Bio-identical Hormone Therapy (BHRT) 

For Information Only

The information contained in this site and it's documents are intended to be general and not intended to help in the diagnosis and the prescribing of hormone therapies.  Should you consider hormone replacement therapy for yourself, contact your physician or a pharmacist familiar with bio-identical hormone replacement therapy.  There is no substitute for one-on-one counselling and the prescribing that results from this is designed for you and only you.  

The table below summarizes just some of the products that are available when prescribed by your physician.  If you are interested in finding out more, please review the document BHRT Handout which contains a listing of some recommended reading.  In addition, if you visit our Books page, additional reading suggestions will be listed.    

To show how times are changing, this information was originally posted in 1999 when Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy (NHRT) first made the scene in Canada.   Since that time we have refined our references to the application of such therapy.  We continually refer to "bio-identical hormones" that are used in this type of therapy.  This refers to the concept that the supplementation must be done using hormones that are "identical to our own" or "bio-identical" (chemists might call this iso-molecular) or "physiologically identical".   All the semantic effort is to underline the importance of using hormones that are exactly the same as those that nature herself uses within the female human physiology.   Such as this is, many practitioners now refer to this type of therapy as "Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapy" or "BHRT".    Please accept this as synonymous with the original term, Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy. 

Bio-identical  Hormone Replacement Therapy Product Summary

(For Health Practitioner Reference)³

This list is not comprehensive, as many of the preparations we are compounding is done only after consultation with physician and patient. 

*  The PLO gel is a lecithin pluronic organogel. 

**  Versabase Cream is specially to ensure consistent and effective systemic absorption of the bio-identical progesterone from the cream base.   This base represents a refinement of previous bases, improving one again, the cosmetic properties of the base.   A non-greasy, readily absorbed cream base that effectively functions as a transdermal vehicle. 

 ¹ Oral capsule formulations may represent immediate release, sustained release or delayed release characteristics, depending on the nature of the active ingredients.   Oral hormone supplementation is subject to first pass liver metabolism such that it is usually preferable to use a delayed release formulation that allows for the absorption of hormones in the small intestine rather than the stomach or duodenum. 

² Van Pen Cream is cosmetically a slightly more attractive version of the PLO gel.  Although it is still considered a transdermal base, it is not quite as effective as is PLO gel when compared side by side. 

³ All of these products require a prescription from a healthcare practitioner - in Alberta, only a medical doctor can prescribe these products.

Many of the above combinations can be altered to fit the needs of the patient.  The advantage of the custom compounding approach is that the combinations are all quite flexible - within the dosing ranges generally accepted as safe and effective.   The single entity formulations as well as the various combination products require a prescription from a physician.  

Our Pharmacists are trained to prepare any formulation needed and will discuss appropriate formulations with the physician.  We build on our technical expertise using our combined experience to help create the best "fit" product for the patient and the therapeutic challenge.    The patient-physician relationship is the most important ingredient of this approach to hormone replacement therapy.  Since no one product products the same benefits from patient to patient, it is most important to carefully work through each patient's hormone requirements.  This is done by a combination of thorough patient interview and history, with a certain amount of trial and error use of bio-identical hormones.  

Oral BHRT Formulations

Combinations