Hormone Balance

Hormone balance is essential for good health. This page is about the benefits that women of all ages can derive from keeping their hormones balanced through progesterone therapy.

Before further illustration it will be of interest to describe briefly the monthly cycle.

A woman's reproductive life spans about 40 years, from puberty with the onset of menstruation to menopause when it ceases. A woman is born with all the eggs she will ever need - about 300,000. Of the 100 to 300 that develop each month, only one or two become mature, whilst the remainder are re-absorbed by the body.

The cycle is dominated by the two hormones, estrogen and progesterone and hormone balance is essentially all about keeping these two in the right ratios.

For the first half of the menstrual cycle, that is from day 1 to day 13, estrogen is the dominant hormone. Ovulation usually takes place on day 14, half way through the monthly cycle. About one day before, on day 13, the secretion of estrogen begins to fall, while at the same time there is a marked increase in the secretion of progesterone. It continues to rise considerably until day 21 to 23 when it begins to fall, reaching its lowest level at the start of menstruation on about day 28.

Estrogen, which is produced mainly by the ovaries, ensures the development of the breasts and uterus at puberty. After this its role is to build the uterine lining, or endometrium, each month prior to fertilisation as well as to help regulate the menstrual cycle and normalise blood cholesterol levels.

Progesterone is made in the body each month by the corpus luteum which is a yellow body formed in the ovary after ovulation. It is produced in such quantities by the body that it is measured in milligrams whereas estrogen is measured in micrograms (1000th of a milligram). You can see from these figures that hormone balance can be easily disrupted by only a small increase in estrogen relative to progesterone.

The importance of hormone balance can be readily seen through an understanding that progesterone is not only a precursor to many other hormones in the body but ensures that the endometrium stays in place, at the same time making the uterus ready for implantation of a fertilised egg. Once this occurs the placenta takes over the production of progesterone, which rises from a mere 25 mg to over 400 mg a day.

If the balance between the two hormones gets disrupted in any way, and the stresses of our Western way of life - not least our diet - frequently cause this, then a great many adverse symptoms can occur.

Hormone balance = reduced symptoms.

A phenomenon known as "estrogen dominance" happens in many women when hormone balance is impaired. This plays havoc not only with their emotions but creates very unpleasant physical side effects. The reason behind this is the increasing use of chemicals in the world and the widespread use of estrogen in oral contraceptives and in hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

Unfortunately estrogen dominance is something few people know anything about. Most women have been convinced that estrogen is the answer to most female hormonal problems, whether in the form of the contraceptive pill for menstruating women or HRT for menopausal women.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Fortunately hormone balance is easy to acheive and maintan. How? Simply by withdrawing estrogen and replacing it with progesterone.

The following list gives some of the symptoms of estrogen dominance:

Confusion also exists between the words progesterone and progestogen or progestin. The former is a natural hormone made by the body and which is now being made from the plant extract diosgenin. Progestogen, on the other hand, is a synthetic hormone (with a molecular structure that differs from that of progesterone) used by the drug companies in oral contraceptives and HRT in preference (for commercial reasons) to the natural hormone. The contra-indications, precautions, and adverse reactions of these synthetics make horrifying reading.

Many medical practitioners have not heard of the benefits of progesterone and the concept of hormone balance. Fortunately, however, a few enlightened medical doctors in the USA, Britain and elsewhere have been using progesterone to treat their patients for a number of years now.

Further positive effects of progesterone are that the immune system is boosted, one's physical and mental energy is increased, and one becomes calmer. Progesterone also protects against toxic substances and acts as a natural diuretic.

Many of the above listed symptoms are those of Pre-Menstrual Syndrome (PMS) and low blood sugar. Up to 60% of menstruating women in the western world suffer from PMS in one form or another. Much research has been done on it. Some has been found to be psychological, some related to food, some to stress and some to problems of hormone balance.

Research has shown that women with PMS consume three times as much sugar as those without. This unfortunately leads to the excretion of magnesium, which is vital in preventing PMS and menopausal symptoms in the first place.

To guide those women with PMS the following list gives some of the common symptoms.

Menopause, which literally means "last period", usually occurs somewhere between the ages of 45 to 52 with the cessation of egg production. As mentioned earlier a woman is born with all the eggs she will ever need. In the few years prior to menopause ovulation becomes erratic and with it comes a decline in progesterone. At about the same time the ovaries decrease their secretion of estrogen. Maintaining hormone balance becomes increasingly difficult.

Unfortunately with the increased use of petrochemicals and estrogen based drugs, many women are entering their pre-menopausal years in their early thirties.

One final list of symptoms is necessary to help those women who are either pre-menopausal or menopausal...

Progesterone cream is currently being used by thousands of women in the western world to ensure they maintain hormone balance.

The speed with which the cream relieves symptoms varies depending upon both the health problem itself and the quality of the cream being used. Some women find relief within five days, in others it can take three months. Many menstruating women find that they can discontinue using the cream after a few months as their symptoms have cleared up.

To find out more about progesterone therapy in general and how it benefits health issues other than helping maintain hormone balance please click here.

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