For anyone who has closely followed medical science as it relates to anti-aging and in particular hormone replacement therapy, this is a pretty big deal.
Doctors who'd never read anything other than the JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) many times tote the party line, even at times ridiculing other doctors who've conducted their own research - either by reading the results of clinical trials or, as is the case here - serving as lead researcher for the clinical trial. The irony is that the joke's on them. New research into Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) showed it to be at least as effective while carrying fewer risks than their synthetic counterparts.
In Louisiana, doctors have been threatened to have their licenses revoked for nothing more than adherence to the Hippocratic Oath as it relates to HRT vs. BHRT. Say a physician educates him or herself by reading whatever data exists from studies comparing the results of the two different forms of hormones being administered to people who are as demographically similar as possible and with whom the pre-trial screening process doesn't remove them as candidates because of past health history or an existing condition.
Well the results of this research validated all the doctors who knew that bioidentical hormone replacement therapy was superior to synthetic HRT in that it was at a minimum, as effective as the synthetic drugs (an argument can be made in favor of BHRT being more effective for symptom relief, but that's for another study to determine conclusively). The most significant difference between synthetic HRT and bioidentical HRT is that women who took synthetic HRT were far more likely to develop breast, cervical, ovarian cancer (among others), as well as heart disease and a number of other health maladies resulting from excessive levels of a certain form of estrogen called estradiol.
In the video, Dr. Egan makes mention that too much estrogen is bad period. This applies to men and women alike. Too much estrogen can lead to too many bad things happening, with many of them being potentially fatal.
Bioidentical hormones are identical from a molecular standpoint to what is naturally produced within the human body (endogenous hormones), whereas non-bioidentical hormones more closely resemble those of bovine or equestrian creatures.
For years some mistaken doctors and the pharmaceutical industry have tried to male a mockery out of any doctor who dared even say the words bioidentical hormones. There was a very cohesive effort by those profiting from drugs that have the potential to be lethal when there was an alternative product that had all the benefits but none of the risks. Intelligent people at this point would have at least investigated what was known about the two forms of hormone replacement therapy. And to a degree they have. Over the past half-decade or so this author has noticed a sharp decline in physicians badmouthing other physicians over this very issue, as most everyone realized that sooner or later someone was going to study this topic, and there was a very good chance that the form that doctors who'd prescribe it in years past and be ridiculed would soon be vindicated, and science pretty universally trumps opinion, particularly when there is monetary interest involved by the opinion-makers.
This research will put a definitive end to any remaining doubters that bioidentical HRT is far less risky than synthetic HRT. No amount of being snide or smug toward those who do what is in their patients' best interest is going to change the fact that one group of doctors who handled itself professionally has now been proven right over a divide with another group that was not as professional when discussing the issue at conferences or among their peers.