ARE PLANT-BASED HORMONES THE ANSWER?

BIOIDENTICAL hormones are plant-based and promoted as a more natural, gentler form of HRT. Derived from plants such as Mexican yams, they have the same structure as the hormones made naturally in the body and, like conventional HRT, combat the menopause by raising levels of oestrogen.

They are available only privately, costing around £350 for a year’s supply, and preparations are custom-mixed for individual patients, based on the results of a blood or saliva test. They can be given as a lozenge, patch, cream or vaginal gel. Advocates say the fact they are chemically identical to human hormones means they are safer than conventional HRT and have fewer side-effects. However, doctors warn they are unregulated and so do not have to undergo the same level of testing.

The NHS does not recommend bioidentical hormones, saying it is unclear how safe or effective they are, and the British Menopause Society has warned they are prescribed by ‘clinicians who usually do not have any recognised menopause training’.

Meanwhile, critics query how natural these hormones really are, since they are processed in laboratories so they match human ones. Exempt from NHS supply chain pressures, which are affecting its stocks of HRT, bioidentical hormones are still available — but Dr Heather Currie, an obstetrician, advises against switching.

‘The HRT we prescribe has been fully tested and we know the doses of the hormones it contains — people don’t necessarily know what they are getting with [custom-mixed bioidentical] preparations,’ she says.