A Brief History of Bioidentical Hormone Therapy

Bioidentical hormone therapy has been used for thousands of years. Methods have changed a lot over time, and the use of hormones treatment is much safer and effective today. But in case you\’re wondering how bioidentical hormone therapy has been used and change over time, this article is going to delve into the past uses of hormone therapy.

The first recorded use of bioidentical hormones dates back to Ancient China. Aging female nobility often ingested dried young women\’s urine to curb the effects of menopause. Since young women\’s urine contains the metabolic waste products of testosterone, progesterone, and estrogen, older women routinely used this urine as anti aging treatments throughout history.

The 1940s provided research and development of synthetic and equine hormones that has lead to the basis for most modern hormone replacement therapy (HRT) methods. During this time, the only way to avoid them being destroyed by the digestive tract was to administer them intramuscularly in a painful oil-based injection.

Oral conjugated equine estrogens (CEEs) were the first non-bioidentical hormones and helped make estrogen-only replacement therapy popular. Unfortunately, ERT was found to be associated with endometrial cancer in the 1970s.

In the 1980s, a synthetic non-human form of progesterone, called progestin, was developed to balance the non-bioidentical estrogens in HRT.

Micronized \”human\” progesterone was approved by the FDA in 1998. The active component is bioidentical to endogenous progesterone. Micronization of BHRT allows it to be released slowly and readily absorbed by several routes, very differently from the previous painful injections.

Today, many women don\’t take any form of HRT and experience the negative impacts of menopause. This is despite the documented benefits of HRT. Instead, female baby boomers are choosing to use non-bioidentical HRT options and are experiencing unwanted medication side effects and incomplete symptom relief.

Women can respond uniquely to HRT. Those who take traditional HRT experience hormones that bind more firmly to receptor sites than endogenous hormones. The chemical structures of non-bioidentical hormones and human-produced hormones are very different, giving the user different side effects.

Despite the pain and ineffectiveness of past methods, HRT is widely used today. Women who have had hysterectomies or experience peri-menopausal symptoms that affect their quality of life are often great candidates for bioidentical hormone therapy. BHRT is an individualized, well-tolerated method that can provide symptom reversal in most users.