Menopause remedies contain unknown risks

updated 12:19 p.m. ET Oct. 25, 2009

Editor's note: Ten years and $2.5 billion in research have found no cures from alternative medicine. Yet these mostly unproven treatments are now mainstream and used by more than a third of all Americans. This is one in an occasional series examining their use and potential risks.

Miserable in menopause, Elizabeth Alsgaard pondered an awful choice: Drenching hot flashes or hormone therapies that might raise the risk of cancer. What former actress Suzanne Somers raved about held much more appeal — custom-mixed "bioidentical" hormones, just like ones the body makes.

"Anything I can put into my body that's natural has to be better," said Alsgaard, a California audiologist who admitted having "no knowledge base to go on other than fear" when she took Somers' advice.

Millions of women have tried custom-compounded hormones or herbal supplements like black cohosh and red clover since 2002, when a big federal study found risks from traditional hormone replacement therapy, or HRT.

Alternative remedies are especially popular with upscale, educated women who like to research and find their own solutions to medical problems. They like the idea of personalized treatments versus off-the-shelf prescription drugs.

However, instead of a safer option, they are getting products of unknown risk that still contain the estrogen many of them fear, women's health experts say.

"Misinformation is rampant" about bioidenticals, said Dr. JoAnn Manson, preventive medicine chief at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "It really is buyer beware."

She and other experts explain:

• "Bioidentical" is a marketing term that has no accepted medical meaning. Its implied benefit is not unique to alternative remedies; many prescription drugs contain hormones that chemically match estrogens and progesterones made naturally by the body.
• Custom-compounded hormones are not approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration and have not been proved safe or effective. They may carry the same cancer and heart risks as traditional treatments and have had even less testing to find out.
• Hormone preparations do not need to be customized for each woman; a few standard doses work for almost everyone, medical experts say. The saliva tests that some women are given to tailor formulas are of dubious value because hormone levels fluctuate widely throughout the day.
• Compounding pharmacists use such different methods that a customized prescription can contain widely varying amounts of hormones depending on who fills it.
• Many compounders use estriol, a form of estrogen not approved for sale in the United States. The FDA is in a battle with compounding pharmacies over its use.

The bottom line?

"Women need to understand there's no rigorous evidence these preparations are any more effective or any safer than traditional hormone therapy. In fact, there's much less evidence for efficacy and very little research on long-term safety," said Manson, who has no industry ties and was a key researcher in the big federal study that warned women in 2002 of the health risks from long-term hormone use.

Quack medicine?
For years, medical groups have warned against custom-compounded hormones. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has denounced claims about their safety. The American Medical Association has urged more FDA oversight. The Federal Trade Commission has filed complaints against online sellers who made health claims for natural progesterone creams without supporting evidence.

In 2001, the government tested 29 products from compounding pharmacies and found that one-third did not meet standard quality benchmarks, including potency problems, Manson writes in her book, "Hot Flashes, Hormones and Your Health."

That has not stopped their popularity, and Somers has promoted them in several best-selling books and on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" earlier this year.

"I laugh when they call me a quack," said Somers, who rubs hormones on her arms, injects them vaginally and takes some 60 supplement pills each day. In a phone interview, Somers said she is not trying to play doctor but to share with women what worked for her.

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