Marketing dressed up as medicine

Supplements

The FDA doesn't have the authority to approve for safety and effectiveness before they're sold. Supplement companies are responsible for making sure their products are safe.¹

A product that claims to treat, prevent, cure or ease the symptoms of a disease is legally a drug, not a supplement, and needs FDA approval.¹ That's why supplement labels use vaguer wording like "supports hormone health."

Supplements can also interact with medicines, interfere with lab tests, and cause problems during surgery. Talk to a clinician before starting one, and stop and get advice if you have a reaction.¹

Myth: Natural means safe.

"Natural" sounds gentle, and many of us were raised to trust herbal remedies. But natural products can still have strong effects and side effects. For menopause, ACOG notes that only a few herbal products have been studied, and because how they're made isn't regulated, there's no guarantee of what's in them or how much.²

"Hormone balancing"

Many products and programs promise to "balance your hormones." Hormones are supposed to rise and fall: that's how the menstrual cycle works. Some conditions involve real hormone problems, like PMOS or thyroid disease, and those need diagnosis and treatment from a clinician. Others, like PMDD, happen with normal hormone levels: the brain reacts differently to normal changes.³ A supplement that promises to "balance" hormones skips the step of finding out what's actually going on.

Most PMS products advertised to the public haven't been tested or proven to work, and ACOG advises talking to a clinician before taking any.⁴

At-home tests

Tests sold straight to consumers can be useful, but they're often marketed for more than they can do. A common example is , sold as a "fertility test." In a large study, women with low AMH were no more likely to have trouble getting pregnant naturally, and the researchers cautioned against using AMH to judge current fertility.⁵

Compounded "bioidentical" hormones

Custom-mixed hormones from compounding pharmacies are often marketed as safer or more natural. They aren't FDA-approved and don't have to prove their safety, effectiveness or quality. ACOG recommends FDA-approved hormone therapy instead.²

Questions to ask before you buy

Who is selling this, and what do they gain?
What evidence is there, and who did the research?
Would a clinician recommend it for my situation?
Could it interact with anything I take?

Recap

The FDA doesn't approve supplements for safety or effectiveness before they're sold. Companies are responsible.
A product that claims to treat, cure or prevent a disease is legally a drug.
Supplements can interact with medicines and affect lab tests, so tell your doctor what you take.
At-home fertility tests like AMH can't tell you whether you can get pregnant now.
Be wary of "natural," "balancing" and "cure" claims from someone selling the product.

Words to know 3

AMH (anti-Müllerian hormone)	A hormone made by growing follicles. Its blood level reflects how many eggs are left.
compounded hormones	Custom-mixed hormone products made by a pharmacy. They aren't FDA-approved.
dietary supplement	A vitamin, mineral, herb or other product taken by mouth to add to the diet. Not approved by the FDA before sale.