Estrogens (we have three) and progesterone rise and fall separately during our monthly cycles to prepare the body for a possible pregnancy and bring on menstruation. We tend to think of estrogen as the important hormone, but our bodies need progesterone for many vital reasons. During pregnancy, levels of this “pro-gestation” hormone increase significantly to support the fetus. Pro- gesterone is a precursor to all the other sex hormones, and is required to pro- duce adrenal corticosteroids. Lack of corticosteroids can lead to fatigue, im- mune dysfunction, hypoglycemia, allergies and arthritis. Progesterone is a natural antidepressant, protects against endometriosis and helps metabolize fats. It is required to maintain the myelin sheath that protects our nerves. A weakened myelin sheath can lead to muscular pain such as fibromyalgia or Guillain Barre syndrome, or multiple sclerosis. Progesterone even protects against breast and uterine cancer.
Progesterone is produced as a direct result of ovulation. Latest evidence is that many women are beginning to have some periods without ovulation in their thirties and even earlier. This creates lower levels of progesterone long before menopause.
Osteoporosis (bone loss) is one of the most serious results of progesterone deficiency, and is made worse by inappropriate diet and lack of exercise. Popular thinking blames declining estrogen for bone loss, but the facts don’t support this. Bone density starts declining in our thirties, while estrogen is still high but progesterone levels are starting to decline. In fact, estrogen regulates and slows bone loss, but it is progesterone that helps rebuild bone, in the body’s constant cycle of replacing old bone with new.
Many of the symptoms that we associate with menopause, premenopause and PMS are similar, and are related to hormone imbalance, with progester- one being deficient. The trend in our culture, due largely to poor diet and envi- ronmental toxins, is for all women to have lower than normal progesterone and higher than normal estrogen. Estrogen “dominance” becomes toxic to our bodies, creating or increasing a long list of symptoms including weight gain and bloating, mood swings, fatigue, decreased sex drive, depression, breast tenderness, fibrocystic breasts, headaches, fuzzy thinking, and sugar crav- ings. Estrogen dominance is also strongly linked to uterine and breast cancer.
Menopause symptoms don’t happen to all women in our culture, although they are more prevalent in our Western industrialized society than elsewhere. Typi- cal symptoms can include most of those mentioned above, as well as the in- famous hot flashes, vaginal dryness and atrophy, and loss of bone density. Surprisingly, by menopause, our progesterone levels have fallen to less than 1% of previous levels, while we maintain 30-50% of our estrogen levels. From all of the above information, it follows that progesterone, rather than estrogen supplementation, is called for to reduce these symptoms and reverse the course of osteoporosis.
There is a significant difference between natural progesterone and the syn- thetic variety, such as Provera, put out by major pharmaceutical companies. These “progestins” are less effective in restoring bone density and come with a long list of potential side effects, including fluid retention, menstrual irregulari- ties, depression, acne and allergic reactions. Also, being slightly different, they are not able to perform all the functions of natural progesterone, nor can they be eliminated optimally when their job is done. Would you choose natural or synthetic?
Susan Kirn is a Licensed Marriage, Family & Child Counselor; Certified in Bio- energy Balancing and in Body-Centered Psychotherapy, and a Member of the American Association of Nutritional Consultants. She can be reached at (707) 577-0197