S3 Ep164: Is Bioidentical Always Best?

Dr. Streicher’s Inside Information: Menopause, Midlife, and More

Many, if not most women and clinicians believe that bioidentical estrogen is always best when it comes to post menopause hormone therapy. This comes from the premise that bio-identical estrogen is completely natural and therefore safer and more effective than other forms of estrogen. Except that is not necessarily true.
In this myth-busting episode, I discuss:

• Why words and terms need to have precise meanings
• The difference between HT, HRT and MHT
• The three general categories of estrogen
• Synthesized
• Conjugated
• Bioidentical
• How the term bioidentical came to be
• Four myths about bioidentical estrogen

Bioidentical estrogen is completely natural
Bioidentical estrogen is safer than other forms of estrogen
Bioidentical estrogen is more effective than other forms of estrogen
Bioidentical estrogen is less likely to cause breast cancer than other forms of estrogen.
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Lauren Streicher, MD is a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, and the founding medical director of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine and Menopause and a Senior Research Fellow of The Kinsey Institute, Indiana University. She is a certified menopause practitioner of The Menopause Society. She is the Medical Director of Community Education and Outreach for Midi Health.
Dr. Streicher is the medical correspondent for Chicago’s top-rated news program, the WGN Morning News, and has been seen on The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, NPR, Dr. Radio, Nightline, Fox and Friends, The Steve Harvey Show, CBS This Morning, ABC News Now, NBCNightlyNews,20/20, and World News Tonight. She is an expert source for many magazines and serves on the medical advisory board of The Kinsey Institute, Self Magazine, and Prevention Magazine. She writes a regular column for The Ethel by AARP and Prevention Magazine.

• DrStreicher.com
• Instagram @DrStreich
• Facebook @DrStreicher
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Books by Lauren Streicher, MD

• Slip Sliding Away: Turning Back the Clock on Your Vagina-A gynecologist’s guide to eliminating post-menopause dryness and pain
  
• Hot Flash Hell: A Gynecologist's Guide to Turning Down the Heat
  
  
• Sex Rx- Hormones, Health, and Your Best Sex Ever
  
  
• The Essential Guide to Hysterectomy
  
  

To Find a Menopause Clinician

Midi Health www.Joinmidi.com
Midi Health is a telehealth company that provides high-level menopause care and takes insurance in all 50 states. Dr. Streicher is Midi’s Medical Director of Education and Community Outreach and is familiar with their medical protocols, which are all regularly updated and set by the top academic menopause experts in the country.
The Menopause Society- Certified Menopause Practitioner List Menopause.org

• To find a menopause practitioner: https://portal.menopause.org/NAMS/NAMS/Directory/Menopause-Practitioner.aspx
• Put in your zip code and designate NCMP or CMSP to get a certified menopause practitioner. While all people on this list have passed a competency examination, Dr. Streicher does not vouch for every one of these clinicians. Most are excellent.
  

Major Medical Centers
It also may be helpful to check with major medical centers in your area. Many have menopause clinics or lists of doctors who have an interest and expertise in menopause.
If you are in the Chicago area, the center founded by Dr. Streicher:
The Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine and Menopause Sexmedmenopause.nm.org
Dr. Streicher’s Inside Information podcast is for education and information and is not intended to replace medical advice from your healthcare clinician. Dr. Streicher disclaims liability for any medical outcomes that may occur because of applying methods suggested or discussed in this podcast.