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Dr. Lee proposes that a new syndrome be
recognized: estrogen dominance. It happens in younger women as a
result of anovulatory periods, as described, and in older women who are given estrogen but
not progesterone.
Estrogen's effects are almost opposite
to progesterone's (see above). In the absence of progesterone's tempering
influence, estrogen dominance can lead to:
-
increased body fat
-
salt and fluid retention
-
decreased libido
-
impaired blood sugar control
-
impaired thyroid activity
-
depression and headache
-
increased blood clotting
-
increased risk of breast & uterine cancer
Progesterone supplementation blocks many of
estrogen's potential side effects. Hot flushes, etc.. are alleviated because not only
does the rise in progesterone blood levels dampen the hypothalamus signals, but estrogen
levels may increase as well. Remember, estrogens are made from progesterone (via
androstenedione and/or testosterone), but not vice versa! (Who said nature was simple!)
The Big Question: What about osteoporosis ?
Every older woman worries about becoming a little
old lady, should her spinal vertebra start telescoping; or is concerned about developing
fragile bones that break from minor falls and stresses. Estrogen counters one aspect of
bone loss but Lee says most clinicians still don't realize nature gives progesterone
an equal if not more important part in the process.
Osteoclasts [with a 'c'] are bone cells that resorb
(dissolve away) older bone, leaving tiny unfilled spaces behind. Osteoblasts (with a 'b']
then "move into these spaces and produce new bone...At any stage in life, one's bone
status is a product of the balance between...bone resorption and new bone formation,"
known as remodeling.
It's clear that estrogen replacement therapy does slow
down bone resorption by the osteoclasts, but it doesn't build new bone. The least
acted-upon information in the HRT world is that natural progesterone
stimulates new bone formation by osteoblasts.
In the book's foreword, Lee describes his own
unforgettable trials with osteoporotic patients. Estrogen plus calcium and vitamin D were
not doing enough for their bone problems. Beginning about 1979, he began to treat these
women with natural progesterone applied to the skin as a creme. He knew that all
steroids were absorbed well transdermally.
"Faced with menopausal osteoporotic patients
unable to use estrogen by reason of prior breast or uterine cancer or other
contraindications, it seemed entirely reasonable to me to offer them the option of using a
progesterone skin cream moisturizer readily available over-the-counter.
"...Dr. Malcolm Powell had just recently opened a
local facility offering relatively low cost dual photon absorptiometry (DPA), thus making
accurate evaluation of bone mineral density a reality for those of us in clinical
practice.
"To my considerable surprise, serial lumbar DPA
tests showed actual increase, rather than mere delayed loss, in these patients.
With that as encouragement, I broadened the scope of progesterone therapy to include
patients already on estrogen and found the same results. As if that were not enough, the
patients reported...increased alertness and energy, relief of breast fibrocysts and
related mastodynia, recovery from mild hypothyroidism, decreased need of aspirin or
anti-inflammatory drugs, normal blood pressure in those previously with mild hypertension,
and most unexpected of all, a return of normal libido. The icing on the cake was the fact
of no hint of side effects." The years since have provided repeated, solid
validations of the benefits from using natural progesterone creme, with or without natural
estrogen, for his osteoporotic patients.
His book is perhaps the most enlightening treatise on safe,
practical hormonal and nutritional means to treat (and prevent) osteoporosis that one
could ever hope to stumble across, whether as a health worker or layperson. Medical
shortsightedness about this enormous problem and the suffering it brings (osteoporosis
causes over 1.3 million fractures a year in the U.S. at an estimated cost of over 10
billion dollars), guarantees that the experts who rely on estrogens are no closer to
solving it than they were 20 years ago. Dr. Lee told me on the telephone, "I'm
getting calls from angry M.D.'s all over the country. They're.kicking themselves for
having allowed the pharmaceutical gang to pull the wool over their eyes for so many
years!"
Dr. Lee, a fine writer, makes the progesterone story
clear and readable but provides the technical charts and references scientists appreciate.
He offers precise information on dosages and applications for a multitude of female needs
and conditions. To learn more about Dr. Lee's use of Pro-Gest, see his books,
Natural Progesterone: The Multiple Roles of a Remarkable Hormone
and What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause.
Forager Time Again, Folks?
The important question to ask ourselves is why would
nature make the mistake of granting many decades of life to women after childbearing is
over, and yet cause our bodies and bones to become too decrepit, unlike men's, to make
those years worthwhile?
Dr. Lee's insightful answer:
"Mother Nature did not make the mistake; we did. Just as with
phytoestrogens, many
(over 5000 known) plants make sterols that are progestrogenic." The Mexican yam
(Dioscorea), from which diosgenin is extracted and converted easily to progesterone, is
one of many edible yams native to all tropical and subtropical areas. The rhizomes of some
species grow up to six feet in length - our foraging ancestors would've been tripping over
them! They're still a cheap, nourishing staple all over the world.****
Like another great source of easily digested carbohydrates - cassava roots - yams are safe
for gluten intolerant people, and are a rich supplier of thiocyanate whose manifold
virtues are described in other FL issues.
In populations where foods are eaten every day that
supply progestrogenic substances and phyto-estrogens (plant estrogens), Lee writes,
"not only do the women of these cultures have healthy ovaries with healthy follicles
producing sufficient progesterone, but, at menopause, their diets provide sufficient
progestogenic substances to keep their libido high, their bones strong, and passage
through menopause uneventful and symptom-free." Nature didn't make a mistake, after
all!
Further, he states, traditional practices among many
cultures provide relief "by the use of herbs, such as Dong Quai, Black
Cohosh, and
Fennel, which contain active estrogenic and progestogenic substances."
I treated myself to an extract of wild yam, and one of
phyto-estrogens, at an herb shop in Berkeley. I also picked up ginseng and dried-yam root
from the fragrant offices of a doctor of Chinese medicine. "We have many uses for the
Dioscorea species," he tells me.
In other words, we womenfolk have an obligation to
educate ourselves (and our doctors) about time-honored, safe options, even if it means
mucking about with herbal concoctions and hunting for the as yet few enlightened books on
the subject, like these:
-
A detailed guide to women's herbs is Susun S. Weed's Menopausal
Years, The Wise Woman Way, Alternative Approaches for Women 30-90, 1992, Ash Tree
Publishing, PO Box 64, Woodstock NY 12498.
-
The subtitle of the 1993 book by Betty Kamen, Ph.D., Hormone
Replacement Therapy: YES or NO? tells it all: "How to make an informed decision
about estrogen, progesterone, & other strategies for dealing with PMS, menopause, and
osteoporosis." (Nutrition Encounter, Inc., Box 5847. Novato, CA 94948.) Dr. Kamen. a
veteran researcher and medical writer, has a world of information at her fingertips,
offering both medical and alternative approaches and backing them up with studies galore.
Guess what one of her favorite remedies is. Uh-huh, natural progesterone
creme! "When
you intervene with estrogen," she writes, "you're adding a powerful hormone that
has a direct effect on tissue all over your body. But progesterone is more of an
intermediate building block, while leaving the natural control and regulation mechanisms
in place. That explains why it's so much safer to use natural progesterone than
estrogen."
Kamen dedicates her book "to John R. Lee, M.D., whose rare vision has made optimal
health a reality for many women, regardless of age."
-
Another valuable reference, Ann Louise Gittleman's Super Nutrition for
Menopause (Pocket Book, 1993, Simon & Schuster, NY), tells how a program of
nutrients and exercise, tailored especially for the woman at midlife, will take the kinks
out of menopause. Gittleman, a clinical nutritionist and best-selling writer on nutrition
as a healing force, deplores the "medicalization of this natural midlife
process." She explains fully the physiological changes at menopause, illuminates the
hormonal dilemmas, and lays out well researched alternatives to synthetic
HRT, such as
herbal remedies, homeopathy, and, yes, natural progesterone creme!
Her book confirms what I feel about my own life, well past midpoint.
Lucky to live where I'm shielded from war and famine, the energies I used to use for
staying pretty I can divert towards getting wiser! By virtue of social security and good
habits of health that include giving the 'medicalization' model a wide berth, I can ease
into the role of 'tribal elder,' sopping up and dispensing wisdom, working for love not
money!
The Felix Letter, P.O.B. 7094, Berkeley, CA 94707
is published independently by Clara Felix and supported solely by subscription.
Subscription $12/yr (6 issues), $22/2yrs (12 issues).
**** The common sweet yams sold in U.S. are a variety
of sweet potato - nourishing foods but not related to Dioscorea species and probably not,
as far as I can tell, high in diosgenin. (back to where you were)
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