If you’re considering Bio-identical hormone therapy and Oprah’s shows on the topic left you more confused than ever,  tune into a free, live webinar, “The Buzz on Bioidenticals,” scheduled next week, on August 4th.  It will feature Dr. Elizabeth Lee Vliet, author of Women, Weight and Hormones: A Weight-Loss Plan for Women Over 35 and Karen Giblin, founder of Red Hot Mamas, a menopause education organization. There’s also a free companion magazine that you can download from their website.

You should be aware that both the webinar and the magazine are supported “by an educational grant” from Ascend Therapeutics, which makes EstroGel, an FDA appproved estrogen gel that competes with the Vivelle-Dot estrogen patch  as well as hormone products formulated by compounding pharmacies.  That explains the repetitive advice you’ll find throughout the magazine against using compounded hormone products (i.e. “you don’t need to go to a compounding pharmacy to obtain bioidentical hormone therapy” and  “there is no need to risk using a compounding pharmacy.”)

As I’ve written here before, the debate continues over the safety of bio-identical hormones, the reliability of saliva tests and the safety and consistency of compounding pharmacies.  It’s hard to evaluate claims when the information we receive is “sponsored” by an interested party.  All I can say is read and listen to everything, ask questions and know the source.