioidentical hormones in lieu of safety and therapeutic efficacy.