“These Are Not Your Mother’s Hormones”
i.e. - Synthetic Hormones Are Very Different from Natural Hormones.
by James Biddle M.D.

After a recent article in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) proved the dangers of conventional synthetic hormones, dozens of my patients stopped their natural hormones.  Within three weeks, many of them suffered menopausal symptoms, including hot flashes, sleep disruption, mood problems, and sexual dysfunction. It is clear that the public, the press, and the medical establishment have yet to grasp the very important difference between synthetic alien hormones and natural “bio-identical” hormones.

Simply put, natural hormones are molecules that human bodies both create and recognize as native, while conventional hormones are molecules that are alien to our bodies, so they do not interact with us the same as our own native hormones.

The hormones studied in JAMA were Premarin, a horse estrogen, and PremPro, which is a combination of Premarin and Provera (medroxyprogesterone), a synthetic progestin.  The Women's Health Initiative study, called WHI, was halted early because the women on hormones had more breast cancer and heart disease than those on placebo. (1)

This comes as no surprise to thousands of holistic physicians and compounding pharmacists who have spent years proclaiming the dangers of alien hormones.  Several prior studies have already hinted at these dangers.

The real surprise is the general lack of knowledge that natural hormones are readily available.  Unfortunately, these natural hormones are not patentable, so they have not been widely used.  Several studies suggest that these “bio-identical” natural hormones can treat menopausal symptoms without raising the risks of breast cancer or heart disease.  (2)

For example, a 1989 article in the journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology showed that natural hormones had a beneficial effect upon cholesterol levels while synthetic hormones, such as PremPro, had an adverse effect.  This hints that natural hormones may have a beneficial effect upon heart disease risk.  (3)

In addition, a 1995 article in the journal of Fertility and Sterility showed that natural progesterone prevented breast cell proliferation, thus decreasing the tendency for human breast cells to become cancerous.  Synthetic progestins, such as Provera, have not shown this advantage.  (4)

In understanding breast cancer risk, we must realize that all women have a balance of hormones.  Specifically, there is a balance between strong estrogens and weak estrogens, as well as between total estrogens and progesterone.  After menopause and during obesity, more women get breast cancer.  Also after menopause and during obesity, women get imbalanced hormones, with deficiencies of progesterone and weak estrogens relative to the strong estrogens. (5)

These hormonal imbalances, with less weak estrogens and progesterone than strong estrogens, are well known to increase breast cancer risk.  These imbalances are not corrected by giving alien horse estrogens or synthetic progestins, but may be reversed by giving natural progesterone and bio-identical estrogens. 

Therefore, although the study has not yet been done, it is plausible that natural hormones may theoretically decrease the risks of heart disease and breast cancer.  They have certainly been shown to conserve bone density and control menopausal symptoms effectively without the usual side effects of fluid retention, breast tenderness, weight gain, and depression.  (6)

Trucks that run on gasoline and trucks that run on diesel fuel look very similar to me, but I suspect it is tragic to put in the wrong fuel mix.  The exact shapes of molecules are very important.  Likewise, only hormones that are exactly identical to human hormones should be put into humans, or else they are doomed to gum up the works.

1.  Women's Health Initiative Investigators. JAMA 2002;288:321-333.

2.  Jensen J et al. Long-term effects of percutaneous estrogens and oral progesterone on serum lipoproteins in postmenopausal women.  Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1987;156:66-71.

3.  Hargrove JT et al. Menopausal Hormone Replacement Therapy with Continuous Daily Oral Micronized Estradiol and Progesterone. Obstetrics and Gynecology 1989;73:606-612.

4.  Chang KY et al. Influences of percutaneous administration of estradiol and progesterone on human breast epithelial cell cycle in vivo. Fertility and Sterility 1995;63:785-79.)

5.  Lemon HM et al. Reduced estriol excretion in patients with breast cancer prior to endocrine therapy. JAMA 1966; 196(13):112-120.   Follingstad AH. Estriol, the forgotten estrogen? JAMA 1978;239(1):29-30).

6.  Maxson WS et al.  Bioavailability of oral micronized progesterone.  Fertility and Sterility 1985;44:622-626.