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HORMONE HERESY:
Estrogen's Deadly Truth, Part 1
by Sherrill Sellman
Extracted from Nexus Magazine, Volume 3, #4 (June - July '96)
Women are misinformed about their hormones, to the detriment of their
health, while drug companies reap huge profits at their expense.
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 practice 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. Gynecological 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 percent 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 gynecologists 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
publicized 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 estrogen. 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 gynecologist, Dr.
Robert Wilson, wrote a best seller called Feminine Forever, extolling the
virtues of estrogen 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, estrogen
replacement was a kind of long sought after youth pill that would save poor,
fading women from the horrors of age. He popularized 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 estrogen 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 estrogen. However, there had been no
formal assessment of the safety of estrogen therapy or its long term
effects. Unopposed estrogen 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
estrogen consumers, concluding that the risk was seven and a half times
greater for estrogen users. Women who had used estrogen for seven years or
longer were 14 times more likely to develop cancer. (5)
As the popularity of unopposed estrogen 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 estrogen replacement therapy with the
new 'safe' hormone replacement therapy - a combination of synthetic
progesterone and estrogen 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
aging 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 estrogen-deficiency disease and
that you will need to take more estrogen 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 Gynecological 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, estrogen is manufactured and released into the blood.
This chain reaction is not just one way. Estradiol, one of the ovarian
estrogens 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 estrogen. Estrogen prepares the follicles for the release of
one of the eggs. It is estrogen 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 estrogen secretion begins to fall off on about day 13, one day
before ovulation occurs. As estrogen 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 estrogen, as is commonly
believed.
After 10 or 12 days, if fertilization 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 estrogen and progesterone stimulate the growth of the endometrium,
or lining of the uterus, in preparation for fertilization. Estrogen
proliferates the growth of endometrial tissue, and progesterone facilitates
the secretory lining of the uterus so the fertilized egg can implant
successfully. Adequate progesterone, therefore, is the hormone most
essential to the survival of the fertilized egg and the fetus.
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 estrogen 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
fulfillment 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 Estrogen and Synthetic Progestins
The earlier research that led to the synthesis of estrogen 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 estrogen. 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,
'trial-ing' 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, estrogen 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 estrogen. Women are further
reminded, once again, that menopause is a deficiency disease, which
supposedly means that they are lacking estrogen and therefore must have
supplemental doses to maintain their health.
As Dr. Lynette Dumble has noted, "Broadly speaking, cardiovascular
prevention in women has overwhelmingly focused on hormone replacement. Yet,
as Elizabeth Barrett-Connor emphasizes, the Big Trial, the Coronary Drug
Project of 1973 that included two estrogen regimens, was conducted in men.
As part of the Big Trial design, estrogen 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 estrogen-cardiovascular link, was radically flawed. Although there
is ample evidence from numerous other studies showing that, indeed, the
opposite is true - i.e., estrogen 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 estrogen users.
Dr. Lee has compiled a list of side effects and physiological impairments
which result from taking estrogen. They include increased risk of
endometrial cancer, increased body fat, salt and fluid retention, depression
and headaches, impaired blood sugar control (hypoglycemia), 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 estrogen. 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 fetus throughout gestation. It is
little realized, however, that progesterone is the mother of all hormones.
Progesterone is the important precursor in the biosynthesis of adrenal
corticosteroids (hormones that protect against stress) and of all sex
hormones (testosterone and estrogen). This means that progesterone has the
capacity to be turned into other hormones further down the pathways as and
when the body needs them. The point needs to be emphasized that estrogen and
testosterone are end metabolic products made from progesterone. Without
adequate progesterone, estrogen 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 Estrogen 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 estrogen with all its attendant side effects, as
already mentioned. Another is the generally unrecognized 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 estrogen and
progesterone is environmental in nature. We in the industrialized world now
live immersed in a rising sea of petrochemical derivatives. They are in our
air, food and water. These chemicals include pesticides and herbicides (such
as DDT, dieldrin, heptachlor, etc.) as well as various plastics
(polycarbonated plastics found in babies bottles and water jugs) and PCBs.
These estrogen-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 estrogen. They are given
the name "xeno-estrogens" since, although they are foreign chemicals, they
are taken up by the estrogen 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 estrogen, or, as he has termed it, "estrogen
dominance".
Now, instead of estrogen 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 estrogen - either in the form of
contraceptives or HRT. Then, when the estrogen-dominant symptoms appear,
guess what is prescribed? More estrogen! The delicate natural
estrogen/progesterone balance is radically altered due to too much estrogen.
Progesterone deficiency is then exacerbated even more.
Dr. Lee has been able to balance the estrogen-dominance effect through the
use of transdermal natural progesterone cream. Natural progesterone, a
cholesterol derivative, is made from wild Mexican yams or soybeans whose
active ingredients are an exact molecular match of the body's own
progesterone. It is interesting to note that in countries in Asia and South
America where women eat either the wild yams or soybeans, the term "hot
flush" doesn't even exist in their languages. They also rarely suffer from
the host of female problems presently plaguing Western women.
Supplementation with natural progesterone corrects the real problem:
progesterone deficiency. Natural progesterone is not known to have any side
effects; nor have any toxic levels been found to date. Natural progesterone
increases libido, prevents cancer of the womb, protects against fibrocystic
breast disease, helps protect against breast cancer, maintains the uterus
lining, hydrates and oxygenates the skin, reverses facial hair growth and
hair thinning, acts as a natural diuretic, helps eliminate depression and
increase a sense of well being, encourages fat burning and the use of stored
energy, normalizes blood clotting, and is a precursor to other important
stress and sex hormones. Even the two most prevalent menopausal symptoms -
hot flushes and vaginal dryness - quickly disappear with applications of
natural progesterone.
There is one other very significant benefit of natural progesterone that
deserves a bit more attention. While most people are under the assumption
that estrogen 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 estrogen 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
estrogen'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 estrogen 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 estrogen 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 estrogen.
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, edema, 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 utilize natural
progesterone to maintain these life promoting functions.
The hormone story is certainly a very complicated one. Up until now, only
one version of the story has been available to the majority of Western
women, especially Australian women. Serious doubt has been cast on the
efficacy and appropriateness of estrogen 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 estrogen 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 Estrogen Dominance
1. When estrogen is not balanced by progesterone, it can produce weight
gain, headaches, bad temper, chronic fatigue and loss of interest in sex -
all of which are part of the clinically recognized premenstrual syndrome.
2. Not only has it been well established that estrogen dominance encourages
the development of breast cancer thanks to estrogen'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 estrogen.
3. By definition, excess estrogen 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. Estrogen 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 estrogen. Doctors who commonly use progesterone
with their patients have discovered that giving a woman natural progesterone
will also cause fibroids to atrophy.
5. In estrogen 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
estrogen dominance or unopposed estrogen. 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
estrogen without combining it with a progesterone drug during HRT. However,
all synthetic progestins have side effects.
7. Water logging of the cells and an increase in intercellular sodium, which
predispose a woman to high blood pressure or hypertension, frequently occur
with estrogen 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 estrogen-dominant.
(Source: Leslie Kenton, Passage to Power, Random House, UK, 1995)
Anti-aging 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 unrecognized estrogen dominance and will benefit
from supplementation with natural progesterone.
3. Estrogen 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 estrogen impairs homeostatic control of glucose levels, natural
progesterone stabilizes them. Thus, natural progesterone can be beneficial
to both those with diabetes and those with reactive hypoglycemia. Estrogen
should be contraindicated in patients with diabetes.
5. Thinning and wrinkled skin is a sign of lack of hydration in the skin. It
is common in peri- and post-menopausal women and is a sure sign of hormone
depletion. Transdermal natural progesterone is a skin moisturizer which
restores skin hydration.
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)
End notes:
1. Archer, John, Bad Medicine, Simon & Schuster, Australia, 1995, p. 191.
2. Op. cit., p. 217.
3. Op. cit., p. 192.
4. Op. cit., p. 211.
5. Coney, Sandra, The Menopause Industry, Spinifex Press Pty Ltd.,
Australia, 1991, pp. 164-165.
6. The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 June 1995.
7. Coney, Sandra, op. cit., p. 584.
8. Archer, John, op. cit., p. 210.
9. Archer, John, op. cit., p. 211.
10. (a) Dumble, Lynette J., Ph.D., M.Sc., "Odds Against Women with Heart
Disease", presented at Health Sharing Women's Forum, Royal College of
Surgeons, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 14 September 1995. (b)
Barrett-Connor, Elizabeth, "Heart Disease in Women", Fertility and
Sterility (1994), 62(2):127S-132S.
11. Lee, John R., M.D., Natural Progesterone: The Multiple Role of a
Remarkable Hormone, BLL Publishing, California, USA, 1993, p. 29.
12. Ibid.
13. Newsweek, 18 March 1996.
14. Kenton, Leslie, Passage to Power, Random House, UK, 1995, pp. 19-20.
15. Ibid.
16. Lee, John R., M.D., "Osteoporosis Reversal: The Role of Progesterone",
International Clinical Nutrition Review (1990), 10:384-391.
17. Lee, John R., M.D., Slowing the Aging Process with Natural
Progesterone, BLL Publishing, California, USA, 1994, p. 12.
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) 1996 by Sherrill Sellman The author presently lives in Melbourne where she
conducts a private psychotherapy practice and also devotes time to
lecturing, training and writing. She is a contributing writer to holistic
publications in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States on
topics of interest and concern to her, relating to health, women's
empowerment, relationships, and personal and planetary transformation. She
can be contacted at Light Unlimited, Locked Bag 8000 - MDC, Kew, Victoria
3101, Australia, Telephone +61 (0)3 9810 9591. Fax: +61 (0)3 9855 9991
E-mail: [email protected]
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