Bioidentical Hormones - As Seen on Oprah

One of my clients asked me what I knew about identical hormone replacement therapy. She said she had seen something on Oprah's website and thought it was endorsed by a doctor.

When I went home that evening I asked my Dr. Husband about bioidentical hormones made from organic sources. He all literally roared and snorted! "WHAT DO YOU THINK HRT'S ARE MADE OF?!" He roared. "Bioidentical isn't even a word in the medical books. It's a marketing term created by pharmaceutical companies."

Smart woman that I am, I backed off saying I hadn't researched it and would get back to him after I did.

Actually, the endorsement wasn't by a physician. It was by an actress, Suzanne Sommers. Oprahs site also addes information from Dr. Christiane Northrup:

"Dr. Northrup, author of The Wisdom of Menopause, helped navigate the HRT maze, breaking down the basics of menopause, perimenopause and bioidentical versus synthetic hormones. "'Bioidentical' means it matches exactly the molecular structure of the hormone that your own body produces," she said. "[Synthetic hormones are] made from horse urine and are natural for a horse, but they're synthetic for a human body. … It has completely different effects, [but] many women do well on these."

When I reported back to Dr. Husband, he snorted and roared some more. "They used to be made of horse urine. That's ridiculous. Originally, insulin came from pig urine. If you were diabetic would you refuse to take it?!"

Stop and think about it. There are no hormones that come from outside of your unique self that would not be synthetic to your body. Molecular identical or not, hormones from any source outside of you will be synthetic.

I'm not saying anything about conventional HRT therapy or bioidentical hormones. All I'm sayin is be aware and educated about who is telling you what so you can make informed decisions. Whatever you choose to do, listen to your body - listen to your heart.