Recently, while searching around on the Internet for a list of FDA approved bioidentical hormones for one of my readers, I ran across an article at The Huffington Post written by a fellow women’s health writer and advocate, Staness Jonekos, entitled “10 Hormone Therapy Facts that Every Woman Should Know.“
I have had the good pleasure of meeting Staness during a short trip to NYC last fall. I’ve also had an online relationship with her for a few years now. She is a sweet and wonderful woman who, like me, is very passionate about women’s health issues. So when I ran across her article I naturally stopped to read it.
It was a good article, written and published in 2010, with some well researched information on hormone replacement therapy. Much of what Staness had to say I agreed with. However, there was some of it I did not. But, it was the comments in response to the article which I actually found to be the most compelling. Not only were they impassioned, but some were just downright hostile.
So what was it exactly in Staness’ article which set off such a comment section firestorm? She challenged the credibility of Suzanne Somers’ work, and the safety of compounded bioidentical hormones based on her negative personal experience with them. According to her article, compounded bioidentical hormones are not FDA regulated, therefore they are unsafe and shouldn’t be taken.
She also quoted several “reputable” medical organizations like NAMS (The North American Menopause Society) and The Endocrine Society to bolster her position.
Now look, I’m not a Suzanne Somers devotee. Truth be told, I’ve never even read any of her books. So I’m not going to jump to her defense. I’m also not going to call into question Staness’ personalexperience with compounded bioidentical hormones. I believe Staness (and every woman) owns the copyrights to her personal experience, and I’m not going to tell her it is false.
What I have a problem with, however, is what I always have a problem with. Statements which draw hard lines and which also presume to own all of the science and facts to back-up a specific position. This attitude, which pervaded most of Staness’ article, seemed to be what upset so many people, several of them medical professionals and physicians themselves. If you would like to read the article yourself, you can find it here.
Here’s A “Fact” for You
There are equally credible, competent, and highly educated physicians and medical professionals on both sides of every medical debate. Why do you think they’re called “debates?” For every medical study that is used to support a particular medical position, there is another medical study which can be used to support an opposite position.
So while I respect the science and medical facts that Staness used to make her case, I have to disagree with her over-arching point, that unless something is FDA approved, it is not safe and therefore should not be taken.
Critics of compounded bioidentical hormones and alternative remedies for perimenopause symptoms, often point to the fact that they are not FDA approved or regulated, which is true – sort of. Most bioidentical hormones are not FDA approved, and therefore, are not regulated by a federal government regulatory agency.
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