Re: Are Bioidentical Hormones Safer Than Conventional Estrogen Therapy?

July 13, 2007

I understand your concerns and agree with you to a certain extent about the literature about how it can be "interpreted" in different ways and manipulated into a "particular" result. I do NOT believe there is a conspiracy in the literature to thwart women from getting good healthcare or good pharmaceuticals or neutraceuticals. However, my own opinion after 28 yrs in practice and having a partner who is "trained" in traditional Ob/Gyn as well as "natural" medicines is that the difference between synthetic and "bioidentical" is one of semantics. There are no known naturally occurring substances that yield estrogen (estrone, estradiol or estrio) or progesterone (not Mexican yams) and thus these chemical steroids must be "compounded" or synthesized from something. If they are compounded or synthesized from a natural plant or herb that yields the chemical identical to what the human body produces they are called bioidentical and if they are synthesized from chemical compounds in the chem lab they are synthetic.

Regardless of the source, they are digested and metabolized into usuable compounds in the human body as estradiol which is the most bioactive. Hence, I think estrogen is estrogen and has the same potential risks regardless of source. Just my opinion. Thank you for listening. L Ruppersberger, DO FACOOG

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Are Bioidentical Hormones Safer ThanConventional Estrogen Therapy?

New Rochelle, NY, July 12, 2007 - A comprehensive new review of evidence-based medicine questions the recent claims that bioidentical hormones are any safer or more effective than conventional hormone replacement therapy used to treat menopausal symptoms, according to a report published in the June 2007 issue (Vol. 16, No. 5) of Journal of Women’s Health a peer-reviewed journal published by Ann Liebert, Inc. ( www.liebertpub.com). This report is fully available free online at www.liebertpub.com/jwh.

The findings of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) led many women to stop using traditional hormone therapy and to search for alternative approaches to ease the symptoms associated with menopause. This has led to an increased use of compounded formulations of hormone called bioidentical therapies, with the presumption of decreased risk.

Cirigliano, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, in Philadelphia, based on an extensive review of the medical literature entitled, “Bioidentical Hormone Therapy: A Review of the Evidence,” determined that compounded bioidentical hormone therapies prepared by pharmacies may be even less preferable than conventional hormone treatments because they have not been subjected to the rigorous clinical studies that form the foundation for evidence-based medicine and medical decision-making.

Bioidentical hormone therapy includes numerous formulations, including those produced synthetically as well as those derived from plants or animals and combined and prepared in specific doses by compounding pharmacies. Dr. Cirigliano states that, although “bioidentical hormones are structurally identical to endogenous hormones,” that “does not make them more effective or safer.” His findings show that “scientific uncertainties associated with compounded bioidentical hormone therapies make their use less preferable to conventional hormone therapy, since conventional hormone therapies have been and continue to be assessed by clinical trials regarding both benefits and risks.”

“This important in-depth review of the data helps to address the complexities of the bioidentical hormone therapy controversy and provides a rational, science based approach to the issues, which must be considered fully in weighing potential benefits,” says Deputy Editor Klein, M.D., Senior DeputyDirector of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health, in Richmond, VA.

Journal of Women’s Health is an authoritative, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal published ten times a year. Under Editor-In-Chief G. Kornstein, M.D., and Deputy Editor S. Klein, M.D., of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health, Richmond, VA, the journal publishes clinical and research papers on health issues affecting women across the lifespan and on gender differences in health, disease, and response to treatment.

Ann Liebert, Inc., is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of medical and biomedical research, including Obesity Management, Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics, and Thyroid. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 60 journals and books is available at www.liebertpub.com.

Ann Liebert, Inc.140 Huguenot St., New Rochelle, NY 10801www.liebertpub.com Phone (800) M-LIEBERT Fax

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July 14, 2007

Let us return to the message I submitted recently about the changes that are occurring in some forms of aquatic life due to the synthetic female hormones excreted in urine. These synthetics are formulated not to break down. That's why they show up in the sewer water. So there is a difference.

Kippley

Are Bioidentical Hormones Safer Than Conventional Estrogen Therapy?