Resources
There is a lot of misinformation about bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) on the Internet. Please see below peer-reviewed articles about the effectiveness and safety of BHRT.
The North American Menopause Society provides a report/summary of the KEEPS Study (Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study) which demonstrates the safety of estrogen and progesterone as well as its positive effects on symptoms of menopause as well as bone density
The New England Journal of Medicine provides open access to a paper entitled Vascular effects of early versus late postmenopausal treatment with estradiol (2016). In this paper, the authors demonstrate that early introduction (within 6 years of menopause) of oral estradiol (along with progesterone), positively impacts cardiovascular health through slowing the progression of carotid-artery-intima-media thickness.
The New England Journal of Medicine open access to the paper Hormone therapy and the profession of coronary-artery atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women (2003) offers the opportunity to understand the role that 17B estradiol can play in reducing atherosclerosis progression in women at menopause.
HRT, when prescribed with a thorough medical history and by a regulated provider with training is safe and can significantly positively impact a woman’s quality of life and decrease the risk of bone loss, cardiovascular disease, and possibly even dementia.