What is Progesterone?

William Allen and George Corner first isolated progesterone in 1934 and proposed the name because of its progestational activity in the pregnant female. At that stage he was unaware of the many roles this hormone plays in females as well as in males.

In the medical field, Progesterone was used, primarily for women who continually had miscarriages, with great success. It had to be extracted from the placentas of women who had just given birth and was a very expensive product.

It was not until 1943 that Russell E. Marker first synthesised the Natural Progesterone molecule from the sapogenin and disogenin extracted from plants. He should have called this molecule the “REAL” progesterone, as it is the identical molecule produced in our bodies. Once it was found that progesterone could be made in bulk, biochemists began converting it into all the other hormones we use today, including : cortisone, testosterone, oestrogen and the synthetic progestogens (which are also known as progestins). With the birth of all these syntheic drugs, natural or real progesterone was forgotten.

Questions and answers on the application of Progesterone.

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SYNTHETIC DRUGS and the difference between NATURAL PROGESTERONE and the drugs PROGESTINS AND PROGESTAGENS

There is still much confusion in the minds of both the laity and the professions between progesterone on the one hand, and the progestogens (or progestins) and yam creams on the other .Progesterone is made in our body from cholesterol, which is first broken down into pregnenolone and then into progesterone, which in turn can be broken down naturally into the other hormones we need.

A limited number of preparations now use the ‘real progesterone molecule’. NATURONE cream is one that contain "natural" progesterone. It is described as "natural" because it has an identical molecular structure to the progesterone made by the body.

The progestins and progestogens on the other hand have an altered molecular structure which means that they can be patented. It also means that they behave in the body in radically different ways to progesterone itself. The only similarity between them and progesterone is their ability to maintain the endometrium, the lining of the uterus, thus making them effective contraceptives. Unlike progesterone, which has no toxic side effects, the progestogens are highly toxic because of their altered molecular structure. Some of the known side effects are:- an increased risk of abortion and congenital abnormalities if taken by pregnant women; fluid retention; epilepsy; migraine; asthma; cardiac and renal dysfunction; depression; breast tenderness; nausea; insomnia; a drop in the blood progesterone levels, and many more. The long term effect of progestogens on adrenal, herpatic, ovarian and uterine function is unknown.
The pursuit of profit has far outweighed the well-being of women and more drugs and more profit are found in the side effects.

Beware of WILD YAM Creams. The yam creams do not contain progesterone. They do contain the plant steroid diosgenin, but the body cannot convert diosgenin into progesterone. The yam creams can have a beneficial adaptogenic effect on the body, but unlike progesterone they cannot effectively correct hormonal imbalances such as excessive levels of oestrogen.

Progesterone cream is currently being used by thousands of women in the western world. The speed with which the cream relieves symptoms varies. Some women find relief within five days, in others it can take three months, while the reversal of osteoporosis can take six months or more. Many menstruating women find that they can discontinue using the cream after a few months as their symptoms have cleared up, though continuation with small doses is recommended because of its anticancer properties.

Frequently Asked Questions About Progesterone Cream
by John R. Lee, M.D. and Virginia Hopkins

Q: What is progesterone?

A: Progesterone is a steroid hormone made by the corpus luteum of the ovary at ovulation, and in smaller amounts by the adrenal glands. Progesterone is manufactured in the body from the steroid hormone pregnenolone, and is a precursor to most of the other steroid hormones, including cortisol, androstenedione, the estrogens and testosterone.

In a normally cycling female, the corpus luteum produces 20 to 30 mg of progesterone daily during the luteal phase of the
menstrual cycle.

Q: Why do women need progesterone?

A: Progesterone is needed in hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women for many reasons, but one of its most important roles is to balance or oppose the effects of estrogen. Unopposed estrogen creates a strong risk for breast cancer and reproductive cancers.

Estrogen levels drop only 40-60% at menopause, which is just enough to stop the menstrual cycle. But progesterone levels may drop to near zero in some women. Because progesterone is the precursor to so many other steroid hormones, its use can greatly enhance overall hormone balance after menopause. Progesterone also stimulates bone-building and thus helps protect
against osteoporosis.

Q: Why not just use the progestin Provera as prescribed by
most doctors?

A: Progesterone is preferable to the synthetic progestins such as Provera, because it is natural to the body and has no undesirable side effects when used as directed.

If you have any doubts about how different progesterone is from the progestins, remember that the placenta produces 300-400 mg of progesterone daily during the last few months of pregnancy, so we know that such levels are safe for the developing baby. But progestins, even at fractions of this dose, can cause birth defects. The progestins also cause many other side effects, including partial loss of vision, breast cancer in test dogs, an increased risk of strokes, fluid retention, migraine headaches, asthma, cardiac irregularities and depression.

Q: What is estrogen dominance?

A: Dr. Lee has coined the term "estrogen dominance," to describe what happens when the normal ratio or balance of estrogen to progesterone is changed by excess estrogen or inadequate progesterone. Estrogen is a potent and potentially dangerous hormone when not balanced by adequate progesterone.
Both women who have suffered from PMS and women who have suffered from menopausal symptoms, will recognize the hallmark symptoms of estrogen dominance: weight gain, bloating, mood swings, irritability, tender breasts, headaches, fatigue, depression, hypoglycemia, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, and fibrocystic breasts. Estrogen dominance is known to cause and/or contribute to cancer of the breast, ovary, endometrium (uterus), and prostate.

Q: Why would a premenopausal woman need progesterone cream?

A: In the ten to fifteen years before menopause, many women regularly have anovulatory cycles in which they make enough estrogen to create menstruation, but they don't make any progesterone, thus setting the stage for estrogen dominance. Using progesterone cream during anovulatory months can help prevent the symptoms of PMS.
We now know that PMS can occur despite normal progesterone levels when stress is present. Stress increases cortisol production; cortisol blockades (or competes for) progesterone receptors. Additional progesterone is required to overcome this blockade, and stress management is important.

Q: What is progesterone made from?

A: The USP progesterone used for hormone replacement comes from plant fats and oils, usually a substance called diosgenin which is extracted from a very specific type of wild yam that grows in Mexico, or from soybeans. In the laboratory diosgenin is chemically synthesized into real human progesterone. The other human steroid hormones, including estrogen, testosterone, progesterone and the cortisones are also nearly always synthesized from diosgenin.

Some companies are trying to sell diosgenin, which they label "wild yam extract" as a medicine or supplement, claiming that the body will then convert it into hormones as needed. While we know this can be done in the laboratory, there is no evidence that this conversion takes place in the human body.

Q: Where should I put the progesterone cream?

A: Because progesterone is very fat-soluble, it is easily absorbed through the skin. From subcutaneous fat, progesterone is absorbed into capillary blood. Thus absorption is best at all the skin sites where people blush: face, neck, chest, breasts, inner arms and palms of the hands.

Q: What is the recommended dosage of progesterone?

A: For premenopausal women the usual dose is 15-24 mg/day for 14 days before expected menses, stopping the day or so before menses.
For postmenopausal women, the dose that often works well is 15 mg/day for 25 days of the calendar month.

Q: What amount of progesterone do you recommend in a cream?

A: Dr. Lee recommends the creams that contain 450-500 mg of progesterone per ounce, which is 1.6% by weight or 3% by volume. This means that about 1�4 teaspoon daily would provide about 20 mg/day.

Q: How safe is progesterone cream?

A: During the third trimester of pregnancy, the placenta produces about 300 mg of progesterone daily, so we know that a one-time overdose of the cream is virtually impossible. If you used a whole jar at once it might make you sleepy. However, Dr. Lee recommends that women avoid using higher than the recommended dosage to avoid hormone imbalances. More is not better when it comes to hormone balance.

Q: Wouldn't it be easier to just take a progesterone pill?

A: Dr. Lee recommends the transdermal cream rather than oral progesterone, because some 80% to 90% of the oral dose is lost through the liver. Thus, at least 200 to 400 mg daily is needed orally to achieve a physiologic dose of 15 to 24 mg daily. Such high doses create undesirable metabolites and unnecessarily overload the liver.

Q:Where can I get more information on progesterone and natural hormone balance?

A: For a detailed explanation of women's hormone balance issues, a hormone balance program, as well as detailed descriptions of how to use natural progesterone, the following books by John R. Lee, M.D. are recommended:

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause: The Breakthrough Book on Natural Progesterone, (Warner Books, 1996)

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Pre menopause: Balance Your Hormones and Life from Thirty to Fifty (Warner Books, 1999)

Dr. Lee's monthly newsletter, the John R. Lee, M.D. Medical Letter, is also highly recommended for the latest news and breakthroughs in hormone replacement therapy, as well as practical, how-to information on hormone balance and optimal health. For more information visit www.johnleemd.com online, call (800) 528-0559, or write to P.O. Box 84900, Phoenix, AZ 85071.

HRT EXPOSED

USA JAMA Reports - Study Gives HRT The Thumbs Down.
July 2002

Major studies are weighing in giving HRT the thumbs down. The consensus amongst the more informed and enlightened of researchers and clinicians is that the only real benefit of HRT is for short term relief of hot flashes ( which is what it was originally approved for). There is little doubt that the widespread trend to use HRT for a range of therapeutic benefits ie heart disease, prevention of fractures, Alzheimer's Disease etc have all but now faded in to the mists (myths) of junk science. Millions of women have unwittingly participated in this massive experiment. Once again the rush for profits without substantial, proven research has jeopardized the health and, no doubt, the lives of women around the world.

If hot flashes are the problem there are many safe, effective ways to resolve them. I still question the use of HRT which is a made of two known carcinogens. Using such options as natural progesterone cream, wild yam cream, Maca, Vitamin E and C, Also, liver support herbs such as milk thistle, dandelion are also helpful. In addition reduce or cut out the consumption of sugar, caffeine, alcohol, deep fried foods, refined carbohydrates and spicy food... major culprits to hot flashes. Needless to say, reducing stress levels, getting adequate rest and hydrating the body with good quality water are essential

The following study was released on July 2, 2002 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Noncardiovascular Disease Outcomes During 6.8 Years of Hormone Therapy: Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study Follow-up (HERS II)

http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v288n1/abs/joc20522.html
http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/atc/20020702.atc.07.ram (Real Audio Player of National Public Radio story)

Taking certain types of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can double the risk of developing breast cancer, says a study of more than a million women.

The largest ever study into the link between HRT and breast cancer was conducted by scientists at Cancer Research UK's Epidemiology Unit in Oxford.

The research suggests the single pill moderately increases the risk of breast cancer, but the combined pill doubles the risk.

It estimates HRT, taken by women to relieve the unpleasant symptoms of menopause, may have been responsible for an extra 20,000 cases of the disease in Britain in the last decade.

The Committee on the Safety of Medicines has reviewed the data and written to all health professionals.

They stressed short-term HRT use is still beneficial, but those taking it for more than a year should heed the risks and discuss them with their GP.

Barbara Sims took the combined HRT for six years before being diagnosed with breast cancer.

But she said she had no regrets because it rescued her from an early menopause and may have helped the detection of the cancer.

If women are put on HRT, they should be screened for breast cancer every year as a matter of course

Barbara Sims
Cancer sufferer

"Because my symptoms were so debilitating I couldn't lead a normal life at all," she said.

About 1.5million women in the UK take HRT, with half taking the combined version.

Hundreds of women have contacted the helpline NHS Direct since hearing of the link with breast cancer.

The researchers estimate there have been 20,000 cases of breast cancer over the last decade in women aged 50 to 64 because of HRT.

Steroid risk

They say combined HRT is responsible for 15,000 of those cases.

The study is also the first to report that HRT increases the risk of dying from breast cancer, by 22%.

About 20 women in every 1,000 will usually develop breast cancer.

But the study found for every 1,000 women who use HRT for 10 years from the age of 50, there will be an additional 19 cases of cancer in those using the combined oestrogen and progestogen version and an extra five in those using oestrogen-only HRT.

Using tibolone, a steroid treatment, also increased a woman's cancer risk.

Women also have to bear in mind that oestrogen-only HRT carries an increased risk of uterine cancer.

Women's risk of developing breast cancer decreases when she stops and is back to normal levels after five years, claims the research.

The data, published in The Lancet, covered a million women who went for mammograms between 1996 and 2001.

Careful consideration

Professor Valerie Beral, who led the research, said: "Since our results show a substantially greater increase in breast cancer with combined HRT, women need to weigh the increased risk of breast cancer caused by the addition of progestogen against the lowered risk of uterine cancer."

What is HRT?

In late middle age, a woman has reduced levels of some sex hormones. This causes unpleasant symptoms such as hot flushes, mood swings, loss of libido. HRT aims to boost hormone levels to reduce these symptoms.

Dr John Toy, Medical Director of Cancer Research UK, said: "It would be sensible for a woman to take HRT for only as long as it is necessary to deal with her medical problems as advised by her doctor.

"A woman wanting to take HRT for a long time would be extremely wise first to consider carefully the findings of this large study and other relevant research."

Martin Ledwick, senior cancer information nurse for Cancer BACUP, said: "We know from the calls we get to our helpline, that the impact of HRT on breast cancer risk has been of concern to women for some time, so it's good to have more evidence on this issue.

"This will help women to make more informed choices about their health, but it will also cause anxiety - particularly amongst women who have been on combined HRT for some years."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/3132495.stm

The Greatest Experiment Even Performed
on Women

ONE YEAR ago, 20 million American women woke up and read the shocking news that combined hormone therapy, instead of offering protection from major diseases, actually increases the risk for breast cancer, heart attack, blood clots and stroke. Since then, we've also learned that these drugs offer no benefit for mood or sexual function and double the risk for developing dementia.

Some women, such as Joan Levinson of Berkeley, have greeted this news as a confirmation of a lifelong skepticism of taking unnecessary drugs. "When I reached menopause," Levinson says, "every doctor was ready to pull out the prescription pad for pills. I always said no. Reason? I believe in the body and that the Original Designer knows better than mere mortals who have gone to medical school. So, barring life-and-death medical situations, I usually do not allow wonder drugs to enter my sacred body."

But many women, for their own personal reasons, followed their doctor's recommendation and now, with varying degrees of difficulty, are weaning themselves off hormone pills.

Not surprisingly, some women now feel betrayed. The drug industry and many doctors had promised that hormone therapy would give postmenopausal women protection from serious medical problems -- not to mention the glow of eternal youthfulness.

How could the drug industry and medical profession have been so wrong?

This is the question that Barbara Seaman addresses in her forthcoming book, "The Greatest Experiment Even Performed on Women" (Hyperion, 2003), a splendid history that exposes how menopause was transformed into a medical problem and who was responsible for identifying hormone therapy as the medication for this "disease."

Seaman is a veteran health advocate and journalist who, in 1971, authored the famous "Doctor's Case Against the Pill," an inquiry into the dangers posed by birth control pills.

In a telephone interview from New York, she explained why she wrote this book. "I have a compulsion to disclose the true history of these drugs and the hidden knowledge that was kept from users. Many of the risks, especially blood clots, had long been known by research scientists. Research on hormone therapy was mostly smoke and mirrors and science by press release."

Seaman blames this "great experiment" on specific scientists, researchers and drug companies who created "one of the most elaborate promotional and advertising campaigns in the history of the media."

The drug industry, in particular, not only lobbied doctors, but also subsidized research that would support their claims. They also tried to discredit medical researchers, doctors and health advocates who raised serious doubts about tampering with women's hormones.

What lessons should we learn from this cautionary tale?

Cynthia Pearson, executive director of the National Women's Health Network, says, "We have to ensure that our regulatory agencies have the resources they need to protect us and we have to demand that doctors prescribe based on evidence, not on drug company marketing."

Seaman notes that "two-thirds of the women who have gone off hormones are doing just fine. Now we need research that can identify which women really need hormone therapy, instead of giving it to everyone who turns 50."

In addition, she also warns that "everyone's desperately looking for alternatives." So we should expect a growth industry in all kinds of alternatives -- including "the estrogen patch," herbal supplements, and topical and inserted use of hormonal products.

Trust only a herbal product that has been used for centuries and has known benefits, a product� that is a food, or a supplement or topical application that has the identical molecule to that which your body produces naturally.

The range of acceptable alternatives are:-

a)Herbal Products that are well known for their balancing effects.

b)Natural Vitamins and Minerals and Organic food supplements

c)Natural Progesterone topical creams provided they are in a natural based cream, and are NOT Wild Yam.

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Hormone replacement therapy study halted, Increased risk of breast cancer a factor, government says July 9, 2002 Posted: 3:07 PM EDT (1907 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In a move that may affect millions of women, U.S. government scientists Tuesday stopped a major study of hormone replacement therapy on the risks and benefits of combined estrogen and progestin in healthy menopausal women, citing an increased risk of invasive breast cancer.

Researchers from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health also found increases in coronary heart disease, stroke and pulmonary embolism.

The study further clouds an issue that already was confusing for many women. Contradicting research about the risks and benefits of hormone replacement therapy has been periodically released for years. The only consensus among experts is that the decision is an individual one since every woman's lifestyle issues and risk profile is different.

"Women with a uterus who are currently taking estrogen plus progestin should have a serious talk with their doctor to see if they should continue it," said Jacques Rossouw in a statement. Rossouw is acting director of the Women's Health Initiative, which sponsored the study.

"If they are taking this hormone combination for short-term relief of symptoms, it may be reasonable to continue since the benefits are likely to outweigh the risks," Rossouw continued. "Longer term use or use for disease prevention must be re-evaluated."

A statement from the institute noted the benefits of estrogen combined with progestin, "including fewer cases of hip fractures and colon cancer, but on balance the harm was greater than the benefit."

About 6 million women in the United States are taking estrogen and progestin for various reasons, including relief of menopausal symptoms and long-term use for the prevention of heart disease and brittle bones.

The estrogen and progestin trial study involved 16,608 women ages 50 to 79 with an intact uterus.

A major objective of the trial study was to explore the effect of estrogen and progestin on the prevention of heart disease and hip fractures and any associated change in risk for breast and colon cancer.

"We have long sought the answer to the question: Does postmenopausal hormone therapy prevent heart disease and, if it does, what are the risks? The bottom-line answer from [the Women's Health Initiative] is that this combined form of hormone therapy is unlikely to benefit the heart," said Dr. Claude Lenfant, director of the heart, lung and blood institute, in a statement.

"The cardiovascular and cancer risks of estrogen plus progestin outweigh any benefits -- and a 26 percent increase in breast cancer risk is too high a price to pay, even if there were a heart benefit. Similarly, the risks outweigh the benefits of fewer hip fractures.

"Men pausal women who might have been candidates for estrogen plus progestin should now focus on well-proven treatments to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, including measures to prevent and control high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and obesity," Lenfant continued.

In a statement, Garnet Anderson, a biostatistician who led the analysis at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, said, "The trial was stopped at the first clear indication of increased risk."

Anderson also said that, at that point, there was no indication of increased risk for breast cancer in the estrogen-only group.

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