January 2009 · Vol. 21, No. 01“Bioidentical” hormones: What you (and your patient) need to know
Here’s the skinny on compounded “bioidentical” hormone therapy—popular among women but absolutely data-free
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Fast Track
It’s a false claim that all bio identical hormones are bioengineered to contain the same chemical structure as natural female sex hormones
Women who use compounded hormones do not receive the black box warnings that appear on FDA-approved estrogen therapy
There is no scientific evidence that a correlation exists between a patient’s symptoms and salivary hormones, or that salivary hormone testing yields information about what is happening at the tissue level
A potential conflict of interest is present when the practitioner who prescribes bioidentical hormones also happens to sell them
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JoAnn
V.
Pinkerton,
MD
Dr. Pinkerton is Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Director of The Women’s Place Midlife Health Center at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, Va.
She serves on the OBG Management Board of Editors.
Within the past 48 months, Dr. Pinkerton has conducted multicenter research for Solvay and Wyeth and consulted for Boehringer Ingelheim, Amgen, Wyeth, Novo Novartis, and Eli Lilly (fees to University of Virginia).
OBG Management Senior Editor Janelle Yates contributed to this article.
Hear Dr. Pinkerton discuss this article
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