WATERLOO - Natural hormone therapy, a treatment used primarily to combat menopausal symptoms, has been steadily gaining popularity in the Cedar Valley, despite a recent warning from the FDA that its effects haven't been properly studied.

Proponents of the treatment, also called bioidentical hormone therapy, claim it offers better results with less serious side effects than conventional hormone replacement therapy, which is FDA-approved.

Conventional hormone replacement therapy was the subject of a comprehensive, long-term federal study, and the results scared many women away: In a much-publicized 2002 report, called the Women's Health Initiative, scientists reported they stopped a long-term study of the drug Prempro because too many women were getting sick with breast cancer and heart disease.

It was around this time when natural hormone therapy started gaining public support. The idea behind the treatment is to create balance by using hormones that are chemically altered to be identical to ones the body naturally produces.

Both types of hormone therapy are actually derived from naturally occurring sources - bioidentical hormone therapy from soy or yams, and conventional therapy from a pregnant horse's urine.

Dr. Jennifer Clayton, a pharmacist at Professional Compounding Center of Iowa in Greenwood Pharmacy, said the side effects of natural hormone replacement therapy are generally mild, and include drowsiness, bloating and dizziness. While she said it's a safer approach to hormone therapy, dangers exist with any drug.

"There is nothing that is ever completely safe whenever you alter the body's chemistry in any way," she said. "There is potential for problems if it is not done correctly."

Dr. Traci Skierka said she recommends the treatment after seeing good results in her patients and in herself. After a hysterectomy four years ago, Skierka's hormone imbalance left her moody, tired and feeling sad - all common symptoms of menopause.

Women who use the treatment, she said, have generally tried everything else and are at their wit's end.

"I think women are realizing that their depression is not being fixed by an antidepressant, and their sleep isn't going to be fixed by sleeping pills. They're tired of being told it will get better, or that it's in their head," she said.

Unlike conventional hormone therapy, which was found to be unsafe for long-term use, women on natural hormone therapy can expect to stay on it, because it is used like a maintenance drug.

Therein lies the danger, said Dr. Paul Franke, vice president of medical affairs for Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare. Because there have been no long-term clinical trials studying the effects of the treatment, Franke said doctors and their patients should view the treatment with skepticism. Not only that, but it's impossible to ascertain how much of the drug's effectiveness is due to placebo effect.

"I can say fairly conclusively, credible studies don't support the use of soy-based products as an effective alternative for hormone replacement therapy," he said.

If a woman came to him with menopausal symptoms, Franke said he would instead try a combination of changes in diet, sleep and stress level with short-term use of conventional hormone replacement therapy.

Contact Jens Manuel Krogstad at (319) 291-1580 or jens.krogstad@wcfcourier.com.