Is Compounded Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy Safe?
Once the Women’s Health Initiative halted their study on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in 2002, HRT use fell out of favor. This important study revealed such serious health risks associated with HRT use that the study was actually stopped prematurely; this study revealed that HRT use increased the risk of breast cancer, heart disease and blood clots. The good news is that women were finally alerted to potential health risks of HRT; the bad news is that now women were left with no effective treatments for dealing with menopause signs. Since HRT was used for so long and was so effective at treating menopause related symptoms, drug manufacturers and scientists never developed alternatives to this treatment.
One relatively new menopause treatment that has become increasingly publicized recently is bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT). Suzanne Somers has been touting the benefits of BHRT for years and recently Oprah has been talking about it, so it’s no wonder that more and more women are asking about this possible substitute for HRT. BHRT is a plant based product that has the exact same chemical composition as the hormones that are produced naturally in a woman’s body. A lot of people make the false assumption that a plant based product is somehow safer than synthetic product or animal based products, but this is a potentially dangerous assumption.
Most BHRT medications are made through a process called compounding. A woman is given a blood or saliva test by her doctor and the doctor writes a prescription based on her potential hormonal imbalance needs. This prescription is then taken to a compounding pharmacy where the medicine is then “compounded” according to her specific hormonal needs.
There are some potential problems with compounded BHRT. For one thing compounded medicines are not FDA tested, the process of compounding doesn’t allow for standardized testing. Recently the FDA has begun cracking down of people making unsubstantiated claims about BHRT, people and businesses were claiming that BHRT was safer than HRT, which is simply not true. What is true is that the risks of compounded BHRT are not fully known at this time. It may be safer than HRT or it may not be; only time and testing will tell.