I can honestly recommend natural progesterone for psoriasis sufferers, I have suffered with psoriasis for the past 35 years I have tried everything medical & homeopathic. Apart from the very severe wheat free sugar free diet I went on for 6 months. My skin has never looked so good as it does now using Naturone Progesterone.

I have been using the cream daily small amount in the crook of my arm for the past 3 months (1 pot per month) I am now on pot 4 but I use that now and again Sally says the 4 pot should last a couple of months as I am not using it daily.

I hope you will recommend it to your clients, as I know how having this awful skin disorder how it affects us mentally (especially the young).

I have heard many great things from users of Naturone but for me I know as a psoriasis sufferer it has made my skin a million times better.

Kind regards

Barbara Ashcroft-Evans

   

Fosamax etc. does not work for osteoporosis!!
Orthopedic surgeons and bone specialists have been seeing an increasing number of unusual fractures among long-term users of bisphosphonate bone-strengthening drugs such as Fosamax, Actonel, Boniva and Reclast.

The latest and largest study suggests that women who've been on bisphosphonates for more than five years have a nearly three times higher risk of these fractures. Since tens of millions of women take bisphosphonates, this suggests thousands of them may suffer devastating atypical fractures every year.

According to NPR:

"... [A] growing number of experts agree ... that the risk of such fractures should discourage premature use of the drugs... [T]he take-home message is: Don't start one of these drugs too early ... [and[ don't stay on one of these drugs longer than necessary."

Sources:

  NPR February 28, 2011

  The Journal of American Medicine, March 2, 2011;305(8):783-789.

Sally's Comment

I have been warning people for years about these drugs.  It is good to see that there is now a report that is accepted by the "scientific community"

Natural progesterone is the only known molecule to stimulate the Osteoblast function, i.e. the bone building function. Supplementing with a good quality Natural Progesterone such as Naturone, can reverse osteoporosis, provided the pH of the diet is right and daily exercise such as walking for 40 minutes is adhered to.

Taking progesterone restores the important hormonal balance so necessary for bone health.




Dr. Mercola's Comments:

For 15 years women have been able to take a class of drugs called biphosphonates, which are marketed directly to consumers as a so-called treatment for osteoporosis.

While the drugs do show some short-term effectiveness at preventing hip fractures in severe cases of osteoporosis, multiple studies are now beginning to point to the drugs causing some unusual bone problems in many older women.

Researchers state these unusual bone problems are rare, but with millions of more women beginning to reach the age when these drugs are commonly prescribed (as the baby boom generation turns grey), perhaps these rare effects are now in danger of becoming quite common.

I believe this is another classic illustration of the failed drug model.

Once again, this is an instance of pills being over-prescribed, mainly through the odious direct-to-consumer marketing, resulting in increasing unnecessary risks for the majority of people taking these drugs, and especially in people taking these drugs longer than five years.

Also, as so often happens with pharmaceutical drugs in the US, the FDA allows them to be sold on the market before they are actually proven to be safe!

Only later, when large-scale problems start to get reported in the media, are the drugs re-evaluated for safety, and often the new studies citing problems with drugs are done by a third-party unrelated to the drug manufacturers or the FDA (never by the FDA itself, because the FDA is loathe to interfere with its drug-company-client-partner profits).

This is part of the broken health care model currently in effect in the US, where the FDA sees its mission as rushing drugs to market for maximum profits for corporations (it's said drug companies lose one to two million dollars for every day that a drug is kept off the market!), instead of thoroughly evaluating a new drug or new class of drugs for safety in order to protect the public.

What are Biophosphonates and What Does the New Study Say about Them?

Loss of bone mass is one of the common signs of aging, because as you age your existing bone is absorbed by your body while new bone is created to replace it. But in the case of osteoporosis, the formation of new bone falls behind the rate of bone absorption, leading to weakened, thinner and more brittle bones.

A thinning hipbone is a major concern if you are elderly, because any fall increases the risk of a broken hip, which always carries a great risk of complications and usually requires prolonged specialized care for recovery. It's estimated that 25% of elderly people suffering a hip fracture die as a direct result.

Biphosphonates are branded and marketed under these names:

Aredia

Fosamax

Bonivia

Actonel

Zometa and Aclasta

Non-nitrogenous versions that work through a different cellular mechanism are branded and sold under these names:

Didronel

Bonefos

Loron

Ostac

Skelid

All these different marketing names belong to the class known as biphosphonates. But these drugs may not be the magic bullet for thinning bones that the drug companies would lead you to believe.

The new study above found that women taking biphosphonates for five years or longer actually showed signs of having weaker femurs,

Taking this drug long-term you have about a three times greater risk of suffering a very unusual fracture either at the socket connecting the femur to the hip, or in the upper femur itself (which is usually the strongest part of the bone).

More Women Hurt than Helped by these Drugs

This means that for every woman gaining a benefit in their hips from taking a biphosphonate for a short-term, there are many more women out there in danger of weakening their femur bones as a result taking this class of drugs long-term.

The problem is, thanks to the drug companies' multi-million dollar PR campaigns, many doctors AND the public today believe this class of drugs should be given even before bone density starts dropping, meaning the vast majority of women currently taking biphosphonates are beginning them too early, and staying on them too long.

Experts are beginning to agree that only women with documented osteoporosis should even consider taking these drugs, and not stay on them for a very long duration if they do use them.

But will the treatment of osteoporosis now change thanks to this new study and studies like it that have been appearing for the last few years?

It's not likely, because the drug companies usually let nothing stand in the way of their profits.

Although the FDA has already included a warning against long-term use on the label of these drugs, the direct-to-consumer marketing continues unabated, ensuring that many older women will show up at their doctor's office demanding a prescription for the drug that they mistakenly believe will strengthen their bones with little risk of ill effects, since nothing in the advertisement mentions long-term risks associated with biphosphonates.

Although the advertisement does mention (because they are forced to by law) some disturbing potential side effects, including:

Difficult or painful swallowing

Chest pain

Severe or continuing heartburn

Severe joint, bone or muscle pain

Other side effects, listed by WebMD include:

Heartburn, abdominal pain, and irritation of the esophagus

Headache and pain in muscles and joints

Constipation, diarrhea, and increased gas (flatulence)

Allergic reactions

Other Problems Associated with Biphosphonates

Some media reports have indicated that biphosphonates have been associated with osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ), also called "jaw death". ONJ occurs when your jawbone is weakened to the point that it "is no longer alive", because unlike other bones in your body there is a limited supply of blood to the jaw, which is not sufficient to grow new bone.

And this class of drugs is reported to permanently weaken the jawbone, leading to a chronic, painful, and disastrous outcome. According to a study in The Journal of Endodontics:

"There are an increasing number of reports of bisphosphonate-associated osteonecrosis of the jaws that have substantial implications for the patient and for the treating dentist."

That is quite an understatement if you are no longer able to use your jaw to chew your food!

Another study involving cancer patients indicates that as many as 1 in 10 women taking biophosphonates will develop this jaw problem. So, a potential 10 percent chance of having your jaw "die" as a result of taking this medication is clearly a cause for alarm if you don't already have a fairly serious case of osteoporosis.

But that's not all, another study has linked biphosphonates to an increased risk of erratic heart rhythms, called atrial fibrillation.

Also a 2010 study suggests that the risk of oesophageal cancer increased with 10 or more prescriptions for oral bisphosphonates and with prescriptions over about a five-year period. This same study also cites research stating:

"Adverse gastrointestinal effects are common among people who take oral bisphosphonates for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis; they range from dyspepsia, nausea, and abdominal pain to erosive oesophagitis and oesophageal ulcers."

How to Reduce your Risk of Osteoporosis

Prevention, once again, is a much preferable route than trying to "cure" osteoporosis symptoms with the drug companies' offerings, so here are some top ways you can reduce your risk of having to deal with osteoporosis in the first place:

Optimize your vitamin D levels

Avoid processed foods and artificial sweeteners

Increase your Omega 3 intake

Increase your vitamin K2 intake

Get some exercise, including weight-bearing exercise like resistance training

Women should always maintain healthy hormone levels

Avoid steroidal drugs

I will discuss more information about each of these preventative factors below, one factor you do not see on this list is calcium supplementation, and I'll tell you the reason why.

The Truth about Osteoporosis and Calcium Deficiency

I'm sure you've heard that the cause of osteoporosis and the key to its prevention revolve around calcium, right?

Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth.

Dr. Robert Thompson, M.D., wrote an entire book on this subject called, The Calcium Lie, which explains that bone is comprised of at least a dozen minerals and the exclusive focus on calcium supplementation is likely to worsen bone density and increase your risk of developing osteoporosis!

As mentioned in this previous article, Dr. Thompson recommends the use of unprocessed salt as a far healthier alternative to calcium supplementation.

I recommend using Himalayan salt as it is an excellent way to feed your body the trace minerals it needs to function optimally.

Steer Clear of Steroids

According to a study done at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, there is a strong link between osteoporosis and the use of steroids," so says senior author Steven L. Teitelbaum, M.D., Messing Professor of Pathology and Immunology:

"High-dose cortisone is the second most common cause of osteoporosis, and we currently have no real treatment for this serious side effect. Given how frequently these drugs are used to treat many different conditions, that's a major clinical problem."

The conclusion of the study revealed that although the steroid cortisone appears to inhibit the ability of osteoclasts to dismantle old bones in genetically normal mice, the inability of the skeletal structure to renew itself may cause bones to weaken dramatically from aging and stress.

If you suffer from an autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, multiple sclerosis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, click on the links above for natural alternatives for healing.

On the other hand there is one steroid hormone that will likely help build bone and that is progesterone. Many pre and post-menopausal women are deficient in this important hormone.

Other Foods that Lead to Bone Loss

Processed and fast foods are the worst stuff you can put into your body. In order for your body to function optimally, it needs the type of balanced diet that I suggest in the next section.

Processed foods such as potato chips, French fries, microwaveable "meals", soda and candy contain very little nutrients and are chock full of undigestible fats and dangerous additives such as high fructose corn syrup, aspartame and preservatives.

If you think switching from a mainly processed food diet to a healthy, nutritious one will be next to impossible, I'm here to tell you it's easier than you think. In my previous article, I explain how to wean yourself off processed foods in 7 easy steps and how to give your body what it's really craving.

When cooking, I advise you to avoid most all omega-6 based oils such as corn, safflower or soy oil. These oils are loaded with highly processed, damaged omega 6 fats, which contribute to inflammation in your body.

Instead, I recommend using healthful olive- and coconut oils. For more information, see my video on the health benefits of these oils.

Prevent Bone Loss with Appropriate Sunshine Exposure

The health benefits of vitamin D cannot be overstressed. An alarming number of people in the United States are vitamin D deficient, and vitamin D deficiency can lead to a host of health problems, including osteoporosis.

Despite what you may have heard, appropriate sunshine exposure is not bad for you. It is healthy and necessary. Just 15 to 20 minutes of sun exposure per day can make a dramatic improvement in your health, and appropriate sun exposure is the ideal way to maintain your vitamin D levels in the optimal range.

Alternatively, you can use a safe tanning bed to naturally increase your vitamin D..

However, if neither of those options are available to you, the next option is to take an oral vitamin D3 supplement. Typical adult doses for vitamin D range from 5000 to even 40,000 units per day, please consult with a holistic doctor to check your blood levels and help to determine an appropriate dose for you.

Keep in mind that it is very important to get your vitamin D levels checked by a qualified lab (I recommend LabCorp) to avoid under- or overdosing. An optimal blood level of vitamin D for a healthy adult is between 50-70 ng/ml.

Vitamin K2 is CRUCIAL in Preventing Osteoporosis

Vitamin K can be classified as either K1 or K2:

Vitamin K1: Found in green vegetables, K1 goes directly to your liver and helps you maintain a healthy blood clotting system. (This is the kind of K that infants need to help prevent a serious bleeding disorder.) It is also vitamin K1 that keeps your own blood vessels from calcifying, and helps your bones retain calcium and develop the right crystalline structure.

Vitamin K2: Bacteria produce this type of vitamin K. It is present in high quantities in your gut, but unfortunately is not absorbed from there and passes out in your stool. It is present in fermented foods, particularly cheese and the Japanese food natto, which is by far the richest source of K2.

How does vitamin K lead to bone health?

Osteocalcin is a protein produced by your osteoblasts (cells responsible for bone formation), and is utilized within the bone as an integral part of the bone-forming process. However, osteocalcin must be "carboxylated" before it can be effective. Vitamin K functions as a cofactor for the enzyme that catalyzes the carboxylation of osteocalcin.

Vitamin K2 has been found to be a far more effective "activator" of osteocalcin than K1 because your liver preferentially uses vitamin K1 to activate clotting factors, while most of your other tissues preferentially use K2.

Are You Getting Enough Vitamin K from Your Diet?

Eating lots of green vegetables will increase your vitamin K1 levels naturally, especially:

Kale

Spinach

Collard greens

Broccoli

Brussels sprouts

You can obtain all the K2 you'll need (about 200 micrograms) by eating 15 grams of natto daily, which is half an ounce. However, natto is generally not pleasing to the Westerner's palate, so the next best thing is a vitamin K2 supplement.

But remember, you must always take your vitamin K supplement with fat since it is fat-soluble and won't be absorbed without it. You must use caution on the higher doses if you take anticoagulants, but if you are generally healthy and not on these types of medications, I suggest 150 mcg of K2 daily.

Fortunately, you don't need to worry about overdosing on K2—people have been given a thousand-fold "overdose" over the course of three years, showing no adverse reactions (i.e., no increased clotting tendencies).

Exercise to Prevent Bone Loss

Remember that bone is living tissue that requires regular physical activity in order to renew and rebuild itself. Peak bone mass is achieved in adulthood and then begins a slow decline. Exercise is very important in maintaining healthy bone mass. Weight-bearing exercise is one of the most effective remedies against osteoporosis.

Your bones are actually very porous and soft, and as you get older, your bones can easily become less dense and hence, more brittle. Especially if you are inactive.

Resistance training can combat this effect because as you put more tension on your muscles it puts more pressure on your bones, which then respond by continuously creating fresh, new bone.

In addition, as you build more muscle, and make the muscle that you already have stronger, you also put more constant pressure on your bones.

A good weight bearing exercise to incorporate into your routine (depending on your current level of fitness, of course) is a walking lunge, as it helps build bone density in your hips, even without any additional weights.

One of the best ways to improve bone density is to use acceleration training equipment like the Power Plate, that I have recently discussed.

Osteoporosis in Men

Here is something about osteoporosis in men you may not have realized: Men over the age of 50 are at greater risk for developing osteoporosis than prostate cancer. Men develop this disease because of a condition called hypogonadism, which may lead to shrinking in height by several inches. Risk factors in men include:

Alcoholism

Obesity

Smoking

Gastrointestinal disorders

Sedentary lifestyle

Lack of sunlight exposure

Men with pre-existing conditions such as asthma, emphysema, Crohn's disease, herniated disks, and autoimmune disease taking steroids such as prednisone or cortisone are increasing their risk of developing osteoporosis that much further.

Sally Longden says ….

Even Dr Mercola, whom I greatly admire, has overlooked the most obvious reason for Thyroid resistance …. it is OESTROGEN DOMINANCE. Oestrogen suppresses the action of Thyroxin in the body … get oestrogen under control, and the thyroid works effectively … 

solution … NATURAL PROGESTERONE THERAPY.

Many people suffering from this dreadful condition, Fybromyalgia,  have had unbelievable success with Naturone.

Read Dr Mercola's blog below, however .. to understand the differeince between hypothyroidism and Thyroid resistance.




The Simple Fibromyalgia Treatment that’s Nearly Always Overlooked…

Posted By Dr. Mercola | February 26 2011 | 6,151 views


Dr. John Lowe is a skilled clinician, recognized as one of the leading experts on treating thyroid disease with natural medicine. In this interview, he discusses hypothyroidism and the lesser known thyroid hormone resistance, and how thyroid disease is connected to fibromyalgia.

 Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Thyroid disease, or inadequate thyroid hormone regulation, is extremely common. According to estimates, anywhere from 10 to 40 percent of Americans have suboptimal thyroid function.
The Difference between Hypothyroidism and Thyroid Hormone Resistance

Hypothyroidism occurs when you  produce insufficient amounts of thyroid hormone or when you have thyroid hormone resistance. As a result, your body cannot maintain normal metabolism, and your ability to convert tyrosine to dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine is impaired. This can cause a ripple effect of symptoms, including cognitive dysfunction.

A common give-away that you may be hypothyroid is feeling cold most of the time. This is because your body cannot generate enough ATP molecules to keep the core temperature of your body high enough.

Thyroid hormone resistance began being investigated in the 1950s, yet many endocrinologists still have never heard of it, or believe it’s a rare condition.

“The difference between hypothyroidism where there is a deficiency of thyroid hormone, and thyroid hormone resistance, is that the same amount of thyroid hormone—within the laboratories’ reference range—that would maintain normal metabolism in cells don’t do so adequately.

Those people [with thyroid hormone resistance] need a much higher dosage of hormones—a dosage that would cause most endocrinologists to scream, “You’re going to die of heart attack if you don’t get off that,” Dr. Lowe explains.

Why Lab Testing is NOT the Most Useful Tool for Diagnosing Thyroid Disease

Unfortunately, many if not most conventional doctors do nothing but look at lab test data when diagnosing thyroid disease, and typically ignore signs and symptoms revealed by the patient, such as dry skin or hair loss. Dr. Lowe and I often refer to these as extremist medical technocrats.

However, Dr. Lowe says he’s noticed a revival of sorts of the practice to listen to the patient; getting a list of the symptoms; looking at the patient and touching them.

This can be particularly valuable in the case of diseases like thyroid disease, which is littered with clinical symptoms.

The exclusive reliance on lab tests is actually NOT advisable in this case. In fact, Dr. Lowe discusses why these tests may at times be completely useless for diagnosis. For example, based on three decades worth of work in this area, and two rigorous studies, Dr. Lowe has concluded that the traditional testing used does not correlate with the far more powerful assessment of thyroid hormone in your body, which is your basal metabolic rate.

For more information about that, please listen to the interview, or read through the transcript.

A Forgotten Sign of Thyroid Disease

Dr. Lowe’s interest in the thyroid was ignited about 25 years ago. At the time he used myofascial trigger point therapy to treat pain, taught by Dr. Travell who used it on John Kennedy. Most patients responded favorable to this treatment, but some did not get the typical relief and he started wondering why.

“I went to Travell and Simon’s textbooks and found a huge section on perpetuating factors,” Dr. Lowe says.

“What can make a patient resistant to usually effective myofascial therapy? Among those were nutritional deficiencies. If patients don’t take enough B complex vitamins, various ones can cause neuromuscular hyper-excitability that has to be dealt with. I would give injections of B complex vitamins and would immediately get them on megadoses…

[R]ather than three treatments it might take eight or 10, but I was able to release them as ‘recovered’. But there were some patients for whom none of those usual tactics worked. They kept coming back. The reprieve from pain might be only six hours.”

He finally discovered information that linked myofascial pain and trigger points to hypometabolism, especially due to inadequate thyroid hormone regulation.

The standard tests used today to diagnose inadequate thyroid hormone regulation due to hypothyroidism are the free T3, free T4 and TSH. There’s also a test called TRH (thyroid releasing hormone) stimulation test. Using these tests, Dr. Lowe was able to determine that many of those patients could be diagnosed with central hypothyroidism.

“They didn’t have a thyroid gland problem per se where the thyroid gland wasn’t producing a thyroid hormone, but they had either a problem with the hypothalamus or with the pituitary,” he explains.

Some of the clinical symptoms presented by these patients were primarily pain, such as headaches and cervical- or back pain. One such patient became pain-free once she started taking thyroid hormone. That’s what got Dr. Lowe started on the path of treating thyroid disease.

Signs and Symptoms of Thyroid Disease

So, if the conventional lab tests are unreliable, what are the signs and symptoms to look for?  As stated earlier, there are some 60 different symptoms (including many that correspond to symptoms of fibromyalgia) that are indicative of thyroid disease—although, remarkably, you won’t find these in the newer endocrinology books.

Dr. Lowe’s web site, www.DrLowe.com, contains a full list of all the signs and symptoms. Here are a few of the most common:

Fatigue—If you don’t have enough dopamine or have too few dopamine receptors due to inadequate thyroid hormone regulation, you end up with extreme fatigue, which is also a common complaint in fibromyalgia patients

Hair loss

Weight gain--Thyroid hormone controls gene transcription for lipolytic enzymes, which lower cholesterol and break down triglycerides and fatty tissues. If you have enough of these enzymes, they will reduce fat tissues in your body even if you do not diet and exercise

Dry skin, hair, eyes and other mucous membranes

Excess muscle tension and trigger points—For muscles to completely relax, filaments must lengthen and separate, which requires energy (ATP molecules). Low thyroid hormone reduces ATP

Delayed deep tendon reflexes (slow relaxation phase of the Achilles reflex)—Thyroid hormone controls gene transcription for calcium ATPase. When you hit the Achilles tendon and your foot goes down rapidly and then raises back slowly, it’s a sign of hypothyroidism or thyroid hormone resistance. This is due to lack of ATP molecules to provide the energy for the contractual filaments to separate and relax, hence you get a visibly slow relaxation phase of the Achilles reflex. 

Here again is a classic thyroid indication that does not correlate with high TSH values. Unfortunately, this test (which used to be an established gold standard in thyroid testing) is no longer used because endocrinologists assume high TSH values must be present for hypothyroidism, which is not the case—but lab testing, like drugs, is big business, brining in billions of dollars

Thyroid Disease and Fibromyalgia, and the Treatments that Work for Both

Interestingly, inadequate thyroid hormone regulation may be one of the primary underlying factors in many patients with fibromyalgia.

Dr. Lowe explains:

“I had prior training as a research psychologist and was able to pull forth that training and enlist physicians on the research team. It was a loose net research team until it eventually became a non-profit organization called the Fibromyalgia Research Foundation.

Seven or eight years ago, I gave a presentation at the Fibromyalgia Coalition International based in Kansas City… I got there late and heard none of the other presentations.

When I gave my presentation, people began saying, “Dr. Lowe, you’ve used the word “integrative metabolic therapies” for getting patients free from chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. It just so happens, every single one of the -- at that point, considered alternative doctors -- have said exactly the same things.”

Through their personal, clinical experiences they had come to the same conclusions we had. If they used metabolic integrative therapies, nutritional deficiencies, anti-inflammatory diet, exercise, getting off medications that impede metabolism, and possibly treating cortisol deficiency, possibly balancing sex hormones, and treating the patients with effective thyroid hormone therapy... They got the patients well.

I said the same thing they had said, but my experience was based on rigorous scientific testing. Their experience was based on intuition and the wisdom that comes from listening to patients and working with them.”

This is yet another potent testimony to the truthfulness of the theory that health is based on a few fundamental principles, and although you will typically address specific aspects of a disease, the bulk of the therapy is the same for ALL diseases:

Eating a nutritious diet (a low-sugar, low-grain, mainly raw organic diet is optimally nutritious and anti-inflammatory)

Exercising

Normalizing hormones -- HERE THE BEST IS NATURAL PROGESTERONE THERAPY

Avoiding medications (virtually all medications create further imbalances, hence the side effects and deterioration of health)

Creating health really isn’t rocket science. It’s just “returning to basics,” and although it may not be easy, it’s rather simple.

Logic and Deductive Reasoning in Medicine—A Novel Idea

Dr. Lowe’s research team came to the conclusion that the thyroid was involved with fibromyalgia through the use of a method called “deductively formulated theory,” which he calls the “ultimate logic of problem solving.” Unfortunately, this method is virtually never used in medicine, and it’s a rare scientist who truly understands it.

Dr. Lowe explains it as follows:

“[Y]ou take competitive theories or hypotheses about what causes something, then use the methods of mathematical physicists to show which hypothesis tops them all out.

Well, there simply is no competitor to inadequate thyroid hormone regulation that accounts for about 43 of the 46 subjectively verified findings in fibromyalgia -- reduced brain blood flow, inhibitory alpha-2 adrenergic receptors, platelets that cause constriction of arterials and cold fingers... The list goes on.

If anybody looks at the method of deductively formulated theory and compare the inane serotonin deficiency hypothesis, which has been thoroughly refuted, there are no competitive theories.

… Hippocrates wrote about people with these symptoms and said, if these people will get a reasonable amount of physical activity, stop eating the trash the aristocrats eat and start eating vegetables and fruits, they’ll recover. Nothing has really changed there.

What we learned about fibromyalgia patients is that one set of symptoms: chronic aching and pain that lasts for three months or longer, and abnormal tenderness with associated symptoms (there are 12 of them), are all classic hypothyroid symptoms. It’s just another of what we call a clinical phenotype…

[M]ost [fibromyalgia] patients are either hypothyroid or thyroid hormone resistant.”

Thyroid Hormone—The Missing Ingredient in Fibromyalgia Treatment

Dr. Lowe’s extensive experience with treating patients with both thyroid disease and fibromyalgia has led him to come to some startling conclusions. One, that thyroid dysfunction is a component of fibromyalgia, and second, that the conventional thyroid test is typically useless in making a diagnosis.

Instead, he recommends simply treating fibromyalgia with thyroid hormone until the symptoms improve.

“We give patients monitoring forms. One of those forms is the 20 most common symptoms of thyroid hormone over-stimulation,” he explains.

… [P]atients record their basal body temperature and their basal pulse rate. The pulse rate in most of these patients is too low for their levels of cardiovascular conditioning. It’s under-regulation of the thyroid. Some of them are bradycardic (less than 50-60 beats per minute).

If weight is an issue, they measure their weight after getting out of bed before consuming any liquid or solid, along with temperature and pulse rate. We have a lot of symptom severity scales where they estimate the intensity of their symptoms. They fill out this form at least three times a week.

Then, it’s easy for us to chart the data on line graphs. We can see, as the dosage increases, are the data points moving in the right direction? Is the temperature rising properly? Is the pulse rate coming up so that it’s more appropriate to that person’s level of cardiovascular conditioning?”

A one-line summary of Dr. Lowe’s research would be that thyroid hormone is the missing ingredient in the treatment of fibromyalgia that is nearly universally overlooked.

Being a health conscious kind of person, I am always looking at healthy ways of living and being, which includes not only what I eat, but also what I supplement my diet with, put onto my skin and the way I live generally. With all the synthetic stuff they are adding to our environment, one needs to be aware of what is happening. At the beginning of the year, I was introduced to a product called Naturone progesterone cream and I heard all sorts of wonderful things about it. I knew that progesterone was a hormone used in the female reproductive system, but didn't know much more than that really. This was until I decided to research all about progesterone and its phenomenal benefits in the body. I feel this is valuable information as this very important hormone could help you in many different ways.

It is one of the steroid hormones and it is a precursor to so many other hormones needed in the body on a daily basis. It has many functions and I feel we do not give it enough justice, as reading up on it, I realised that its benefits are numerous, making this hormone an essential component in the body.

So, what can this fabulous hormone do? Progesterone is vital in balancing the endocrine or hormonal system in women. It is involved in reproduction and as long as a woman is ovulating, there should be progesterone produced in the corpus luteum of the ovaries of menstruating women. It is also synthesized by the placenta, is found and produced to a certain extent in the adrenal glands and is stored in fat tissue. Progesterone levels rise and fall during the monthly cycle. Progesterone is produced just before ovulation and increases rapidly after ovulation, during the latter two weeks of the menstrual cycle. Progesterone prepares the uterus for egg implantation and it is therefore essential for the survival of the embryo and foetus throughout pregnancy. When a woman does not ovulate, her ovaries do not produce progesterone. This can happen for many reasons, including when a woman reaches menopause. When progesterone levels drop in the body, this upsets the natural balance of hormones and leads to oestrogen dominance, which results in a variety of symptoms. What is becoming more and more common is that many women, even though they are ovulating, are not making enough progesterone in the body and this can be caused by stress. What happens is that when a person is stressed out, progesterone is converted into the stress hormone adrenalin, nor adrenalin and cortisol. After a large meal progesterone levels drop; the drugs progestin and progestegens lower progesterone levels in the body; low blood sugar also brings about a decrease in progesterone, and long periods of darkness can also decrease the amount of progesterone in the body. Many man-made synthetic chemicals and environmental pollutants are causing hormonal imbalances. These are referred to as "xeno-oestrogens" or petrochemicals as they are also called and they mimic oestrogen causing an imbalance between our own oestrogen and progesterone levels in the body. Fifty one chemicals have now been identified as hormone disrupters and the most common xeno-oestrogens in our environment include vaseline based skin creams, many common detergents, wax floor polish and paints. Synthetic hormones and oestrogenic compounds which are found in meat and chicken (used to fatten up cattle and promote growth in chickens) are also part of these xeno-oestrogens. Others include highly poisonous pesticides such as DDT, DDE which are still used in many areas in Africa; plastics such as clingwrap, polystyrene, water jugs and many others found in supermarkets; polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's) which are used in the manufacture of electronic devices, and synthetic man-made oestrogen drugs, such as the contraceptive pill and HRT.

Whilst finding out more information on progesterone, I came across an interesting article taken from a transcript of a seminar by Dr John Lee, MD. Before I get to that, Dr John Lee was an international authority and pioneer of natural progesterone cream and natural hormone balance. He was a family doctor in Northern California and in the early 1970's started seeing a lot of menopausal women with health complaints who were not able to take oestrogen because of complications. He decided to look into this and after attending a lecture by Raymond Peat, Ph.D who believed that oestrogen was the wrong hormone to give menopausal women, he began doing some research of his own, starting by giving his menopausal clients progesterone cream to use and recording their results. They reported huge relief from the menopausal symptoms. He began to research progesterone more in-depth and came across amazing information on the benefits of progesterone.

The article is headed up, "What Doctors are not Taught" and what he found is that natural progesterone reverses the effects of osteoporosis. He asked his female patients who were suffering from osteoporosis to use the natural progesterone cream and he followed their bone density tests to see what would happen. It turned out that in three years time, the women gained 15 percent more bone and this was not just a delay of the osteoporosis. New bone cells were being made. The osteoporosis was being reversed. This is mind-blowing stuff! However, this is not all. He discovered, as so many had, that progesterone helps the thyroid hormone to work properly; it helps to keep the nerves healthy; it helps to burn fat for energy. What he discovered is that the brain cells also need progesterone and that back in the 40's it was recommended for epilepsy. It also shows in rheumatology journals that progesterone could be injected into the joints of people who have rheumatoid arthritis and it is just as good as cortisone, but with no side effects. (Today, you just need to rub natural progesterone cream onto the skin to benefit from it.) These things and more have been researched and studied by many people and there are tons of references as to how progesterone can help.

Research from the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and other institutions provides evidence that the sex steroid hormone progesterone directly affects the blood vessels, thereby regulating the blood pressure. Results showed that progesterone (1) dilated, or opened up, blood vessels, (2) prevented the rise in blood pressure caused by adrenalin-like hormones and other stimuli, and (3) blocked the uptake of calcium channels in smooth muscle cells in much the same way as the blood-pressure-lowering drugs known as calcium channel blockers.

The thyroid regulates the metabolic rate. Low thyroid levels can lead to low energy levels, cold intolerance and weight gain. An excess of the thyroid hormone can lead to higher energy levels, feeling too warm and weight loss. Oestrogen, progesterone and the thyroid hormones are interrelated. Oestrogen, for example, causes food calories to be stored as fat while thyroid hormones cause fat to be turned into useable energy. Progesterone increases the sensitivity of oestrogen receptors for oestrogen and at the proper levels, inhibits oestrogen's negative side effects. The lack of progesterone therefore leads to oestrogen dominance. Dr Lee has successfully treated patients diagnosed with hyperthyroidism (excessive production of the thyroid gland, which can lead to osteoporosis) using natural progesterone. Women with the thyroid dysfunction, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, which is an autoimmune inflammatory disease where the body is making up antibodies to destroy the cells in the thyroid, has also been helped with natural progesterone therapy. Dr Lee has seen a gradual decrease of the severity of the disease, but has also seen complete resolution of the thyroiditis problem whilst on natural progesterone.

So, in a nutshell, the following are the symptoms of oestrogen dominance, in other words progesterone deficiency:

Increase in allergies

Breast tenderness, mastitis and fibrocystic breasts

Breast cancer, cervical cancer, endometrial cancer and prostate cancer

Cervical dysphasia

Auto-immune disease

Early onset of annovulatory cycles

Polycystic ovaries

Uterine fibroids

Infertility due to luteal phase failure

Sperm counts are down over 50%

Depression, anxiety and panic attacks

Mood swings, agitation, irritability

PMS, Chronic fatigue

Craving for sweets

Hypoglycaemia

Skin problems, teenage acne

Memory loss and foggy thinking, loss of concentration

Decreased libido

Early onset of menstruation, irregular periods

Premenopausal bone loss

Osteoporosis

Thyroid problems, sluggish metabolism

Weight gain and water retention

High blood pressure

Increased risk of blood clots and strokes

Migraine headaches

Gall bladder disease

Zinc/copper imbalance

Magnesium deficiency

If you are suffering from any of the above symptoms, it is quite likely that you are progesterone deficient and that you would most definitely benefit from natural progesterone therapy. But one thing I must stress here is that there is a difference between natural progesterone and the synthetic drugs progestins and progestagens. Progesterone made in the body has a certain molecular structure and this can be broken down naturally into the other hormones we need. Natural progesterone made in a lab needs to have the same molecular structure as the progesterone made in the body in order for it to be effective. Apparently, after doing some reading, it seems that progestins, progestagens and provera are made from the same substances that natural progesterone are made from, however, their molecular structure has been changed in the laboratory so that it is not identical to anything found in nature.

This means that they work in the body in totally different ways from progesterone. The only comparison between them and progesterone is their ability to maintain the endometrium, the lining of the uterus, but other than that they are highly toxic. Some of the side effects are: fluid retention, epilepsy, migraine, asthma, cardiac and renal dysfunction, nausea and so many more.

In women the balance between progesterone and oestrogen is vital and progesterone is not only important for us, women. It is vital for men as well. Men need progesterone to make their testosterone and for the adrenal glands to make cortisone. (Cortisone is an important anti-inflammatory in the body.) Progesterone can help men with prostate problems; it helps to increase sperm count levels; helps men's complexions and their energy levels. According to Dr Lee, he had men contacting him telling him that from rubbing on progesterone cream for their wives, they were seeing that their prostatism symptoms such as urinary urgency and frequency had decreased a lot. Many men who had prostate cancer reported that their Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) levels had decreased and that they have had no further worsening of their prostate lesions since using the cream themselves.

The product which I have been introduced to is manufactured by a lady called Sally Longden who has spent considerable time with Dr John Lee. This product is worth considering should you be affected by any of the oestrogen dominant symptoms and you can rest assured that this product is identical to the natural progesterone made in the body, made with quality ingredients in order to ensure the highest standard. I have spoken to many people who are on Naturone progesterone cream and the benefits are amazing. I am a distributor of Naturone progesterone cream so should you wish to place an order or find out more information, please contact me on 083 321 4222 or 011 326 0925. If you are not in Gauteng, orders can be posted to you, so there is no need to miss out on this fabulous opportunity to restore your health.

Please research this yourself. There is a lot of information on the net. You could also check out Dr John Lee's site at [ www.johnleemd.com ] and [ www.naturone.com ]

Dear Sally 

I have great interest in Naturone so have requested to become a promoter...its just incredible the results I've had with it.  I used two tubs a while ago and practically cleared Roseaca.....I'm on a low maintenance doze of neomercazole and didn't need to take it after a month of using the cream and generally feeling more focused and clear. I've had a low wbc for years and this again seemed to right itself.  I've always had this linked to the mercazole but it corrected itself incredibly fast....... I then ran out of the cream which is typical of me.    I started again a couple of months later with the same results so I'm convinced its the cream making the difference.   I'm looking forward to using it as directed now and will report the results in a few months time. Thanks for your miracle cream.
Deborah

Dear Sally

I am 14 years old and I am going through puberty and although my period has not yet started I have been getting real bad mood-swings, like getting angry and annoyed at little things. My gran suggested I try Naturone and this cream has controlled my emotions by making me much happier. I no longer am angry anymore which is good for other s as well as for me ! I shall keep you informed of my progress, but thank you!

Thanks

Seany