What is “bioidentical” hormone therapy?
This term means different things to different people. It’s really manmade hormones that are just the same as the hormones the body makes. There are several products with hormones like this that are on the market and are well-tested. But this term is most often used to mean drugs that are custom-made from a doctor’s order. These custom-made products are also known as bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT). Despite product claims, there is no proof that BHRT products are better or safer than MHT drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). BHRT also can be expensive as many insurance and prescription programs do not pay for these drugs because they are viewed as experimental.
Hormones decline as we age. Bioidentical hormone therapy (BHRT) serves to replace the hormones that your body needs to function; mainly estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, and cortisol. Dr. Maraio uses bioidentical hormones versus bio-similar or synthetic hormones. Bioidentical hormones are molecule-by-molecule, exactly the same as the hormones present in the human body. Synthetic hormones are intentionally different. Because drug companies cannot patent a bioidentical structure, they make synthetic hormones that are patentable. There are several branded versions now available for use in the kind of hormone replacement therapy (“HRT”) typical of synthetic hormones (Premarin, Prempro and Provera are common examples), however, these are generally a one-size-fits-all dosage regime unlike bioidentical hormones. And, they don’t work like BHRT. Although the field of anti-aging medicine has been around for many years many practitioners are not familiar with it and have not had specific trai
