The Truth About Bioidentical Hormones, Does the Risk Outweigh the Benefit?

Suzanne Somers starts her day injecting herself with growth hormone (IGF1). It is quite true that growth hormone levels decline with age. Indeed, growth hormone injections are a centerpiece of the strategy promoted by "anti-aging" clinics. Promotional hype by these clinics often involves an advertisement of an older person looking much fitter and younger than typical for their age. It is an extremely high-risk protocol, as the use of IGF1 is clearly linked to an increased risk of diabetes, potential fueling of cancer development and progression, cancer mortality, and breast cancer - a far cry from anything to do with anti-aging.

The simplistic idea of replacing something that is apparently missing makes sense to many people, especially when a lab test can show that the hormone levels are lower than a younger person's or when taking the hormone suppresses a symptom. And that is where the simplicity ends - and the risks begin to elevate.

In a JAMA study of 57 women and 74 men, ages 65 to 88, IGF1 was given over a 26-week period. While body fat declined during the study there were only marginal increases in strength - indicating the IGF1 was not performing normally (not binding to the ideal receptors). Indeed, there was a dramatic increase in insulin resistance and diabetes in this relatively short period of time. By definition, this means that a critically important fat hormone called adiponectin had to be declining in response to the IGF1, as this invariably occurs when insulin resistance sets in. Low adiponectin is now associated with the invasiveness of breast cancer.

Any woman taking bioidentical hormones at a level higher than her body naturally produces is simply asking for trouble, and is far from natural. By improving your health you can naturally support the ability of your glands to make hormones, and you can get hormone receptors working in a naturally healthier way. Byron J. Richards is an independent journalist, health author, and clinical nutritionist who has researched hormones and health for over 25 years. He cuts through the confusion of bioidentical hormone truths and myths and provides women with valuable information in his article dated June 24, 2009: Oprah's "Crazy Talk" - Bioidentical Hormones - Helpful or Harmful? (Part 2).