For over 300 years, beginning in the 13th century and continuing
well into the 16th century, the Inquisition was a reign of terror
for the vast majority of people living throughout Europe and Scandinavia.
The political, economic and religious forces of that time joined
together to consolidate their power by eliminating those whom
they perceived as impeding their ultimate objectives.
The unfortunate target of their efforts were the keepers of the
healing arts and the ancient spiritual and cultural wisdoms. Historians
debate the exact toll of such a hellish time-whether it was several
hundreds of thousands or as many as nine million people-but what
is undebatable is that the vast majority of the victims were women.
In fact, the Inquisition is now regarded as a period of genocide
against women, which successfully divested women of their power,
self-respect, wealth, healing arts, and prominence and influence
in their communities.
The Inquisition guaranteed that the Church fathers were the indisputable
spiritual authorities. It was also successful in enshrining medical
knowledge securely in the realm of men, since the Inquisition
decreed that only trained medical doctors could now practise the
healing arts and, needless to say, medical schools were barred
to women (for that matter, so was any form of education).
What a relief that such a violent and misogynous era ended long
ago. Or did it? Unfortunately, it appears that some traditions
linger on. Women of today are still prey to vast political and
economic interests, with dire consequences to their health, financial
independence and personal power. Perhaps the Inquisition didn't
end at all but just took on a more subtle and devious form.
Women are certainly big business to the medical and pharmaceutical
interests. According to John Archer, author of Bad Medicine, about
600,000 hysterectomies are performed every year in the USA, and
about 45,000 in Australia.1 In 1994, it was estimated that 45,000
Australian women were taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT).2
Many women are presently encouraged to remain on HRT for the rest
of their post-menopausal lives.
According to Dr Stanley West, noted infertility specialist, chief
of reproductive endocrinology at St Vincent's Hospital, New York,
and author of The Hysterectomy Hoax, about 90 per cent of all
hysterectomies are unnecessary. Gynaecological consultants to
Ralph Nader's Public Health Research Group reached a similar conclusion
in 1991 in their book, Women's Health Alert. According to Dr West,
the only 100-per-cent-appropriate reason for performing an hysterectomy
is for treating cancer of the reproductive organs.3 However, hysterectomies
are all too frequently offered as treatment for a variety of conditions
including endometriosis, fibroids, ovarian cysts, pelvic inflammatory
disease and uterine prolapse.
It is no accident that gynaecologists happen to be the highest
earners of all specialists. Throughout their lives, women are
encouraged to be subjected continuously to various medical treatments
and procedures. Natural female functions, from menstruation through
childbirth and into menopause, are taken over by medical and pharmaceutical
interventions. Barraged by misinformation, myths, propaganda and,
in some cases, downright lies, it's no wonder that so many women
are thoroughly confused about matters relating to their own bodies
and their health.
The History of Hormone Replacement Therapy
Perhaps there's no topic of greater confusion to women than the
highly publicised introduction of HRT for the menopausal woman.
It is touted as the best thing for liberating women since the
discovery of oral contraceptives-even though the statistics now
show that the wide use of the Pill has given rise to health hazards
such as breast cancer, high blood-pressure and cardiovascular
disease on a scale previously unknown in medicine.4
Investigation into the theory of hormone replacement goes all
the way back to the 1930s with the research of Dr Serge Voronoff.
His research involved implanting fresh monkey's testicles into
men's scrotums, with limited effectiveness. Offshoots of his research
led to the grafting of monkey ovaries in women, with rather dire
consequences. After several fatalities (to both monkeys and women),
the search was redirected to the use of synthetic oestrogen. With
the advent of World War II, research was put on hold.
Menopause didn't really come into vogue as a topic of concern
for the medical profession until the 1960s. In 1966 a New York
gynaecologist, Dr Robert Wilson, wrote a best-seller called Feminine
Forever, extolling the virtues of oestrogen replacement to save
women from the "tragedy of menopause which often destroys
her character as well as her health". His book sold over
100,000 copies in the first year. Wilson energetically promoted
menopause as a condition of "living decay". According
to him, oestrogen replacement was a kind of long-sought-after
youth pill that would save poor, fading women from the horrors
of age. He popularised the erroneous belief that menopause is
a deficiency disease.
Women's magazines eagerly seized upon his ideas and extensively
promoted his concepts. This pleased Wilson no end, since he had
earlier set up The Wilson Foundation for the sole purpose of promoting
the use of oestrogen drugs. The pharmaceutical industry generously
contributed over US$1.3 million to his Foundation. Each year he
received funds from such companies as Searle, Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories
and Upjohn which made hormone products that Wilson claimed were
effective in treating and preventing menopause. Pharmaceutical
companies jumped on the bandwagon with aggressive promotions and
advertising campaigns. His message hit a receptive chord: mid-life
women need hormone drugs to be rescued from the inevitable horrors
and decrepitude of this terrible deficiency disease called menopause.
Wilson pioneered the use of unopposed oestrogen. However, there
had been no formal assessment of the safety of oestrogen therapy
or its long-term effects. Unopposed oestrogen went out of vogue
when it became obviously apparent that it shortened the lifetime
of its users. In 1975, The New England Journal of Medicine examined
the rates of endometrial cancer for oestrogen consumers, concluding
that the risk was seven-and-a-half times greater for oestrogen
users. Women who had used oestrogen for seven years or longer
were 14 times more likely to develop cancer.5
As the popularity of unopposed oestrogen therapy waned, new approaches
were sought. The focus was also directed away from the false claims
of preserving feminine beauty and youthfulness and towards more
urgent health matters. The pharmaceutical industry resurrected
oestrogen replacement therapy with the new 'safe' hormone replacement
therapy-a combination of synthetic progesterone and oestrogen
which would supposedly protect menopausal women not only from
cardiovascular disease but also from the ravages of osteoporosis.
While the so-called 'experts' on women's health are reassuring
women that there are no, or at least only very minor, unpleasant
side-effects, Dr Lynette J. Dumble, Senior Research Fellow at
the University of Melbourne's Department of Surgery at the Royal
Melbourne Hospital, believes that "the sole basis of HRT
is to create a commercial market that is highly profitable for
the pharmaceutical companies and doctors. The supposed benefits
of HRT are totally unproven." She believes that HRT not only
exacerbates the presenting health problems but also contributes
to the acceleration of the ageing process of women. It either
hastens the onset of other medical conditions or worsens the existing
ones.
This perspective seems to be validated by the recent findings
from a landmark study, published in The New England Journal of
Medicine in 1995, involving 121,700 women, which revealed startling
effects from HRT. It warned that women who used HRT to offset
the symptoms of menopause also increased their chance of developing
breast cancer by 30 to 40 per cent by taking the hormone for more
than five years. In women aged between 60 and 64, the risk of
breast cancer rose to 70 per cent after five years of HRT. Finally,
the study concluded that women using HRT were 45 per cent more
likely to die from breast cancer than those who chose not to use
HRT or used it for less than five years.6
According to Leslie Kenton, author of Passage to Power, "everybody
who is anybody will tell you that menopause is an oestrogen-deficiency
disease and that you will need to take more oestrogen as you approach
mid-life. What may surprise you is this: not only is most of such
commonly given advice on menopause wrong, a great deal of it can
be positively dangerous."
Fortunately there is another side to the hormone story-a perspective
that not only can assist women of all ages to attain greater health
but also to reclaim a greater sense of power, responsibility and
dignity in their lives.
A Brief Gynaecological Tour of a Woman's Body
In order to understand the HRT debate, it is important, first,
to have a rudimentary knowledge of a woman's cyclic nature.
Until recently, doctors thought that menopause began when all
the eggs in the ovaries had been used up. However, recent work
has shown that menopause is probably not triggered by the ovaries
but by the brain. It seems that both puberty and menopause are
brain-driven events.
Menstruation depends on a complex network of hormonal communications
between the ovary, the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland in
the brain. The hypothalamus secretes gonadotropin- releasing hormone
(GnRH) which triggers the production of follicle-stimulating hormone
(FSH) by the pituitary gland. The FSH then stimulates the growth
of the egg follicles (a small excretory sac or gland) in the ovaries
to trigger ovulation. As the egg follicles grow, oestrogen is
manufactured and released into the blood.
This chain reaction is not just one-way. Oestradiol, one of the
ovarian oestrogens in the bloodstream, also acts on the hypothalamus,
causing a change in GnRH. Next, this altered hormone stimulates
the pituitary to produce luteinising hormone (LH) which causes
the egg follicles to burst and the ovum to be released. After
the egg is expelled, progesterone is also manufactured by the
collapsed egg follicle which develops into the corpus luteum.
All the hormones released during the menstrual cycle are secreted
not in a constant, steady way but at dramatically different rates
during different parts of the 28-day cycle.
For the first eight to 11 days of the menstrual cycle, a woman's
ovaries make lots of oestrogen. Oestrogen prepares the follicles
for the release of one of the eggs. It is oestrogen which proliferates
the changes that take place at puberty: the growth of breasts,
the development of the reproductive system and the shape of a
woman's body.
The rate of oestrogen secretion begins to fall off on about day
13, one day before ovulation occurs. As oestrogen falls, progesterone
begins to rise, stimulating very rapid growth of the follicle.
Beginning with this secretion of progesterone, ovulation occurs
too. After the egg has been released from the follicle (known
as the luteal stage of a woman's cycle), the follicle begins to
change, enlarging and becoming a unique organ known as the corpus
luteum. Progesterone is secreted from the corpus luteum, this
tiny organ with a huge capacity for hormone production. The surge
of progesterone at the time of ovulation is the source of libido-not
oestrogen, as is commonly believed.
After 10 or 12 days, if fertilisation does not occur, ovarian
production of progesterone falls dramatically. It is this sudden
decline in progesterone levels that triggers the shedding of the
secretory endometrium (the menses), leading to a renewal of the
entire menstrual cycle.
Ovarian oestrogen and progesterone stimulate the growth of the
endometrium, or lining of the uterus, in preparation for fertilisation.
Oestrogen proliferates the growth of endometrial tissue, and progesterone
facilitates the secretory lining of the uterus so the fertilised
egg can implant successfully. Adequate progesterone, therefore,
is the hormone most essential to the survival of the fertilised
egg and the foetus.
At around 40 years of age, the interaction between hormones alters,
eventually leading to menopause. It is still not clear how. Menopause
may start with changes in the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland
rather than in the ovaries. Scientists have conducted experiments
where young mice have had their ovaries replaced with those from
aged animals no longer capable of reproducing. The young mice
can mate and give birth. This shows that old ovaries placed in
a young environment are capable of responding. On the other hand,
when young ovaries are put into old mice, these mice cannot reproduce.7
Whatever the mechanism triggering menopause, as fewer egg follicles
are stimulated, the amount of oestrogen and progesterone being
produced by the ovaries declines although other hormones continue
to be produced. By no means do the ovaries shrivel up and cease
functioning, as is popularly believed. With the reduction of these
hormones, menstruation becomes scantier and erratic and eventually
ceases.
However, other body sites such as the adrenal glands, skin, muscle,
brain, pineal gland, hair follicles and body fat are capable of
making these same hormones, enabling the female body to make healthy
adjustments in hormonal balance after menopause-provided a woman
has taken good care of herself during the pre-menopausal years
with proper lifestyle, diet and attention to mental and emotional
health.
Menopausal women have the opportunity to enter this phase of
life empowered in their wisdom and creativity as never before.
They have access to profound inner-knowing. The renowned sociologist
Margaret Mead said, "There is nothing more powerful than
a menopausal woman with zest!" In many cultures around the
world, menopause is a transition and an initiation into the fulfilment
of a woman's power, totally symptom-free. She is held in the highest
regard in her community as a wise, respected elder.
The Myth of Oestrogen and Synthetic Progestins
The earlier research that led to the synthesis of oestrogen made
possible the development of the oral contraceptive by 1960. With
consent of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Pill
was widely marketed as an effective, convenient method of birth
control. True sexual liberation for women was at hand at last.
However, the entire basis for the FDA's consent was the result
of clinical studies conducted on 132 Puerto Rican women who had
taken the Pill for one year or longer.8 (Never mind the fact that
there were five women who died during the study without any investigation
into the cause of their deaths.)
By the mid-1970s the death toll of women from heart attacks and
strokes began to attract public notice. A newer, supposedly safer
Pill was then created with a lower dose of oestrogen. But, in
fact, there has never been any valid scientific proof that the
Pill is safe-nor, for that matter, that any of the other forms
of contraception presently available are safe. Women are only
now discovering the price they have been paying for their sexual
freedom: by altering their hormonal balance, many varied and devastating
emotional and physiological dysfunctions have been created.
It is now 35 years on from the introduction of oral contraception
and there are presently about 60 million women worldwide who are,
in effect, 'trialling' the Pill. Its safety and long-term effects
have still not been established conclusively. It is interesting
to note, however, that it has produced a wide assortment of adverse
effects and side-effects and has a significant link to breast
cancer, high blood-pressure and, in particular, cardiovascular
disease-the major cause of female deaths in Australia. In 1992,
27,833 women died from heart disease and strokes, compared to
2,438 from breast cancer.9 Is this merely a coincidence, or do
these statistics indicate, perhaps, the harmful side-effects of
tampering with hormones?
While proclaimed also as the primary missing ingredient for the
menopausal woman, oestrogen is strongly recommended by the medical
and pharmaceutical industries for the prevention of cardiovascular
disease and osteoporosis. Just about any doctor's surgery you
walk into these days will warn women of the inherent risks of
going through menopause and, for that matter, the post-menopausal
years without the protection of oestrogen. Women are further reminded,
once again, that menopause is a deficiency disease, which supposedly
means that they are lacking oestrogen and therefore must have
supplemental doses to maintain their health.
As Dr Lynette Dumble has noted, "Broadly speaking, cardiovascular
prevention in women has overwhelmingly focussed on hormone replacement.
Yet, as Elizabeth Barrett-Connor emphasises, the Big Trial, the
Coronary Drug Project of 1973 that included two oestrogen regimens,
was conducted in men. As part of the Big Trial design, oestrogen
doses extravagantly in excess of physiological levels were deliberately
administered to men in order to induce gynaecomastia [enlargement
of male breasts] as an indicator of successful feminisation. This
resulted in thrombosis and impotence and ultimately led to research
failure because of treatment discontinuations amongst the study's
participants."10
According to medical practitioner, independent researcher and
author Dr John Lee, the one notable study (known as the Boston
Health Study, conducted with a large sampling of nurses) which
formed the entire basis of the positive oestrogen-cardiovascular
link, was radically flawed. Although there is ample evidence from
numerous other studies showing that, indeed, the opposite is true-i.e.,
oestrogen is a significant factor in creating heart disease-these
findings have been virtually ignored in the frenzy for profits.
He goes on to say that the pharmaceutical advertisements also
neglected to mention the fact that stroke death incidence from
that study was 50 per cent higher among the oestrogen users.
Dr Lee has compiled a list of side-effects and physiological
impairments which result from taking oestrogen. They include increased
risk of endometrial cancer, increased body fat, salt and fluid
retention, depression and headaches, impaired blood-sugar control
(hypoglycaemia), loss of zinc and retention of copper, reduced
oxygen levels in all cells, thickened bile and promoted gall bladder
disease, increased likelihood of breast fibrocysts and uterine
fibroids, interference with thyroid activity, decreased sex drive,
excessive blood-clotting, reduced vascular tone, endometriosis,
uterine cramping, infertility, and restraint of osteoclast function.
With so many side-effects and dangerous complications, a woman
must think very carefully about the HRT decision. Unfortunately,
most doctors will tell her that there is no other alternative.
While certainly most doctors are well-meaning and sincerely concerned
about their patients, their primary source of education and product
information comes directly from the pharmaceutical companies.
Since most women also lack essential education and understanding
about their options, menopause can be perceived as a rather frightening
and perilous time.
Enter Natural Progesterone
For the past 15 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 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 foetus throughout
gestation. It is little realised, 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 emphasised
that oestrogen and testosterone are end metabolic 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 per
cent 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 30s (and some even younger), long before the
onset of menopause, on occasion will not ovulate during their
menstrual month.11 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 unrecognised
problem of progesterone's 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.12 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 industrialised
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 PCBs. 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 sculpting of the developing brain.
These mimics are not only linked to the recent discovery that
human sperm-counts worldwide have plunged by 50 per cent between
1938 and 1990 but also to genital deformities, breast, prostate
and testicular cancer, and neurological disorders.10
Dr Lee has discovered a consistent theme running through women's
complaints of the distressing and often debilitating symptoms
of PMS, 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, normalises 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 woman 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 athletes, 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 per cent of North American women's
menstrual cycles during the final reproductive years.14 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.15
These results were verified by a three-year study of 63 post-menopausal
women with osteoporosis. Women using transdermal progesterone
cream experienced an average 7 to 8 per cent bone-mass density
increase in the first year, 4 to 5 per cent the second year, and
3 to 4 per cent in the third year! Untreated women in this age
category typically lose 1.5 per cent bone-mass density per year!
These results have not been found with any other form of hormone
replacement therapy or dietary supplementation.16
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, oedema, weight changes, pulmonary embolism and premenstrual-like
syndrome.17
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 utilise 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 woman 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 that 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 recognised
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
the 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. Waterlogging 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 is increased dramatically
when a woman is oestrogen-dominant.
(Source: Leslie Kenton, Passage to Power, Random House, UK, 1995)
Anti-ageing Benefits of Natural Progesterone
1. Progesterone is a primary precursor in the biosynthesis of
the adrenal corticosteroids. Without adequate progesterone, synthesis
of the cortisones 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, e.g., 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 unrecognised 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. Natural
progesterone is a natural diuretic and prevents the cell's uptake
of sodium and water, thus preventing hypertension.
4. Whereas oestrogen impairs homeostatic control of glucose levels,
natural progesterone stabilises them. Thus, natural progesterone
can be beneficial to both those with diabetes and those with reactive
hypoglycaemia. 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 moisturiser which restores skin hydration.
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, M.D., Slowing the Aging Process with Natural
Progesterone, BLL Publishing, CA, USA, 1994, p. 14)
