Dear Dr. Komaroff: I’ve been hearing a lot about “bioidentical hormones.” I’m curious about them because I’d like a better way to treat my menopause symptoms. Are bioidentical hormones any safer than synthetic ones?

Dear Reader: Women have good reason to be interested in a new treatment option. Conventional combined hormone therapy (estrogen and progesterone) raises the risk of blood clots and breast cancer and can raise the risk of heart disease, stroke and dementia in women older than 60 (or 10 years past menopause).

FDA-approved bioidentical hormones do exist. But supporters of bioidentical hormones usually are talking about a particular regimen called bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.

The process involves identifying “deficiencies” in a woman’s hormones. Then a mix of hormones is prescribed to correct the deficiencies. A compounding pharmacy fills the prescription using hormones from “natural” sources. This usually means they come from soy or Mexican yams.

The prescription includes estrogen and progesterone. But it also might include other hormones. Some possibilities are testosterone, dehydroe-piandrosterone and adrenal hormones.

Proponents of this say bioidentical hormones aren’t drugs because they are molecular copies of the hormones made by women’s bodies. They also say the only reason drug companies don’t invest in them is because the companies can’t patent natural substances and that the bioidentical hormones are safer than synthetic hormones.

None of these claims is true.

Until hormones from compounding pharmacies are tested by research, we don’t know if they’re safe. I suggest you stick with FDA-approved bioidentical hormones for now.