Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy

Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) is an alternative to conventional hormone therapies, which various crackpots promote like some sort of magic health fairy.

BHRT prescribes hormones like progesterone, testosterone, estradiol, and estrogen for when the human body doesn't produce enough — just like normal hormone replacement therapy. The difference is that BHRT uses "natural" hormones which are extracted from plants (like yam and soy) via complex chemical processing in a laboratory — as opposed to "conventional" hormones, which are extracted from animals via complex chemical processing in a laboratory.

"Bioidentical" supposedly refers to the hormones being "chemically identical" to those made by the human body itself. This is a bullshit claim, because no one has actually analyzed their chemical structure. BHRT proponents pulled it straight out of their asses, and it's repeated over and over by its promoters and, unfortunately, also by skeptics of BHRT. (Presumably "plant-derived" or "yam-based" just wasn't as marketable.)

Health claims
At first glance, BHRT's appeal is a simple "It's natural and therefore better!" argument. Advocates will probably mention that it's made from yams.

A second glance shows an incredible array of health claims being made about it. BHRT is claimed to prevent cardiovascular diseases,  treat osteoporosis (better than proven treatments!),   prevent Alzheimer's disease and eliminate depression,  prevent diabetes, reverse aging,   and prevent breast cancer.

In classic alternative-medicine-promoting fashion, BHRT advocates often mention how the therapy is tailored for each customer, while dismissing conventional therapy as "one-size-fits-all".

BHRT proponents seem to target middle-aged people — the sort of people who might be looking to alleviate symptoms of menopause or adrenopause, and are wondering if hormone therapy might help. It's noteworthy how the health claims made by BHRT proponents — revolving around breast cancer, osteoporosis, Alzheimers, heart disease, and general aging — line up perfectly with the sort of health problems middle-aged people are most concerned about, despite there being zero evidence BHRT helps with any of those things.

The truth
None of the major claims about BHRT are true. There is no evidence demonstrating that BHRT is more effective than conventional treatments. The human body can't even tell the difference between the therapies, meaning BHRT has the same side-effects and risks as conventional therapy anyways.

Furthermore, quality control and dosage are major concerns; because BHRT is unregulated, no one knows exactly what chemicals, and how much of them, are contained in a given treatment. This is made worse by the fact that BHRT is prescribed based on saliva tests, which are completely useless.

Some BHRT businesses market their treatments in topical cream form. These are especially dubious; topical hormone creams do nothing and are basically placebos.

In 2008, the FDA issued warnings to several pharmacies for making "false and misleading" health claims — the same health claims mentioned earlier on this page. The FDA also notes that "bioidentical hormone replacement therapy" is a marketing term with no actual scientific or medical meaning.

Even private health insurers disregard BHRT.

Cost of BHRT
BHRT is expensive and, because it's an unproven treatment, rarely covered by health insurers. Various BHRT clinics offer price quotes with annual costs of $1660, $2000, $2400, even way up at $4200 per year. BHRT is hardly the cheap option.

Notable proponents
Unlike with other alternative medicines, many BHRT advocates are actual medical doctors. Far from being a positive thing, this is actually pretty shameful because so many of them sell their own branded hormone treatments to patients — this is a clear conflict of interest, which practicing medical doctors are supposed to avoid.

Dr. Prudence Hall, a California physician, is one such doctor. In 2011 she was interviewed by Dr. Oz on Oprah about BHRT. In addition to BHRT, her clinic also offers such services as the "Purity Cleanse" and the "Purity Cleanse Plus". And of course, she sells her own brand of supplements.

Suzanne Somers may not be a doctor but she is a full-blown snake-oil saleswoman and a huge proponent of BHRT. She wrote an entire book promoting BHRT as an anti-aging miracle, Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones. She's also a spokesperson for foreverhealth.com, a website that sells supplements and connects patients with doctors who offer BHRT, in addition to being frequently promoted by fellow crackpot medical businesses like Life Extension.