Are Bio-identical Hormones Safe?

The medical community offer some FDA approved drugs but know next to nothing about even the drugs they offer. Very few studies, conflicting results.
I thought it hilarious the quote about bio-identicals was "there is no scientific basis in fact for this claim."
You could say that about a shocking number of FDA drug therapies out there and there are certainly all sorts of negative effects associated with the drug company/FDA recommended regimens for menopausal women.
The fact is that women's heath issues, especially aging women's health issues are at the bottom of the barrel for medical interest.

The medical community, the FDA, CDC et al. reap what they sow. If they don't care women will go out and try to take care of themselves and find alternatives. What have they got to lose? As far as anyone really knows bio-identicals won't hurt them anymore than FDA approved drugs.
Why are you pimping for the AMA, FDA and drug-company lobby?

How NIH Misread Hormone Study in 2002 (Wall Street Journal)

http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB118394176612760522.html

Well put! And they are not bound by the rigors of mainstream testing. So their profits may be all the greater.

To nraden: You are right about the delicate endocrinologic balance between hormones in a woman's cycle being something that HRT cannot mimic. But we aren't trying to replace the reproductive cycle and most people don't want periods indefinitely. The triphasic birth control pill (Ortho Tricyclen or Triphasil) tried to mimic a woman's cycle by escalating hormone doses weekly until the week off when they are withdrawn. The effects were no better than straight dosage for pills.
Basically the hypothalamus secretes releasing hormones on an hourly basis in pulsatile fashion and gets the cycle going. We could never replace that intricate of a mechanism and clinically it doesn't seem to matter. Women want control of symptoms of menopause, mostly of hot flashes and vaginal dryness, or mood swings. So giving a straight dose of a hormone seems to satisfy that need much of the time. If it doesn't, then that's where compounding pharmacies could help individualize yet further. But they won't be measuring pituitary levels. They will also treat symptoms which is what we clinicians do, but orienting our practice according to the medical literature to keep our patients as safe as possible. If we advised just blindly, patients would have no more benefit consulting a physician than they'd get by surfing the web for an hour.

Given the overwhelmingly negative response to this article, I think the authors need to take some time to rethink it. I'm not accusing them of being bought by the pharma/AMA cabal or swayed by Newsweek's dependence on advertising from them, but I'm not dismissing it either. But I think it's pretty clear that they are way off, in this article and others as well as their book and before they publish anymore, on this subject, they need to examine their bias and inform themselves. In other words, act like journalists, not yellow journalists.

Dont let the FDA and Big Pharma tell you what is good for your body. My bio identical progesterone has been a God-send for me. If the gov agencies that are supposed to protect our health were REALLY out to protect us, Vioxx would have never been approved and would never have killed the people it did! They cannot make any $ from bioidentical hormones! Nuff said!

Once again the FDA and Big Pharma prove that all they care about is $$$$$$$$! Bio-identical progesterone has been a God-send for me! Read people! Dont let Gov agencies tell you what is safe and what is not. They dont care about your health. If they did, Vioxx would never have been approved and killed the innocent people that it killed!

My doctor told me it was good for my heart and would help me get my good cholesterol up. My good cholesterol was 20 and it now 40. Also, are gone the night sweat where my bed was soak and it was hard to sleep and I work the morning shift 6-2. Also, sex is no longer painful and I threw out KyJel. My mood swing are gone. I love Preprom. My dose is .45. Thank God every day for this drug. I am 57 and I got my life back ! June

My doctor told me it was good for my heart and would help me get my good cholesterol up. My good cholesterol was 20 and it now 40. Also, are gone the night sweat where my bed was soak and it was hard to sleep and I work the morning shift 6-2. Also, sex is no longer painful and I threw out KyJel. My mood swing are gone. I love Preprom. My dose is .45. Thank God every day for this drug. I am 57 and I got my life back ! June

This is the most asinine thing I have heard. I would be nuts without my progesterone cream. I use the smallest dose I need and only for the shortest time needed. It keeps me sane and easy to live with. I think the big companies are mad because they can't make money on the bio-identicals. The presidential candidate that supports total health choices and the disbandment of the FDA is Ron Paul. If you want complete health choice freedom, the highest quality care and complete confidentiality between you and your health care providers, check out this man and his platform.

The fact that this article used ???safer??? and FDA in the same sentence is a joke. I was happy to see all the comments posted with a clear understanding that FDA recommendations have nothing to do with protecting the public and everything to do with protecting the interests of the Pharmaceutical Industry. As an RN, I see on a daily basis, the lengths pharma. reps will go to in order to push their "safe" products. The FDA may claim rigorous testing and double blind studies prove safer products, then we see those same products pulled. FDA approval does not equate to safety. The bottom line is that having more choices of products and therapies, allows more women to have relief. This is all about money lost for BIg Pharma, plain and simple.

To dancingdiamonds: You're right about sex and sexual identity. So a patient like you would probably be best served on low dose hormones long term, understanding the small risk of cancer. In today's litigious society, docs are scared of malpractice. So they need a relationship with the patient to be a team in the person's best interest. I'll usually put a note in the chart that the patient understands the slightly increased risk of cancer and agrees to have regular mammograms.

I totally agree with the author. There is no such thing as a "safe hormone" and that Suzanne Somers should be ashamed of herself for promoting them so vigorously, she of all people, as a cancer survivor should know better. In her vanity to be "forever young and sexy" she is jeopardizing her health. What is she going to say when her cancer comes back? She talks about this subject with such authority one would think she's a doctor. No wonder they say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I find her grating and insulting, a real know it all. To my knowledge she never graduated from medical school and she shouldn't promote her "magical hormones" so vigorously. She should do whatever she wants with her body but leave us alone, she's not an eminence on the subject.