FYI - excerpt from article on sciencebasedmedicine.org:
Bioidentical Hormones
Published by Harriet Hall under Pharmaceuticals
The Medical Letter recently evaluated âbioidenticalâ hormones and concluded
âThere is no acceptable evidence that âbioidenticalâ hormones are safe or effective. Patients should be discouraged from taking them.â
âBioidenticalsâ include progesterone, estrogens (estriol, estradiol, and estrone), and testosterone. They have mainly been promoted as a safer, more natural alternative to menopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT), but they are also claimed to increase energy, well-being, and quality of life, and to have an anti-aging effect. Suzanne Somers recommends them for all age groups and both sexes. There is no evidence to support any of those claims.
The whole âbioidenticalâ thing is a pseudoscientific concept: it is a marketing term rather than a scientifically meaningful one. Bioidenticals are promoted by celebrities like Suzanne Somers, a few maverick medical doctors like Kent Holtorf, proponents of ânaturalâ medicine, patients who were frightened by the Womenâs Health Initiative study of hormone replacement therapy, and critics of Big Pharma. The mainstream scientific community is in consensus: a number of medical organizations, from the American Cancer Society to the Mayo Clinic, have issued statements similar to that of The Medical Letter.
The terminology is confusing. Bioidenticals are plant extracts modified to have the same molecular structure as endogenous hormones. But there are FDA-approved Big Pharma hormones that are just as âbioidenticalâ: they are also plant extracts modified to have the same molecular structure as hormones produced by the ovary. Only one bioidentical hormone, estriol, has no corresponding FDA-approved version. It is only present in large amounts during pregnancy: its safety and efficacy as a supplement have not been tested. Proponents of âbioidenticalsâ make much of the difference between âartificialâ Big Pharma progestins and ânaturalâ progesterone, but that same progesterone molecule is also sold as a prescription drug. (Progestins were originally developed because progesterone is poorly absorbed, but now Big Pharma has developed a micronized version of progesterone that is absorbed adequately.)
One of the biggest concerns is that âbioidenticalsâ are prepared in compounding pharmacies that are not regulated. The FDA has long been concerned about these pharmacies. In a 2006 survey, the potency ranged from 67.5% to 268.4% of the amount specified on the label, and there were variations within the same samples. Contaminants have also been found, including bacteria. Package inserts describing risks are required for FDA approved products but not for compounding pharmacy productsâŚ