Bio-identical hormone replacement therapy is both more effective and has greater health benefits for women suffering with symptoms of menopause than hormone replacement therapy with synthetic hormones. Synthetic forms of hormone replacement therapy prescribe substances such as Premarin, Provera and Prempro and present real health risks with increased risks of breast cancer, stroke and heart attack. The most comprehensive analysis to date, published in the Postgraduate Medical Journal, a leading peer-reviewed publication for practicing clinicians, showed that bio-identical hormones are associate with reduced health risks and are more efficacious than their synthetic counterparts. Conducted by a leading expert in hormone replacement, Ken Holtorf, MD, medical director of the Holtorf Medical Group Center for Hormone Imbalance, Hypothyroidism and Fatigue, in Torrance, California (www.HoltorfMed.com), the paper reviewed and evaluated results from more than 200 physiological and clinical studies.
"A thorough review of the medical literature clearly supports the claim that bio-identical hormones have some distinctly different, often opposite, physiological effects to those of their synthetic hormones," said Dr. Holtorf, whose practice treats more than 7,000 patients each year. "The medical literature demonstrates that bio-identical hormone replacement therapy is highly effective and carries a reduced, rather than increased, risk of breast cancer and cardiovascular disease."
The review also showed that patients undergoing bio-identical HRT were less likely to experience sleep problems, anxiety, depression and cognitive effects - common side effects of synthetic hormones and are associated with a reduced risk for breast cancer and superior cardiovascular protection.
"While larger, randomized clinical studies are needed, the review of current medical literature demonstrates that bio-identical hormones are a safer, highly effective option for women, and any physician that is practicing evidence-based medicine should be using bio-identical hormone replacement for their patients," said Dr. Holtorf.
Synthetic HRT preparations, which are the most commonly prescribed method of HRT in the United States, are comprised of pregnant horse hormones that are not found in the human body or synthetic hormones that have physiologic effects that mimic or mirror the natural estrogen or progesterone found in the body. In contrast, bio identical hormone replacement contains molecules that are exact replicas of the endogenous estrogens and progesterone found in the body and, as such, have distinctly different physiological effects than their synthetic counterparts.
Bio-identical hormone replacement typically includes the two estrogen naturally found in a woman's body, estriol and estradiol, along with natural progesterone while the most common synthetic HRT includes Premarin (conjugated equine estrogen, or CEE) and Provera (medroxyprogesterone, or MPA), among others. Awareness of the benefits of bio-identical hormone replacement has been increased with Oprah's series on bio-identical hormones, including a segment with guest Suzanne Somers.