Prempro

Through the Cracks More recent studies have downplayed the heart disease risk, but in the meantime, anti-aging doctors have stepped in to fill the void, promoting natural, or "bio-identical," hormones as safe alternatives.

Critics take issue with these products for several reasons.

First, bio-identical hormones are made by so-called compounding pharmacists.

Historically, they have been permitted by law to customize medications for individual patients - for example, people who react adversely to certain ingredients.

But under FDA rules, they should not be manufacturing or selling drugs to a mass market.

To get into that business, they would have to submit to strict supervision of their facilities, the quality of their products, the claims on their labels, and the like.

Critics blast the FDA for letting too much activity slip through the cracks.

The second big complaint involves the very term "bio-identical." The hormones prescribed by anti-aging doctors are generally derived from plants such as soybeans and sweet potatoes, and combined into proprietary recipes, which may never be tested in human trials.

Anti-aging proponents say the substances are natural, safe alternatives to FDA-approved hormones such as Prem...

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