Sorting Hormone Fact From Fiction

These are some of my favourite misconceptions or misunderstandings that turn up as regularly as my monthly cycle once did!

Progestins/Progestogens Are Not Progesterone!

This is the most frequent misunderstanding that occurs from doctors, patients and the press. Indeed I have even seen on one website the sentence that begins 'Progesterone (progestins)' which is one of the most blatant I have seen but not uncommon.

Progesterone is the natural hormone, progestins/progestogens are the synthetic chemical replacement found in the Pill, HRT and the Coil. Many women are told they are getting progesterone when in fact they are getting the opposite. My colleague Dame Dr Bond has also found that most of the anti-progesterone remarks relate to progestogens and if you refer to the papers in which such negative quotes appear they don't seem to know the difference which is depressing and frustrating for users.

Further there is growing concern amongst doctors familiar with bioidentical hormone usage that the progestins may prove to be as harmful as unopposed estrogen (estrogen dominance) has proved to be.

The Side Effects Confusion

Progesterone has been used for over 30 years without any side effects reported. On the other hand estrogen was showing side effects early on in its sole use in the original ERT (Estrogen Replacement Therapy) but these were ignored. It was almost 20 years before it was realised that estrogen replacement therapy had increased the risk of endometrial cancer dramatically.

Women Only Need Estrogen at Menopause

It is forgotten that women's production of estrogen does not stop at menopause but continues to be produced in the fat cells. Indeed that is probably why women develop a 'tummy' around this time to allow that process to take place - much as we may not wish it to!

Women do not continue to produce progesterone at menopause and if they are having unopposed estrogen then there is nothing to counteract its effects which are well documented and include increased risk of heart disease and breast cancer. Further, progesterone is essential to bone building and needed to keep bones strong and to build density that is lost and leads to osteoporosis.

Menopause Is A Natural Process That May Not Need Help

Well tell that to the many women suffering hormone imbalance and hot flushes and night sweats. In theory this is true and leads to the 'has nature got it wrong' debate' but ignores the fact that our lives are very different from our ancestors.

Women today are subject to excess oestrogen and chemical overload from food, water and medications. The biggest factor that exacerbates flushes is stress and this a major problem for many women juggling their lives today.

And of course our ancestors were not subject to surgery such as a hysterectomy which brings on an immediate enforced menopause without the natural and normal period of transition. This can often result in severe hormone disruption and the onset of hot flushes and sweats with a vengeance.

Summary

The choice to use natural hormones rests with each woman making an individual decision to do what is best for her symptoms and her body. The real proof of the success of natural hormones is their continuing, successful use now by several generations of women looking for an alternative to synthetic hormones.

For more information on 'Natural Progesterone' the book by Dame Dr Shirley Bond and AnnA Rushton please visit http://www.progesterone.co.uk/progesteronebook.htm