Menopause marks the end of a woman's reproductive life because the ovaries stop producing eggs. As a result, hormonal levels will shift in menopausal women, leading to a number of symptoms, including hot flashes, vaginal dryness and an increased risk of osteoporosis. Hormone replacement therapy can be used to treat these symptoms, but there is some controversy over the use of bioidentical hormones.
Hormone Replacement
The symptoms of menopause are caused by decreasing levels of hormones as the ovaries shut down. Consequently, hormone replacement therapy can be used to prevent some of these symptoms by supplementing hormonal levels. Most hormone replacement therapies involve taking a combination of estrogen and progesterone.
Hazards
Although hormone replacement can ease many of the symptoms and health risks associated with menopause, this treatment can cause its own health problems. Women using hormonal replacement therapy are at a higher risk of developing blood clots and other cardiovascular problems, such as heart attacks and strokes. They also have a greater chance of developing breast and gallbladder cancer.
Bioidentical Hormones
The concept behind bioidentical hormones is that many hormone replacement therapies use synthetic hormones that chemically differ from the ones that the female body naturally produces. The theory behind bioidentical hormones is that some of the side effects from hormone replacement therapy is related to these chemical differences, and that the health risks of hormone replacement can be minimized by using hormones that are chemically identical to the ones the human body produces.
Types
There are two main types of bioidentical hormone formulations. The simplest form is hormone replacement that simply uses estrogens and progesterone that have the exact same structure as those that the female body produces. The other form is individually made hormone "recipes" that are designed to reflect each woman's hormone levels. These formulations are custom-designed and are usually based off of hormone levels in a saliva sample.
Effectiveness
The FDA has approved bioidentical hormone formulations that are not customized. These are available without a prescription and can be commercially purchased nationwide. The FDA has not approved custom formulations, and there is no scientific evidence, according to the FDA's website, that these custom formulations are safer.
