Bioidentical Hormones

What are bioidentical hormones?

From a physiological perspective, bioidentical hormones derived from natural plant sources are identical to those that the body produces for itself, in the right proportions. When we are “replacing” the body’s hormones, we feel it makes more sense to use entities which the body recognizes as its own, rather than hormones from horses, imbalanced versions or overly potent synthetic versions. The hormones we use are mainly Estradiol, Estriol, (E2, E3, respectively), progesterone, testosterone, and DHEA.

How can I get natural hormones?

With the exception of low potency progesterone creams (available over-the-counter), natural, bioidentical hormone therapy is generally obtained through a prescription.

Once I am prescribed bioidentical hormones, can I get them at any pharmacy?

Depending on the hormone being replaced, most of these need to be created in a compounding pharmacy, usually in a cream or gel form. Because the ingredients are naturally derived, it is impossible for a manufacturer to obtain a patent on these substances. Without a patent, it is unlikely that any drug manufacturer will go to the expense of pursuing these products for marketing and sales. Consequently, these bio-identical hormones must be prepared for the patient from pure, plant derived chemicals by a pharmacist at a compounding pharmacy.

Where do bioidentical hormones come from?

Natural plant sterols are extracted from soybeans and/or Mexican yams. These are taken to a laboratory where they are converted chemically, or semi-synthesized to hormones that are identical and indistinguishable from the body’s own.

If they are synthesized in a lab, doesn’t that make them “synthetic”?

Since bioidenticals are derived from plant substances in soybeans and yams (diadzein and genistein), they are natural in the sense that they are formulated in the lab to be biologically identical in structure and function to hormones produced in the body. For that reason, we prefer to call these hormones “bioidentical, plant derived”. We use the term “synthetic” to describe chemically altered hormones that are many times more potent than the “naturals”, and are not what is chemically found in your body.

What About Cancer?

A thorough review of the medical literature supports the claim that bioidentical hormones have some distinctly different, often opposite, physiological effects to those of their synthetic counterparts. With respect to the risk for breast cancer, heart disease, heart attack, and stroke, substantial scientific and medical evidence demonstrates that bioidentical hormones are safer and more efficacious forms of HRT than commonly used synthetic versions.

Postgraduate Medicine, Volume 121, Issue 1, January 2009, ISSN – 0032-5481, e-ISSN – 1941-9260

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