Women are misinformed about their hormones, to the detriment of their health, while drug companies reap huge profits at their expense.

………………..Enter Natural Progesterone

For years, Dr Lee has conducted independent research into a natural, plant derived form of progesterone. His non-pharmaceutically-funded research presents a much broader understanding of a woman’s hormonal options and offers a totally safe, effective alternative that is free of all side effects. He has found that this natural hormone – used in conjunction with a good diet and lifestyle changes – is capable of eliminating much of the suffering associated both with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and menopause. Thousands of women in the Western world now use natural progesterone – generally in the form of a non-prescription cream which is rubbed into the body. They claim that they not only have relief from female symptoms but experience increased vitality, better skin and renewed emotional balance. Natural progesterone seems to have been totally overlooked by medical science while the erroneous focus has been on oestrogen. Considering that it is non-patentable and inexpensive, it is not surprising that this is so. It is important, however, to have a much greater understanding and appreciation for this remarkable hormone. As was previously mentioned, it is progesterone that is responsible for maintaining the secretory endometrium which is necessary for the survival of the embryo as well as the developing fetus throughout gestation. It is little realized, however, that progesterone is the mother of all hormones. Progesterone is the important precursor in the biosynthesis of adrenal corticosteroids (hormones that protect against stress) and of all sex hormones (testosterone and oestrogen). This means that progesterone has the capacity to be turned into other hormones further down the pathways as and when the body needs them. The point needs to be emphasized that oestrogen and testosterone are end metobolic products made from progesterone. Without adequate progesterone, oestrogen and testosterone will not be sufficiently available to the body. Besides being a precursor to sex hormones, progesterone also facilitates many other important, intrinsic physiological functions (which will be discussed later).

The Oestrogen Dominance Effect

Female problems seem to be on the rise. Between 40% and 60% of all women in the West suffer from PMS. In addition, women also suffer from a plethora of symptoms, some menopausal and others not. Something quite alarming certainly seems to be happening to women. There is indication that proper hormonal balance necessary for a woman’s body to function healthily is being interfered with by a number of factors. Research has revealed that a good portion of women in their 30’s (and some even younger), long before the onset of menopause, on occasion will not ovulate during their menstrual month.

Without ovulation, no corpus luteum results and no progesterone is made. A progesterone deficiency ensues. Several problems can result from this deficiency. One is the month long presence of unopposed oestrogen with all its attendant side effects, as already mentioned. Another is the generally unrecognized problem of progesterones role in osteoporosis. Contemporary medicine is still unaware that progesterone stimulates osteoblast-mediated new bone formation. Actually, it is progesterone that stimulates new bone tissue and is capable of reversing osteoporosis at any age. Lack of progesterone means that new osteoblasts are not created and osteoporosis can arise.

A third major problem results from the interrelationship between progesterone loss and stress. Stress combined with a bad diet can induce anovulatory cycles. The consequent lack of progesterone interferes with the production of the stress-combating hormones, exacerbating stress conditions that give rise to further anovulatory cycles. And so the vicious cycle continues. Another major factor contributing to this imbalance between oestrogen and progesterone is environmental in nature. We in the industrialized world now live immersed in a rising sea of petrochemical derivatives. They are in our air, food and water. These chemicals include pesticides and herbicides (such as DDT, dieldrin, heptachlor, etc) as well as various plastics (polycarbonated plastics found in babies bottles and water jugs) and PCB’s. These oestrogen-mimics are highly fat-soluble, not biodegradable or well excreted, and accumulate in fat tissue of animals and humans. These chemicals have an uncanny ability to mimic natural oestrogen. They are given the name “xeno-oestrogens” since, although they are foreign chemicals, they are taken up by the oestrogen receptor sites in the body, seriously interfering with natural biochemical changes. Mounting research is now revealing an alarming situation worldwide created by the inundation of these hormone mimics. In a recently released book, Our Stolen Future, authors Theo Colburn of the World Wildlife Fund, Dianne Dumanoski of The Boston Globe and John Peterson Meyers, a zoologist, have identified 51 hormone mimics, each able to unleash a torrent of effects such as reduced sperm production, cell division and sculting of the developing brain. These mimics are not only linked to the recent discovery that human sperm counts worldwide have plunged by 50% between 1938 and 1990 but also to genital deformaties, breast, prostate and testicular cancer, and neurological disorders.

Dr Lee has discovered a consistent theme running through women’s complaints of the distressing and often debilitating symptoms of PMS, infertility problems such as endometriosis and fibroids, peri-menopause and menopause: too much oestrogen, or, as he has termed it, “oestrogen dominance”. Now instead of oestrogen playing its essential role within the well balanced symphony of steroid hormones in a woman’s body, it has begun to overshadow the other players, creating biochemical dissonance. The last thing in the world a woman’s body needs is more oestrogen – either in the form of contraceptives or HRT. Then, when the oestrogen-dominant symptoms appear, guess what is prescribed? More oestrogen! The delicate natural oestrogen/progesterone balance is radically altered due to too much oestrogen. Progesterone deficiency is then exacerbated even more. Dr Lee has been able to balance the oestrogen-dominance effect through the use of transdermal natural progesterone cream. Natural progesterone, a cholesterol derivative, is made from wild Mexican yams or soybeans whose active ingredients are an exact molecular match of the body’s own progesterone. It is interesting to note that in countries in Asia and South America where women eat either the wild yams or soybeans, the term “hot flush” doesn’t even exist in their languages. They also rarely suffer from the host of female problems presently plaguing Western women. Supplementation with natural progesterone corrects the real problem: progesterone deficiency. Natural progesterone is not known to have any side effects: nor have any toxic levels been found to date. Natural progesterone increases libido, prevents cancer of the womb, protects against fibrocystic breast disease, helps protect against breast cancer, maintains the uterus lining, hydrates and oxygenates the skin, reverses facial hair growth and hair thinning, acts as a natural diuretic, helps eliminate depression and increase a sense of well being, encourages fat burning and the use of stored energy, normalizes blood clotting, and is a precursor to other important stress and sex hormones. Even the two most prevalent menopausal symptoms – hot flushes and vaginal dryness – quickly disappear with applications of natural progesterone. There is one other very significant benefit: of natural progesterone that deserves a bit more attention. While most people are under the assumption that oestrogen protects against osteoporosis – one of the biggest selling points for which a women is encouraged to take HRT – this is definitely not the case. The early studies on which the oestrogen protection assumption was based had gross scientific defects. Canadian researcher Jerilyn Prior, chief endocrinologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and her colleagues, reporting in The New England Journal of Medicine, confirmed that oestrogen’s role in osteoporosis is only a minor one. In their studies of female atheletes, they found that osteoporosis occurs to the degree that they become progesterone-deficient, even though their oestrogen levels seem to remain normal. Prior continued her research with non-athletic women. They showed the same results. While both these groups of women were menstruating, they had anovulatory cycles, and, therefore, were progesterone deficient. Prior then went on to discover that anovulation and a short phase cycle now occur in up to 50% of North American women’s cycles during the final reproductive years.

Unfortunately, these major findings went relatively unnoticed in the medical community. As a result of her extensive review of published scientific evidence in this area, Prior confirmed that it is not oestrogen but progesterone which is the bone-trophic hormone: that is, the bone builder. She was even able to identify progesterone receptor sites on osteoblast cells (bone tissue building cells). Nobody has ever found osteoblast receptors for oestrogen. The bottom line is that it is in women with progesterone deficiency that bone loss occurs.

These results were verified by a three year study of 63 post-menopausal women with osteoporosis. Women using transdermal progesterone cream experienced an average of 7% – 8% bone mass density increase in the first year, 4% – 5% the second year, and 3% – 4% in the third year! Untreated women in this age category typically lose 1.5% bone mass density per year! These results have not been found with any other form of hormone replacement therapy or dietry supplementation.

Dr Lee believes that the use of natural progesterone in conjunction with dietary and lifestyle change can not only stop osteoporosis but can actually reverse it – even in women aged 70 or more. At this point, it is important to make the distinction between the natural progesterone that is produced by the body and the synthetic progesterone analogues classified as progestins, such as Provera, Duphaston and Primulut. As you will learn, there is a big difference between the two in their effect in the body, although doctors most often use their names interchangeably. Since natural progesterone is not a patentable product, the pharmaceutical companies have molecularly altered it to produce synthetic progestins commonly used in contraceptives and HRT. Synthetic progestins, because they are not exact replicas of the body’s natural progesterone, unfortunately create a long list of side effects, some of which are quite severe. A partial list includes headaches, depression, fluid retention, increased risk of birth defects and early abortion, liver dysfunction, breast tenderness, breakthrough bleeding, acne, hirsutism (hair growth), insomnia, edema, weight changes, pulmonary embolism and premenstrual-like syndrome.

Most importantly, progestins lack the intrinsic physiological benefits of progesterone, thus they cannot function in the major biosynthetic pathways as progesterone does and they disrupt many fundamental processes in the body. Progesterone is an essential hormone that also plays a part in the development of healthy nerve cells and brain and thyroid function. Progestins tend to block the body’s ability to produce and utilize natural progesterone to maintain these life promoting functions. The hormone story is certainly a very complicated one. Up until now, only one version of the story has been available to the majority of Western women, especially Australian women. Serious doubt has been cast on the efficacy and appropriateness of oestrogen and progestins in all the forms they take. Women are certainly suffering from a wide variety of female complaints. What complicates the hormone story is that the prescribed treatments for these complaints are actually making the problem worse. Without understanding the far reaching side effects of oestrogen dominance and progestin, doctors are misdiagnosing the cause of these aggravated conditions. Often, other drugs are then prescribed with disastrous side effects, as the spiral of unnecessary medication increases. What is the ultimate toll, not only on a woman’s deteriorating health and emotional well being but also on her financial situation, her relationships and her career. Without adequate knowledge, education and access to natural products, women have been easy prey to the powerful campaigns of the multinational drug companies that have convinced doctors as well as governments of their claims. It is becoming more evident that women’s interests are not always best met through such a biased approach. It is also not unusual for profits to take precedence over health and well being. The last thing a women needs is to have her natural bodily functions denigrated to deficiency diseases – thus necessitating ongoing medical attention. It is indeed time for women to take even greater responsibility for their health, their choices and their lifestyles. The greatest weapon against compliance and ignorance is knowledge. It’s time to ask poignant questions of your health provider, to demand answers and to be willing to investigate safe, alternative approaches. It is apparent that women will need to participate in educating their doctors about the other choices that exist as well as the ones they prefer. Certainly, women have it well within their own power not only to find safe, natural and effective ways to heal themselves but to live long, full lives, preserving their vitality, youthfulness and health. Women deserve the right to appreciate themselves and their bodies through all the stages of life. As women find the way to return to a greater balance, within themselves, they will know profoundly the truth of what Dr Deepak Chopra has said about women: “Feminine wisdom is the intelligence at the heart of creation”.

Effects of Oestrogen Dominance

1. When oestrogen is not balanced by progesterone, it can produce weight gain, headaches, bad temper, chronic fatigue and loss of interest in sex – all of which are part of the clinically recognized premenstrual syndrome.

2. Not only has it been well established that oestrogen dominance encourages the development of breast cancer thanks to oestrogen’s proliferative actions, it also stimulates breast tissue and can in time, trigger fibrocystic breast disease – a condition which wanes when natural progesterone is introduced to balance the oestrogen.

3. By definition, excess oestrogen implies a progesterone deficiency. This, in turn, leads to a decrease in the rate of new bone formation in a woman’s body by the osteoblasts – the cells responsible for doing this job. Although most doctors are not yet aware of it, this is the prime cause of osteoporosis.

4. Oestrogen dominance increases the risk of fibroids. One of the interesting facts about fibroids – often remarked on by doctors – is that, regardless of the size, fibroids commonly atrophy once menopause arrives and a woman’s ovaries are no longer making oestrogen. Doctors who commonly use progesterone with their patients have discovered that giving a woman natural progesterone will also cause fibroids to atrophy.

5. In oestrogen dominant menstruating women where progesterone is not peaking and falling in a normal way each month, the ordered shedding of the womb lining doesn’t take place. Menstruation becomes irregular. This condition can usually be corrected by making lifestyle changes and using a natural progesterone product. It is easy to diagnose by having a doctor measure the level of progesterone in the blood at certain times of the month.

6. Endometrial cancer (cancer of the womb) develops only where there is oestrogen dominance or unopposed oestrogen. This, too, can be prevented by the use of natural progesterone. The use of synthetic progestins may also help prevent it, which is why a growing number of doctors no longer give oestrogen without combining it with a progesterone drug during HRT. However, all synthetic progestins have side effects.

7. Water logging of the cells and an increase in intercellular sodium, which predispose a woman to high blood pressure or hypertension, frequently occur with oestrogen dominance. These can also be side effects of taking synthetic progestogen (progestins). A natural progesterone cream usually clears it up.

8. The risk of stroke and heart disease in increased dramatically when a woman is oestrogen-dominant. (Source: Leslie Kenton, Passage to Power, Random House, UK 1995).

Anti-aging Benefits of Natual Progesterone

1. Progesterone is a primary precursor in the biosynthesis of the adrenal corticosteroids. Without adequate progesterone, synthesis of the cortizones is impaired and the body turns to alternate pathways. These alternate pathways have masculine-producing side effects such as long facial hairs and thinning of scalp hair. Further impaired corticosteroid production results in a decrease in the ability to handle stress, eg, surgery, trauma or emotional stress.

2. Many peri- or post-menopausal women with clinical signs of hypothyroidism, such as fatigue, lack of energy, intolerance to cold, are actually suffering from unrecognized oestrogen dominance and will benefit from supplementation with natural progesterone.

3. Oestrogen and most of the synthetic progestins increase intracellular sodium and water uptake. The effect of this is hypertension. Progesterone is the only antagonist to oestrogen.

4. Whereas oestrogen impairs homeostatic control of glucose levels, natural progesterone stabilizes them. Thus, natural progesterone can be beneficial to both those with diabetes and those with reactive hypoglycemia. Oestrogen should be contraindicated in patients with diabetes.

5. Thinning and wrinkled skin is a sign of lack of hydration in the skin. It is common in peri- and post-menopausal women and is a sure sign of hormone depletion. Transdermal natural progesterone is a skin moisturizer which restores skin hydration and it also raises the levels of other hormones in the body.

6. Progesterone serves a role in keeping brain cells healthy. A disorder such as premature senility (Alzheimer’s disease) may be, at least in part, another example of disease secondary to progesterone deficiency.

7. Progesterone is essential for the healthy development of the myelin sheath which protects the nerve cells. Low progesterone levels lead to recurring aches and pains.

8. Progesterone creates and promotes an enhanced sense of emotional well being and psychological self-sufficiency.

9. Progesterone is responsible for enhancing the libido. (Source: John R Lee, MD, Slowing the Aging Process with Natural Progesterone, BLL Publishing, CA, USA, 1994, p.14).

10. It is the only known substance known to promote osteoblast function thereby rebuilding bone and reversing osteoporosis.