The Bioidentical Hormone Therapy Information You've Been Looking For

Are Bioidentical Hormones Really Safer Than Standard HRT?

Bioidentical hormones are custom-mixed formulas that contain various hormones which are chemically identical to the hormones that your body makes naturally. These products are sold over-the-counter, and are marketed as being customized to a woman's individual hormone needs. To determine each individual’s hormonal needs, your healthcare professional will typically test you through saliva hormone testing. Manufacturers claim that bioidentical hormones are safer than standard, FDA-approved hormone therapy.

According to the North American Menopause Society (NAMS), custom compounds may provide certain benefits, such as doses and mixtures of the hormones your healthcare professional determined that you need in particular, and are not available commercially. However, there also may be certain risks for those who use them. These compounds have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and as a result have not been tested for purity, potency, efficacy or safety. These products may even contain unknown contaminants.
Bioidentical estrogen and progesterone are available in FDA-approved hormone therapy products, including:

These products are available to you in many different doses and forms. But the fact is, with more and more testing of these new individualized compounds, they are slowing becoming more and more popular. This new way of distributing hormones makes it so that there is no “one-dose-fits-all”. You receive testing to determine which hormones your body has slowed production on, and which ones you need. If it’s determined that you only need a small dose of estrogen, these new compounds allow that, rather than giving everyone the same dose.