More Bad News for Synthetic Hormone Therapy

09 September 2006 Hormones linked to hearing loss
04 March 2004 Hrt test halted due to stroke risks
24 February 2004 Hrt Linked to Asthma
10 February 2004 Alzheimer's Warning for Hrt Users
02 February 2004 HRT Raises Breast Cancer Recurrence Risk
08 August 2003 Hormone pills riskiest in 1st year
27 May 2003 HRT linked to increased risk of dementia

Estrogen Dominance
One of today's hottest health topics

The Power and Promise of Natural Progesterone
Contrary to conventional thought, estrogen is not the major hormone needed for the relief of menopausal symptoms

Baby Boomer Women Entering Menopause
Women now entering menopause are not willing to subject their bodies to the risks of HRT

The Environmental Estrogen Enigma
How men as well as women are getting too much estrogen from the environment

References
Women now entering menopause are not willing to subject their bodies to the risks of HRT

Estrogen Dominance
For 40 years, conventional medicine categorized menopause as a "disease" caused by a lack of estrogen resulting from the shut down of a woman's reproductive system. This natural transition in life should be viewed as a time of rejuvenation. Menopause is accompanied by a decrease in the amount of estrogen produced by the body; however, the body still does manufacture estrogen.

According to Novak's Textbook of Gynecology (11th edition, Williams & Wilkins, 1987), most post menopausal women do not have enough estrogen to support pregnancy but have sufficient quantity for other normal bodily functions. Estrogen levels drop by 40-60% in non-ovulating women while progesterone levels drop to essentially zero, creating estrogen dominance.

Modern environments are saturated with estrogens and xenoestrogens, (estrogen-like substances), that also contribute to estrogen dominance. We get estrogens by eating meat and dairy products from animals given estrogen growth hormones. We ingest estrogens when drinking municipal water. We also receive estrogens through petrochemicals, pesticides, and plastics.

Traditional Hormone Replacement Therapy, HRT, incorrectly assumes that lack of estrogen is the cause of the uncomfortable symptoms experienced during menopause, and synthetic estrogens and progestins are prescribed. These synthetics have numerous adverse side effects. Read the labels and warnings that accompany these synthetics. Natural progesterone has been shown to relieve menopausal symptoms and to counteract the damaging and toxic effects of estrogen dominance without these dangerous side effects.

The Power & Promise of Natural Progesterone
Natural progesterone is referred to as a mother hormone. Natural progesterone is an important precursor in the biosynthesis of many other hormones by the human body. This means that natural progesterone can be turned into different hormones in the body, as they are needed for the various metabolic functions that occur in almost all tissues. Many practitioners of conventional medicine continue to define menopause, a natural phase of life that is inevitable for half the population on this planet, as a disease. Uninformed physicians and the pharmaceutical industry have largely promoted menopause as a disease. Unfortunately much of the emphasis has been placed on the importance of estrogen, and progesterone has become the forgotten hormone. Until quite recently progesterone was ignored totally, and doctors treated menopause and PMS with estrogen alone. Perpetration of the estrogen myth is the result of good propaganda, not the result of good science. One of today's hottest health topics in magazines, TV, and talk radio is hormone replacement therapy, HRT. It has now become mainstream in modern medical practice to prescribe synthetic estrogens and progestins (synthetic progesterone) for menopausal and related symptoms. With 30 million menopausal women in North America and another 20 million baby boomers on the brink of menopause, it is no wonder that this is a major topic of discussion. When weight gain, bloating, breast tenderness, and mood changes occur in adolescent females, it is blamed on high estrogen levels. When these same symptoms occur during the transition to menopause, they are then ascribed to estrogen deficiency!

Many women (as well as men) experience what is referred to as estrogen dominance. This means there is too much estrogen in relationship to the amount of progesterone in the body. Synthetic estrogens and progestins used in HRT can cause many serious side effects such as birth defects, headaches, depression, weight gain, acne, insomnia, liver dysfunction, breast tenderness, gall bladder problems, decreased sex drive, reduced oxygen in cells, increased probability of cysts and fibroids, bone loss, various cancers, and a host of other undesirable side effects.

Natural progesterone is a hormone produced by women and to a lesser extent also by men. Progesterone levels in women can fluctuate drastically as they reach their menopausal years. As the precursor for so many other hormones, it is easy to see why a Progesterone deficiency can cause such a wide variety of problems for women. Use of a transdermal cream containing natural progesterone can help balance out the many hormones in the body without the toxic side effects of synthetic hormones.

Natural progesterone made from plant sterols is identical to the molecular structure of the progesterone that the human body produces. Transdermal natural progesterone supplementation is not known to have any side effects, other than mild euphoria in extremely large doses. A change in the bleeding cycle may also occur in some women for a short period of time as their bodies adjust from the deficiency of natural progesterone. When the proper balance of natural progesterone occurs in the body, libido increases, the skin stays moisturized and oxygenated, hair thinning is prevented, metabolism of fat for energy occurs with loss of weight resulting, less depression and mood swings occur, and blood clotting remains normal.

When selecting a natural progesterone cream, make sure that the product label clearly states that the progesterone used in the product is micronized USP Natural Progesterone and that the amount of the natural progesterone contained in the product is also clearly stated. John R. Lee, M.D., an internationally recognized pioneer in natural progesterone therapy, recommends a concentration of 400-500 milligrams of natural progesterone per ounce. On average, one ounce of efficient cream containing 500 milligrams of natural progesterone will last about one month. There are substantial therapeutic claims and clinical findings that validate and support Dr. Lee's progesterone recommendations based on his 20 years of study and observations.

As Dr. Lee and others caution, beware of products containing "wild yam extracts" since wild yam extracts cannot be converted in the body to natural progesterone. This conversion can only be done in a sophisticated properly equipped laboratory. There is not a shred of scientific evidence to support the many claims that wild yam extract is the same as natural progesterone or that it can be converted within the body to natural progesterone. Make sure also that the cream's delivery system can deliver the natural progesterone to where it is needed. Some women might find that they need to use more of the cream to relieve symptoms, others less.

Baby Boomer Women Entering Menopause
As the first of the baby boomers enter menopause alternative treatments for the uncomfortable symptoms of this natural transition are being investigated. Traditional treatment has been Hormone Replacement Therapy, (HRT), which consists of synthetic hormones created by the large pharmaceutical companies. As with many drugs, synthetic hormones as found in HRT, carry with them numerous adverse side effects, as previously mentioned.

In addition to the beneficial uses of natural progesterone for menopause and PMS, it is also effective in not only arresting bone loss but actually increasing bone mass, thereby preventing or entirely eliminating osteoporosis.

Natural progesterone also is being indicated as a treatment for prostate cancer. Clinical trials are being conducted right now. A vast body of scientific evidence documents the many benefits inherent in natural progesterone.

The Environmental Estrogen Enigma
Out of balance hormones are being recognized as a very real and ever increasing problem in the United States and other industrialized countries. Many researchers including John R. Lee, M.D., who is the leading pioneer in natural progesterone therapy, are coming to the conclusion that the over abundance of estrogen and estrogen like substances that act like estrogen once our bodies absorb them are responsible for a vast number of today's health problems. This over abundance of estrogen is referred to as estrogen dominance which is an increasingly serious problem for both women and men.

Where do all these chemicals that mimic estrogen come from? These chemicals are in many of the foods we eat. Cattle and chickens are given estrogen like substances to increase weight gain over a shorter time period. When we eat beef or chicken we get low doses of these foreign estrogens which are also called xenoestrogens. These xenoestrogens are also in certain pesticides, detergents, plastic food containers and wraps, cosmetics, paints used to coat the inside of cans for canned food, and even from recycled water in municipal water systems that can contain low doses of estrogen from oral contraceptives. These chemicals that mimic estrogen can contaminate our air, food, and water and can end up in our body in parts per billion even though our bodies run on hormone levels of parts per trillion. In other words xenoestrogens mimic estrogen and can be present in the human body at levels 1,000 times more in concentration than the natural hormones in a human body!

Excess estrogen can also be caused by adrenal-gland malfunction or the over production of an enzyme called aromatase. Being obese is also a danger since fatty tissues produce estrogen and the more fat, the greater the risk of estrogen dominance and its unwanted effects.

What are the unwanted effects that are caused by estrogen dominance? Studies in women demonstrate that PMS, menopausal problems, endometrial cancer, breast cancer, excess fat, thinning hair, fibroids, osteoporosis, and fibro-cystic breasts have a direct correlation with estrogen dominance.

That men can also have severe health consequences from estrogen dominance is just beginning to be documented.

Doctors blame excess estrogen for 80% of B.P.H. cases. An experiment conducted at North Carolina State University suggests that some cases of baldness also may be caused by estrogen dominance since mice that were treated with a chemical that stops estrogen production re-grew hair.

The most common cancer in adult men in the United States is prostate cancer. Over 40% of all new cases of cancer in 1996 were prostate cancer. This has doubled from 20% in 1990 in just six short years. Mainstream medicine says the cause of prostate cancer is unknown. Tufts University researcher Shuk Mei Ho found that chronic low doses of estrogen could induce prostate cancer in rats. Thus we can hypothesize that estrogen dominance may cause prostate cancer in humans. One man being treated at the Mayo Clinic for prostate cancer that had spread to the bone began to use his wife's natural progesterone cream for osteoporosis. After 6 months of topical application of natural progesterone cream, he went back to the Mayo Clinic for a checkup and the Mayo Clinic could find no evidence of prostate cancer. Peter Eckhart, M.D., is now conducting an experimental therapeutic trial of natural progesterone as a treatment for prostate cancer.

Many experts attribute the alarmingly upward trend of cancers to the cancer causing chemicals in the environment. Estrogen mimics are one of the leaders of this pack of suspect chemicals. Excess estrogen is thought to cause approximately 10,000 cases of breast cancer in men a year. For men between 18 and 35, testicular cancer is the biggest cause of cancer related deaths. Testicular cancer has doubled in the United States and Europe in the last 50 years. In Denmark, rates have tripled. Again estrogen-mimicking chemicals in the environment are thought to play a significant part in this alarming increase.

How does one overcome estrogen dominance? Natural progesterone can attach to and block receptors for estrogen molecules, which then causes the wandering homeless estrogen molecules to be metabolized and excreted in the urine. Your body can utilize natural progesterone to counteract the toxic effects of estrogen dominance. Dr. Lee and other medical professionals report that all the effects of estrogen dominance are helped though the use of a high quality natural progesterone cream. In addition it has been known for some time that natural progesterone enhances sex drive in both men and women. In addition to natural progesterone, cruciferous vegetables, soy products, and flavonoids will also help keep estrogen levels in check.

Osteoporosis, a loss of bone mass and density, is a condition prevalent in both men and women. Estrogen has been shown to retard this loss and has been a major justification for prescribing HRT. Natural progesterone has been shown in clinical trials to not only retard bone loss, but to actually increase it even in elderly patients. John R. Lee, M.D. had a 72 year old woman patient who was able to increase her bone mass by 29% in less than 3 years using natural progesterone applied topically.

This newsletter is brought to you by CGC Publishing sponsored by Canyon Group Corporation. The author of these articles is Ardell Nelson, a licensed professional engineer who has over 35 patents and has published scores of technical articles. He is the CEO of Canyon Group Corporation which develops and manufactures the CANYON RIVER NATURALS™ line of products with the unique CRN TRANSDERMAL DELIVERY SYSTEM™.

REFERENCES

John R. Lee, M.D.,
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause, BLL Publishing, California, USA, January 1999.
.
Betty Kamen, Ph.D.,
Hormone Replacement Therapy, Nutrition Encounter, Novato, California, 1996.

Leslie Kenton,
Passage To Power, Randon House, UK, 1995

Williams & Wilkins,
Textbook of Gynecology (11th edition, 1987)

John R. Lee, M.D.,
Natural Porgesterone:The Multiple Role of a Remarkable Hormone, BLL Publishing, California, USA, 1993.

John R. Lee, M.D.,
Slowing the Aging Process with Natural Progesterone, BLL Publishing, California, USA, 1994.

John R. Lee, M.D.,
"Osteoporosis Reversal: The Role of Progesterone", International Clinical Nutrition Review, 1990.