NATURAL VS. SYNTHETIC HORMONES (Fibroids)

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NATURAL VS. SYNTHETIC HORMONES (Fibroids)

JoAnn Guest

Jun 18, 2004 23:31 PDT

 

NATURAL VS. SYNTHETIC HORMONES

http://www.johnleemd.com/yoinsofornah.html#ed

 

Not too long ago Dr. Lee was confronted at a conference by the owner

of a large herbal products company who claimed that Dr. Lee was

incorrect in referring to the progesterone used in the creams

as " natural " because it was manufactured or synthesized in a

laboratory, and that made it synthetic.

 

This is a confusion in semantics that we hear frequently.

 

In fact progesterone is far more natural to your body than any plant

is because your body actually manufactures the identical substance.

 

The progesterone manufactured in the laboratory has the identical

molecular configuration of the progesterone that your body makes. It

does not matter if the body makes the hormone, or a chemist makes it

from a plant extract or from anything else.

 

If it is the identical molecule, it is the identical hormone. The

source of the progesterone is unimportant in this context.

 

We usually think of the word synthetic as meaning something that is

produced artificially, and is not found in nature, such as plastics

and pharmaceutical drugs.

 

For example, the " hormone " Provera is made from the same substances

that natural progesterone is made from, but the molecular

configuration of it

is changed in the laboratory so that it is not 'identical' to

anything found in nature.

 

But natural progesterone made in the laboratory is identical to that

made in the human body.

 

In other words, what makes a substance " synthetic " or " natural " in

this context is whether or not it can be found in nature.

 

The same distinctions apply to estrogens. The two types of estrogen

in Premarin taken separately are natural (found in nature) and not

synthetic, but not all of the estrogen in Premarin is natural to

humans.

 

About half of it is human estrogen, and about half is horse

estrogen -- a molecule not found in the human body.

 

It's ironic that the manufacturer of Premarin has tried to advertise

it as a natural product. Since about half of the estrogen in

Premarin is

estrone (which is natural to humans) and the other half consists of

a different estrogen that is natural only to horses and is extracted

from pregnant horse urine, it is natural, strictly speaking, only if

you are half horse and half human!

 

It's unfortunate that so much of estrogen research has been done

with Premarin, so we don't have a truly accurate knowledge base of

the

effects of human estrogen versus horse estrogen.

 

Plants do not make human hormones, but some plants make compounds

that have some hormonal effect.

 

These, in their natural form, are called phytohormones ( " plant-

based " hormones).

 

Although they are not the same as our hormones they may have some

hormonal activity. We'll cover those in more detail shortly.

 

Some plants make substances that are quite similar to animal

cholesterol or animal hormones, but they have no hormonal effect.

 

Such compounds, called sterols, are easily chemically modified so

that they become identical to human hormones. An example of this is

the diosgenin that is extracted from wild yams and non-gmo soybeans

to make human hormones in the laboratory.

 

To read more, please read Dr. Lee's book, What Your Doctor May Not

Tell You About Premenopause…

 

 

ESTROGEN DOMINANCE

 

Estrogen dominance is a term coined by Dr. Lee in his first book on

natural progesterone.

 

It describes a condition where a woman can have deficient, normal or

excessive estrogen, but has little or no progesterone to balance its

effects in the body.

 

Even a woman with low estrogen levels can have estrogen dominance

symptoms if she doesn 't have any progesterone.

 

 

The symptoms and conditions associated with estrogen dominance are:

 

Acceleration of the aging process

 

Allergies, including asthma, hives, rashes, sinus congestion

Autoimmune disorders such as lupus erythematosis and thyroiditis,

and possibly Sjoegren's disease

 

Breast cancer

Breast tenderness

Cervical dysplasia

Cold hands and feet as a symptom of thyroid dysfunction

Copper excess

Decreased sex drive

Depression with anxiety or agitation

Dry eyes

Early onset of menstruation

Endometrial (uterine) cancer

Fat gain, especially around the abdomen, hips and thighs

Fatigue

Fibrocystic breasts

Foggy thinking

Gallbladder disease

Hair Loss

Headaches

Hypoglycemia

Increased blood clotting (increasing risk of strokes)

Infertility

Irregular menstrual periods

Irritability

Insomnia

Magnesium deficiency

Memory loss

Mood swings

Osteoporosis

Polycystic ovaries

Premenopausal bone loss

PMS

Prostate cancer

Sluggish metabolism

Thyroid dysfunction mimicking hypothyroidism

Uterine cancer

Uterine fibroids

Water retention, bloating

Zinc deficiency

This material may NOT be copied or reproduced in any form or media

without express written permission of the authors.

 

 

THE CAUSES FO ESTROGEN DOMINANCE

 

Strictly speaking, it's possible that we are all -- men, women and

children -- suffering a little from estrogen dominance, because

there is so much of it in our environment.

 

You would have to virtually live in a bubble to escape the excess

estrogens we're exposed to through pesticides, plastics, industrial

waste products, car exhaust, meat, soaps and much of the carpeting,

furniture and paneling that we live with indoors every day. You may

have on-and-off sinus problems, headaches, dry eyes, asthma or cold

hands and feet for example, and not know to attribute them to your

exposure to xenohormones.

 

Over time the exposure will cause more chronic problems such as

arthritis and premenopause symptoms, and may be a direct or indirect

cause of cancer.

 

To read more about estrogen dominance and its causes, please read

Dr. Lee's books, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause,

or What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause…

 

 

NATURAL PROGESTERONE

 

" It's as if my body breathed a big sigh of relief . "

" My life is back on track and my symptoms are gone. "

" I thought my ability to think clearly was gone for good, but it's

back and better than ever. "

 

" I had a second ultrasound and the fibroid is half the size it was

six months ago. My doctor says I don't need to have a hysterectomy

after all. "

 

" My PMS and tender breasts are a thing of the past. And I'm in

control of my emotions the week before my period. "

" After three months on progesterone, folic acid and vitamin B6 I am

no longer testing positive for cervical dysplasia. "

 

" Since I began using progesterone cream I haven't had one migraine

headache. "

" I've lost 11 pounds and I think most of it was water weight. I no

longer feel like a balloon. "

" I can sleep again and I'm much less moody and anxious. "

" We just wanted to let you know that we had a healthy baby boy. "

 

 

These are the kinds of letters, faxes and phone calls that Dr. Lee

and Dr. Hanley receive every day from women whose premenopausal

symptoms cleared up after they began using a natural progesterone

cream. It may sound too good to be true, but it's merely a case of

supplying the body

with what it needs to maintain balance. You've read about how out of

balance our estrogenic environment has become; it's no wonder women

are feeling much better when they use some progesterone.

 

Unlike estrogen, progesterone is not a generic name but is the name

of the hormone produced by the corpus luteum after ovulation, and in

smaller quantities by the adrenal gland. It is synthesized in humans

in a biochemical pathway leading from cholesterol to pregnenolone to

progesterone.

 

In turn, progesterone is the precursor of corticosteroids

and testosterone. Progesterone is also synthesized, in copious

amounts, by the placenta during pregnancy.

 

Progesterone is a specific molecule made by mammals and has multiple

roles in your body. It affects every tissue in your body including

the uterus, cervix, and vagina, the endocrine (hormonal) system,

brain cells, fat metabolism, thyroid hormone function, water

balance,

peripheral nerve myelin sheath synthesis, bone cells, energy

production and thermogenesis, the immune system, survival and

development of the embryo, and growth and development of the fetus.

 

Though referred to as a

sex hormone, progesterone conveys no specific secondary sex

characteristics and as such cannot be called a male or female

hormone.

 

Progesterone is highly fat-soluble compound exceedingly well

absorbed when applied transdermally or onto the skin. According to

hormone

researcher David Zava, Ph.D., progesterone is by far the most

lipophilic, or fat-loving, of the steroid hormones.

 

It circulates in the blood, carried by fat-soluble substances such

as red blood cell membranes. Some 70 to 80 percent of ovary-made

progesterone is carried on red blood cells and thus is not measured

by

serum or plasma blood tests.

 

This progesterone is available to the body for use, and readily

filters through the saliva glands into saliva where it can be

measured accurately.

The remaining 20 to 30 percent of progesterone in the body is

protein-bound and is found in the watery blood plasma where it can

be measured by serum or plasma blood tests. However, only 1 to 9

percent of this progesterone is available to the body for use.

 

That is why saliva testing is a far more accurate and relevant test

than blood tests in measuring bio-available progesterone.

 

The fall of progesterone levels at menopause is proportionately much

greater than the fall of estrogen levels. While estrogen falls only

40

to 60 percent from baseline on average, progesterone can decline to

nearly zero. Furthermore, anovulatory cycles will cause low

progesterone levels on and off throughout the premenopausal years.

 

To read more about Natural Progesterone, please read Dr. Lee's

books,

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause or What Your

Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause… Order Now

 

 

UTERINE ENLARGEMENT AND FIBRIODS

 

 

The uterus is one of the first organs to manifest symptoms when a

woman's hormones are out of balance. Two of the most common uterine

symptoms of premenopause syndrome are an enlarged uterus, and

uterine fibroids.

Women with PMS often experience painful periods (dysmenorrhea)

which are most often caused when the endometrial lining of the

uterus

extends into the muscular wall of the uterus (adenomyosis). When

shedding of the endometrium occurs (menstruation), the blood is

released into the muscular lining, causing severe pain.

 

Conventional medicine treats this pain with NSAIDS

(non-steroidal-anti-inflammatory drugs) such as ibuprofen, but

ignores

the underlying metabolic hormonal imbalance that caused it.

 

 

The problem can often be simply resolved by restoring proper

progesterone levels, which restores normal growth and shedding of

the endometrium.

 

Estrogen dominance causes the uterus to grow, and without the

monthly balancing effect of progesterone, it doesn't have the proper

signals to stop growing.

 

In some women this results in an enlarged uterus that presses on

other organs, such as the bladder, and often on the digestive

system, and generally causes discomfort and heavy menstrual bleeding.

 

In other women estrogen dominance results in fibroids, which are

tough, fibrous, non-cancerous lumps that grow in the uterus. Some

fibroids can grow to the size of a grapefruit or cantaloupe, causing

constant

bleeding and such heavy menstrual periods that the blood loss is

akin to hemorrhaging.

 

Fibroids always shrink at menopause, but the most common course of

action a doctor takes when a patient comes in with a fibroid is to

remove the uterus. The explanation given is that a fibroid is too

difficult to remove without irreversibly damaging the uterus. But in

most cases this is no longer true. If you do end up needing to have

a fibroid surgically removed, find a doctor who can do it without

removing your uterus with it.

 

If you have many small fibroids, it may be more difficult to remove

them. On the other hand, their smaller size may make it easier to

treat them without surgery.

 

To read more about fibroids, please read Dr. Lee's book, What Your

Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause… Order Now

 

 

PREMENSTRURAL SYNDROME (PMS)

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is by far the single most common

complaint of premenopausal women. Current estimates are that severe

PMS occurs in 2.5 to 5 percent of women, and mild PMS occurs in 33

percent of women.

PMS was first described in 1931 as a " state of unbearable tension, "

a description most women can understand to a certain degree.

 

Some women have PMS from the time they begin having menstrual cycles

but for most, PMS begins in the premenopausal years, around the

mid-thirties, and becomes increasingly severe as the years go on.

Although it's possible to create a list of dozens and dozens of PMS

symptoms, the most common are bloating/water retention and the

resulting weight gain, breast tenderness and lumpiness, headaches,

cramps,

fatigue, irritability, mood swings, and anxiety. In women with

severe PMS, irritability and mood swings can become outbursts of

anger and

rage. By definition PMS symptoms occur in the two weeks before

menstruation and sometimes for a few days into menstruation.

 

You should know right up front that there is no magic bullet for

PMS.

A little bit of progesterone will help a lot, and in some women it

solves the problem, because it offsets the effects of environmental

estrogens

and anovulatory cycles, but PMS is a multi-factorial problem that

needs to be handled on many physical levels as well as on the

emotional level.

You'll discover more about the emotional level when we talk about

the emotional side of premenopause in the next chapter.

 

Stress is almost always involved in PMS. Stress increases cortisol

levels, which blocks progesterone from its receptors.

 

Therefore, normal progesterone levels do not mean that supplemental

progesterone is not needed.

 

Extra progesterone is necessary to overcome the blockade of its

receptors by cortisol. When a woman discovers she has a handle on

controlling her PMS, it will help her manage stress better. Then

lower levels of progesterone will work normally again.

 

For years it was assumed that since PMS symptoms occur when

progesterone levels are normally relatively high, that it was

progesterone that was causing the symptoms.

 

Theoretically, symptoms could relate either to elevated progesterone

levels or progesterone deficiency (estrogen dominance). Elevated

levels of progesterone are unlikely since, during pregnancy,

progesterone levels are 10 to 20 times higher than normal mid-cycle

levels and

similar symptoms do not occur.

 

Progesterone deficiency (estrogen dominance) is much more likely

since many of the symptoms correlate with estrogen dominance

symptoms, most notably water retention, breast swelling, headaches,

mood swings, loss of libido, and poor sleep patterns.

 

A woman's response to her own cyclical hormones is extremely

individual, and this is part of the reason that it has been so

difficult to pin down the causes of PMS. Estrogen levels that cause

anxiety and bloating in one woman will have virtually no effect on

another.

 

A woman who sails through an anovulatory cycle with hardly a ripple

is in complete contrast to the woman who is plagued by migraines or

anger premenstrually when she doesn't ovulate.

 

Birth control pills and premenopausal hormone replacement therapy

(HRT) will cause a long list of side effects (including PMS) in many

women, while others will say they feel fine.

 

This is why it's so important that you become familiar with your own

body and your own symptoms, and don't let anybody tell you that what

you're experiencing is " just an emotional problem, " or that an

antidepressant or tranquilizer is all you need.

 

 

PMS AND THE STRESS CONNECTION

 

You know from the chapter on hormone balance that stress increases

your levels of cortisol, a hormone released primarily by the adrenal

glands in response to feelings of fear, danger or even a sense of

competition.

 

In excess, cortisol can stimulate feelings of irritability, anger

and rage.

 

Cortisol is also released when you push yourself to work through

tiredness day after day. Think of cortisol as a backup energy

system.

 

Like the batteries that back up your electronics when the electrical

power goes out, you can't just keep using them to give you full

power, or they'll wear out and you'll also lose that source of

energy.

 

In the same way, you can't depend on your cortisol and your adrenal

glands to keep taking you beyond your physical limits or eventually

you will create depleted organs and chronic fatigue.

 

Since cortisol and progesterone compete for common receptors in the

cells, cortisol impairs progesterone activity, setting the stage for

estrogen dominance.

 

Chronically elevated cortisol levels can be a direct cause of

estrogen dominance, with all the familiar PMS symptoms.

 

High cortisol levels also affect blood sugar.

 

Cortisol sends glucose (blood sugar) flooding into the cells.

The initial rush of glucose into the cells may feel great, but

twenty or so minutes later your body will be working overtime to

produce more glucose and you'll be searching the cupboards or your

desk drawers for candy

bars, cookies and potato chips to get your blood sugar and your

energy back up.

 

The majority of those empty calories will be converted to fat and if

you keep up the pattern long term, you'll be struggling to keep your

weight down and your energy up.

 

Fluctuating blood sugar creates another type of negative feedback

cycle, where high levels of sugar in the blood stimulate the release

of

adrenaline, which in turn stimulates the release of cortisol, which

in

turn causes a craving for quick calories, and so forth.

 

To read more about PMS, please read Dr. Lee's book, What Your Doctor

May Not Tell You About Premenopause… Order Now

 

 

THE REWARDS OF NATURAL HORMONE BALANCE: A TESTIMONIAL

 

It's difficult to describe the relief that women feel when they

balance their hormones and come out of the ill effects of

premenopause syndrome.

 

One of the best descriptions we've read comes from a woman named

Linda, who has turned a longer version of the following letter into

a brochure

and is handing it out to any woman who will take it:

 

Mood swings, chronic fatigue, foggy thinking, depression, leg

cramps,

migraine headaches, heavy painful periods, anemia, endometriosis,

shooting back and extremity pain, water retention and bloating,

sleep dysfunction, anxiety attacks, thinning hair, allergies,

chronic sinus infections, fever blisters, acne, dry skin,

infertility, hypoglycemic

symptoms and fibroids are only a few of the many symptoms that

dominated my life for almost two years.

 

Those years were so challenging physically and emotionally, I

thought I'd never survive!

At the age of 30, doctors were giving me every conflicting diagnosis

in the world, taking my money for doing so, and yet leaving me

without any

help or suggestions for getting help. I saw gynecologists,

endocrinologists, dermatologists, neurologists, and assorted other

" -ologists. " Their comments ranged from, " The tests show that you

are

perfectly healthy. It must be in your head, take this Xanax, " to

" Something is definitely wrong, but I don't know what it is. "

Emotionally I felt like I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. I

felt very alone.

 

Finally I drove four hours to see a specialist who put me on

synthetic estrogen, progesterone and testosterone.

At first, I felt so good I thought this was the miracle for which I

had been praying.

 

But within two years of starting this treatment the symptoms came

back. The doctor's answer was to continue increasing my dosage until

I was at the maximum level: six implants, the patch and shots in-

between. I went

from seeing him every six months to every three months. The hormones

were only effective for two months and the last month before I could

get

back for more implants I felt emotionally and physically as if I had

been thrown off a ten-story building.

 

For six years I lived my life surviving from office visit to office

visit. I was having constant back pain, heavy bleeding, anemia and

varying degrees of all my old symptoms, some worse than before. My

pap smears began indicating pre-cancerous cells. This went on for

about a

year before I finally agreed to have a hysterectomy. The surgery

alleviated the bleeding, anemia and back pain for obvious reasons --

my uterus was three times its normal size and density! However, all

the other symptoms continued.

 

It was three years after my surgery before I learned about natural

progesterone and began using it.

 

After a brief period of withdrawal from synthetic hormones, the only

hormone I have used during the past four years is

 

a natural progesterone cream. I also have combined this with a

balanced

diet, exercise and nutritional supplements. My life has changed

dramatically.

 

Today, I feel like I did when I was in my twenties: I have energy;

can think clearly; no depression; my skin is wonderful; I am losing

weight; can sleep at night; no more migraines; my hair has stopped

falling out;

the dark facial hair is disappearing; and my allergies have

disappeared.

 

No more antihistamines! This is the answer to my prayers. My family

is glad to have the " real me " back.

 

It's sad to say that Linda's story is not all that unusual. It is

very

common to hear stories from women whose symptoms are less severe,

but who are suffering from similar problems.

 

Dr. Lee has been (wrongly) accused of talking only about natural

progesterone cream as if it is the magic solution to a woman's every

problem, but this letter demonstrates why.

 

Progesterone cream is certainly not a magic potion. But it is the

best remedy we've found so far to counteract the effects of living

in a state of xenohormone excess. We do not naturally need to

supplement progesterone.

 

Mother Nature has equipped us to live a long, healthy robust life

given a wholesome environment. If we were living in a stress-free,

unpolluted

world; if we were eating whole, fresh organic foods; and if we got

plenty of outdoor exercise, we probably wouldn't ever need

progesterone.

 

 

To read more about how to achieve Natural Hormone Balance, please

read Dr. Lee's book, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About

Premenopause…

 

 

NUTRITION AND HORMONE BALANCE:

 

How a good diet with the right foods can help balance your hormones.

 

Although natural progesterone can have wonderfully curative effects

on

the symptoms of premenopause syndrome, it works best when you eat

wholesome foods, pay attention to possible food allergies, and take

nutritional supplements.

 

The rewards of eating a nutritious diet are more than worth the

sacrifices. You'll decrease your risk of future heart disease,

cancer,

diabetes, osteoporosis and arthritis.

 

If your diet has consisted largely of high calorie, nutrition-free

foods such as candy bars and cookies, your energy and moods will

improve

dramatically. If you suffer from indigestion, gas, bloating, and

constipation, you'll be happy to know that eliminating food

allergens and good nutrition are nearly always a cure. You'll catch

fewer colds and flus because your immunity will improve, it will be

easier to drop excess fat, and your skin will clear up.

 

In some cases, a well-designed, individualized diet, supplement and

exercise program is all that's needed to restore balance during the

premenopause years and beyond. Depending on your exposure to

xenohormones, you may well find that you don't need to use natural

progesterone.

 

What are these magical foods you're supposed to be eating? Which of

the

endless diets touted this month is the one to follow? Which of the

hundreds of supplements found on health food store shelves should

you be taking?

 

There's no one answer for everybody, but this chapter gives you

enough

guidelines to begin to create your own personal hormone balance

program.

 

 

Some women are coming from a lifetime of hardly thinking about what

foods they put in their mouths, except for those times they've tried

to lose weight. The more ambitious have gone to the bookstore for

the latest best-selling diet books.

Some say they've tried the high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets and felt

worse than ever, while others say they feel great on such a diet but

can't seem to stick to it. Still others swear by the popular diet

books

that promote balanced intake of fat, protein, and carbohydrates,

while some feel them to be too regimented, unpalatable, or hard to

follow.

 

There's a lot of frustration around food for most women, and this is

especially true of premenopausal women who are starting to gain some

serious weight for the first time in their lives and can't seem to

do anything to stop it.

 

Your first assignment is to stop worrying so much about the weight

gain. This is not in any way an encouragement to become obese, but

rather to let go of the starving model ideal. To the extent that you

accept your

womanly body you will be giving that gift of acceptance to the next

generation of women as well!

 

Mother Nature designed women so that they would put on little bit of

weight premenopausally. It will get you through menopause more

gracefully and protect you from osteoporosis and strokes. If you

don't allow the weight gain to become obesity, the latest research

shows that

you won't be at a higher risk for heart attacks and cancer,

especially if your keep your hormones balanced.

 

You can assume that you are obese if your weight is interfering with

your ability to move around physically, or if it is causing

weight-related problems such as diabetes, arthritis, and difficulty

breathing.

 

In spite of the charts and graphs and studies put out by everyone

from

the American Heart Association to the federal government, there is

no one diet that is right for everyone.

 

Nobody can hand you a piece of paper or a book that tells you

exactly what you need to eat unless they have collected a lot of

data first.

 

Anyone who has done the work of figuring out their ideal foods and

supplements can tell you that it's a process that takes some time,

attention and tracking.

It takes trying new things. It means getting rid of the processed

foods you depend on for comfort and replacing them with real,

nourishing, substantial whole foods.

 

It also means paying close attention to how your body responds to

different foods and eliminating those that are having adverse

effects on

your health. No one can do this for you. The good news is that it

can be a fun piece of detective work with great rewards.

 

To read more about how the right foods can help you achieve hormone

balance and optimal health, please read Dr. Lee's book, What Your

Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause… Order Now

 

Excerpted from:

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer,

Chapter 16

 

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