Hormones That Boost Women’s Health

Media reports have trumpeted the fact that hormone replacement with synthetic progestin and oral estrogen poses serious health risks for women. Lost in the commotion: Bio-identical progesterone and topical estrogen are important tools for women’s health. They can help relieve PMS and ease menopause problems while lowering your risk of cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis.

Progesterone’s Health Benefits

By nature, progesterone is a calming or tranquility hormone. It can even cause you to feel a bit sleepy; that’s one reason why it is taken at night. It makes a woman feel better from the symptoms of PMS such as:

• Bloating.
• Irritability.
• Breast tenderness.
• Migraine headaches.
• Anxiety.

Progesterone is also used to reduce heavy or painful periods. In fact, symptoms of progesterone deficiency include bloating of the face, hands and feet from water retention before your period. Tension in your face and feeling a lot of pressure during this time of the month can also indicate that progesterone levels are insufficient. Breasts that are painful or develop cysts can be a sign of low progesterone, too. The same holds true for ovarian cysts and uterine fibroids.

Progesterone supplementation is also used to stop the symptoms associated with early menopause when ovarian function slows and the ovaries stop producing estrogen. The symptoms include:

• Hot flashes.
• Breast tenderness.
• Worsening PMS.
• Decreased sex drive.
• Vaginal dryness.
• Irregular periods.
• Fatigue.
• Urinary problems (leakage, urgency).
• Mood swings.
• Insomnia.

Health Protection

Beyond helping with the bothersome symptoms of PMS and perimenopause, there are more urgent reasons women use natural progesterone supplementation: Progesterone helps protect women from heart disease, cancer and osteoporosis (brittle bones). This is largely because progesterone can decrease certain ill effects of estrogen, reducing the chances of uterine cancer and breast cancer. Many scientific studies have shown that progesterone decreases breast cancer risk:

• A study reported in the Journal of Epidemiology[1] in 1981 looked at 1,083 women who were treated for infertility. The researchers followed these women for 13 to 33 years, noting their incidence of breast cancer. The premenopausal risk for breast cancer was 5.4 times higher in women with low progesterone levels compared to those with normal levels. There were 10 times more deaths from cancer in the low progesterone group compared with those with normal progesterone levels.

• A 2002 case-control study reported in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention [2] looked at third trimester progesterone levels and breast cancer risk. It found increasing levels of progesterone were associated with decreased risk of breast cancer. This association was strongest before the age of 50. They also found that those in the highest quartile of progesterone levels had a 50 percent reduction in breast cancer risk compared with those in the lowest quartile of progesterone levels.

• In 2004, a prospective study of progesterone levels and associated breast cancer risk in 5,963 women was reported in the International Journal of Cancer.[3]

• In 2008, researchers reported that they had followed 80,000 postmenopausal women for more than eight years. They showed that using progesterone along with estrogen significantly reduced breast cancer risk compared to the use of synthetic progestin.[4]

Progesterone also is beneficial to heart health. It actually has a vascular relaxation effect. The Women’s Health Initiative studies showed that progesterone (unlike progestins) increases the cardio-protective effects of estrogen and reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke. Progesterone also improves lipid profiles and helps estrogen improve lipid profiles (unlike progestins). Many studies which compare progesterone with estrogen versus progestins with estrogen prove this fact.

Dosing Guidelines

If you are sufferPMS symptoms, you can use the daily sustained release or topical cream progesterone on days 14 through 25 of your cycle. If you are having perimenopausal symptoms, the same dose of progesterone as for PMS applies, but starting on day 12 of your cycle works best to control irregular bleeding.

Vaginal suppositories also have good absorption like creams. If progesterone alone does not control your perimenopausal symptoms, you should add in bi-estrogen (estradiol plus estriol usually in a 50:50 or 20:80 ratio) in a topical cream starting at a dose of ¼ to ½ mg daily.

After Menopause

After menopause you should consider using both progesterone and estrogen even if you have no symptoms. These hormones have significant benefits for your heart, liver, brain, bones and skin. After menopause these can be taken daily or with a break for three to five days per month. You also may need the strengthening and libido-enhancing benefits of daily low dose testosterone (¼ to 1 mg) or consider taking DHEA (a precursor hormone to testosterone).

Progesterone reduces the bothersome symptoms of PMS and also of perimenopause. It improves mood and sleep. It lowers risk for breast cancer, uterine cancer and heart disease. It’s even an effective protection against osteoporosis. Progesterone supplementation can be a pretty good deal for those of you who need it. Be assured it is safe because it is not a progestin. I’ll discuss the health benefits of transdermal estrogen supplementation in my next article.