What Is the FDA?
The FDA is an acronym for The Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. organization in charge of regulating food, drinks, medication, such as bioidentical hormones, and other products for consumption. Since many of the pharmacies that issue bioidentical treatments are only found online, the FDA must carefully regulate which of these pharmacies are offering genuine treatments. It is important for women to know everything about bioidentical hormones before seeking this treatment, so keep reading to learn more about bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT).
What Are Bioidentical Hormones?
Bioidentical hormones are a form of hormone therapy, created from plant extracts, which are identical to the hormones naturally produced in the body. They can be customized and tailored to the exact requirements of the patient, which is seen to be healthier than conventional hormone replacement therapy. This is because conventional hormone therapy attempts to duplicate women's hormones in their aged state, while bioidentical hormone therapy attempts to match hormones to a state before women entered their menopausal stage of life.
FDA and Bioidentical Hormones: A History
In 2002, a study linked hormone replacement therapy (HRT) with increasing incidents of breast cancer and other serious health risks. After this discovery was made, other options were also made the object of investigations by the FDA, bioidentical treatments being one of them.
Many of the pharmacies that sell FDA approved bioidentical treatments are legitimate practitioners, but there were smaller details which the FDA bioidentical watchdogs disagreed with the pharmacies about. A small number of the bioidentical pharmacies investigated were charged by the FDA with giving misleading or false claims about some of their custom-made drugs. In addition to this, these drugs used estriol, a weaker form of estrogen which does not have FDA approval.
The Benefits and Risks of Bioidentical Hormone Therapy
As with any health treatment, bioidentical hormones come with benefits and risks. The benefits of FDA-approved bioidentical hormone therapy stem from the nature of their creation. They are created at a molecular level in order to be as close a match as possible for their patients.
On the other hand, since no conclusive study has yet been made, it can't be concluded that bioidentical hormones are any safer than synthetic hormone replacement therapy. However, bioidentical treatments have been thought to cause the same potential side effects as synthetically manufactured ones. To keep learning about bioidentical hormones, click on alternative menopause treatments.
