BellaFem: Fulla False Claims

For years, pharmaceutical companies misled women into believing that taking hormones would protect their health. Misleading menopause-related websites may cause women to develop the same false assumptions about natural hormones.

For instance, www.premier-pharmacy.com is the website for a compounding pharmacy that sells BellaFem® hormones. Available by prescription only, BellaFem is made up of so-called bio-identical “natural hormones” that are supposedly a safer alternative to conventional hormone therapy. The site makes a number of false claims, including that BellaFem® hormones protect against breast cancer, endometrial cancer and heart disease.

Marketing language from the website: “Because BellaFem® hormones are identical in molecular structure to those made within the body, they do not cause unwanted side effects, nor are they associated with the long term risks caused by synthetic hormones.”

Also from the website: “When our bodies no longer produce our hormones in adequate amounts to maintain good health, we should restore our faltering hormone levels with the same biologically identical hormones that our bodies currently make.”

No hormone has been proven to be completely safe. All of the research done so far shows that natural hormones carry the same risks (including increased risk of breast and endometrial cancer) as synthetic hormones. Research has shown that natural hormones are beneficial only for the treatment of hot flashes and vaginal dryness. There is no evidence that favors replacing hormone levels in order to maintain good health as we age.

For more on this topic, see Adriane Fugh-Berman’s commentary in “Prescription for Change,” September/October 2004 Women’s Health Activist.