I Tip My Cap to Bruce MacFarland, Ph.D.: A Lifetime Champion of Bioidentical Progesterone

C.W. Randolph, Jr., M.D., R.Ph.

I want to take a moment to honor Bruce MacFarland, Ph.D., who passed this month at the age of 87. I never met Dr. MacFarland in person but for decades I have followed his work as a scientific innovator in the realm of natural hormone health, particularly his work supporting bioidentical progesterone cream as the preferred alternative to dangerous synthetic hormone replacement pills. I regard Dr. MacFarland as a quiet, courageous revolutionary. Here’s why:

For the last half century, Dr. MacFarland’s work and voice has helped build a crescendo in the groundbreaking medical field of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT). He began raising his voice during an era where synthetic hormones reigned unquestioned and unchallenged as a veritable female fountain of youth. That took not only commitment to scientific truth, it took real guts to challenge the sheep-like thinking of the traditional medical community of that era.

Today, most women and their physicians are aware that the use of synthetic hormone therapies – such as Premarin and Prempro – significantly increases a woman’s risk of breast cancer, heart attack, stroke and Alzheimer’s disease. This link was first established in the landmark 2002 Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study and has been irrefutably validated in multiple medical research studies since. But, such was not the case in the 1970s when Dr. MacFarland first began to question if well-meaning physicians were inadvertently putting their female patients suffering from menopausal symptoms at risk by reflexively writing prescriptions for synthetic estrogen.

Dr. MacFarland’s legacy will be a long one, measured in the lives of millions of women he never knew. His life’s mission is perpetuated by his daughter, Sharon MacFarland, CEO and owner of Emerita and founder of the non-profit hormone health advocacy group, Women In Balance.

These days I am often introduced as a “medical pioneer in the field of hormone health and BHRT;” however, I am well aware that the increasingly widespread acknowledgement of bioidentical hormones is occurring because of decades of sacrifice from many medical professionals who first paved the way with their groundbreaking research and courageous efforts. Today, as one revolutionary to another, I respectfully and gratefully tip my hat to Dr. Bruce MacFarland.