When it comes to hormone therapy, like most things, just follow the money. (Then go back in the other direction.)
It is estimated that 4,000 women begin menopause in the U.S. daily. That's almost one and a half million women annually that will have hot flashes, memory loss and mood swings for the first time. You'd think that with numbers like that, medical science would have the protocol for relieving the symptoms associated with menopause. And because of the recent controversy surrounding traditional hormone treatments, some women are looking for alternatives. Dr. Kristine Northrup has appeared on Oprah extolling the virtues of this alternative to prescription HRT. The late Dr. John Lee became a cult figure among the holistic crowd touting bioidentical progesterone hormone therapy.
But are they safer and are they effective?
Bioidentical hormone is basically the same chemical structure as what your body produces naturally. This form of hormones are plant-based as opposed to synthetic chemicals. They are available at most health foods stores, on the web and can be custom blended in pills or creams for each woman. Millions of women now see them as an all natural alternative to prescription hormones.
Almost daily, there are reports in the news meant to discredit the natural alternatives to prescription HRT. The opponents of the alternative and usually lower costing therapy have yet to show one women harmed by natural progesterone cream, yet there are millions of women who have experienced the terrible side effects of synthetic HRT. It is synthetic so the drug companies can patient the drug and charge high margins to you, the unsuspecting customer.
Critics also argue tests used to determine which hormone is needed aren't accurate. "Many of the people who are proponents of the bioidentical therapy also recommend salivary hormone testing. The levels are not accurate, they don't correspond with plasma levels," said one physician who is not a fan of natural bio-identical progesterone.
Despite the controversy, thousands of other women say bioidentical hormones have give them their lives back. "I have much more energy. I don't need that 4:00 afternoon nap because I'm in such a slump I can't think straight," said one women at a health foods store.