The Doctors TV show rebroadcast an episode yesterday that discussed bioidentical hormone replacement therapy – Robin McGraw shared her personal experience with menopause and takes a friend to her gynecologist, Dr. Prudence Hall, to get her back on track.
Anytime there is national attention on hormone replacement therapy, we are flooded with questions about the differences between synthetic hormones and bioidentical hormones.
Simply stated, Bioidentical hormones are an exact replica of the hormones that are naturally produced by the body; matching the body’s natural hormones molecule by molecule. They are referred to as “All Natural” because they are extracted from soy and yams. Bioidentical hormones are processed by a compounding pharmacist. Once the plant-based hormone is processed, its structure is identical to the estrogen, progesterone, and androgen hormones produced naturally by one’s body. This is why our bodies can metabolize them naturally as it was designed to do, with minimal or no bioidentical hormones risks or side effects.
Synthetic hormones are made from plant progesterone and animal estrogens, but are not identical to the hormones your body uses (generally an extra covalent bond or molecules are added so that it can be patented). Synthetic hormones act as toxins since their chemical makeup cannot be metabolized properly. This causes adverse side effects that in many cases are worse than the symptoms that are being treated.
Listen to Dr. Alicia Stanton, Chief Medical Officer of BodyLogicMD and Dr. Robert Rubin of BodyLogicMD of Naples/Tampa talk about bioidentical hormones.
We’ve found a chart from The Harvard Health Publications—–it lists each of the hormones by brand name, and tells if it is bioidentical or not. Click here to read more about bioidentical hormones.
Hope this helps!