Prostate Health And Progesterone

Most people think of progesterone as a “female hormone.” Yet men normally produce progesterone as well, in both their adrenal and testicular tissue.8 Unfortunately, male progesterone levels drop with aging, just as do male testosterone levels.4 Severe, prolonged stress also depletes progesterone, since the “state-of-siege” stress hormone cortisol is made from progesterone, as are testosterone, estrogen, aldosterone and other steroid hormones.8

And as researcher Ray Peat emphasizes, one of the most important roles for progesterone is to oppose the many toxic effects of excess estrogen.9 Progesterone expert Dr. John Lee noted multiple roles for progesterone in antagonizing estrogen and promoting prostate health.

Progesterone inhibits the conversion of testosterone to DHT.4 DHT is a weaker androgen than testosterone, and thus lowers the androgen/estrogen ratio in favor of estrogen. In addition, DHT is a far more potent stimulant of prostate cell growth than testosterone.4 Both testosterone and progesterone stimulate the activity of a protective gene called “p53.”4 The products of this gene activation are anti-cancer, and promote healthy apoptosis.10 Apoptosis is a “programmed cell suicide” that plays a key role in preventing cellular overgrowth (e.g., BPH) and cancer.10 Estrogen, on the other hand, activates a gene called “bcl2.”4 Bcl2 products inhibit healthy apoptosis.10

Progesterone may even help with prostate cancer. V. Petrow et al reported results of their study with rats and prostate cancer in 1984. “Growth of the Dunning R 3327-H prostatic adenocarcinoma, implanted in the rat, is inhibited by 6-methylene progesterone. This compound is a potent inhibitor of rat prostatic 5-alpha-reductase [as is progesterone; 5-alpha-reductase is the enzyme that converts testosterone to DHT] and in-vivo produced marked involution [shrinkage] of the prostate. Thus, this tumor requires dihydrotestosterone and not testosterone for growth.”11 Andrews and colleagues also note: “Another steroid hormone that interacts with the androgen receptor in LNCaP [prostate cancer] cells (progesterone) also promotes apoptosis of these cells.”12

Progesterone for Men
Dr. John Lee has recommended a dose of approximately 4 to 6 mg once or twice daily for men in their late forties or older.4,13 Approximately 6 mg can be achieved with one-eighth level teaspoon of a cream containing 900 to 1,000 mg progesterone per 2 ounces. The cream should be rubbed onto thin skin areas such as inner forearm, chest,
neck or scrotum morning and/or evening. Do not exceed the recommended dose.

Progesterone therapy is especially relevant for obese men; those with a family history of prostate cancer; those with proven low androgen/low progesterone/high estrogen levels. Progesterone may reduce fertility in men,14 and it is to be avoided by men with non-alcoholic liver cirrhosis.15

Menopause And Progesterone

Dr. Lee began telling his menopausal patients to try using natural progesterone cream and to his amazement they were delighted with the results. They reported relief from menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats and insomnia, and they also reported relief from a wide array of other symptoms as diverse as dry eyes, bloating, irritability, gall bladder problems, osteoporosis pain, hair loss, and lumpy or sore breasts, for example. As a result of this unanimously positive feedback, Dr. Lee began to collect detailed data on these patients, and also began to research progesterone more in-depth, gathering studies from his local medical library, and communicating with scientists around the world to discuss their work. He realized that progesterone probably had a positive effect on bone health and began to get bone density tests for his patients on progesterone. Within a few years he realized that these women were gaining significant bone density - particularly those with the worst bone density to begin with

Treats Uterine Fibroid Tumors ( Myomas ) Successfully WITHOUT SURGERY

Dr. Lee Treats Uterine Fibroid Tumors ( Myomas ) Successfully WITHOUT SURGERY

Dr. Lee further writes in his book "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause" :

"Otherwise known as myoma of the uterus, uterine fibroid tumors ( myomas ) are the most common growth of the female genital tract. They are round, firm, benign (i.e. noncancerous) lumps of the muscular wall of the uterus, composed of smooth muscle and connective tissue, and are rarely solitary. Usually as small as a hen's egg, they commonly grow gradually to the size of an orange or grapefruit. The largest uterine fibroid tumor ( myoma ) on record weighed over 100 pounds. They often cause or are coincidental with heavier periods, irregular bleeding, and/or painful periods.

Uterine fibroid tumors ( myomas ) are also one of the most common reasons that women in their thirties and forties have a hysterectomy. Some particularly skillful surgeons are capable of removing only the uterine fibroid tumor ( myoma ), leaving the uterus intact, but they are the exception.

Uterine fibroid tumors ( myomas ), like breast fibrocysts, are a product of estrogen dominance (too much estrogen). Estrogen stimulates their growth, and lack of estrogen causes them to atrophy. Estrogen dominance is a much greater problem than recognized by contemporary medicine. Many women in their mid thirties begin to have anovulatory (nonovulating) cycles. As they approach the decade before menopause, they are producing much less progesterone than expected, but still producing normal (or more) estrogen. They retain water and salt, their breast swell and become fibrocystic, they gain weight (especially around the hips and torso), they become depressed and lose sex drive, their bone suffer mineral loss, and they develop fibroids. All are signs of estrogen dominance.

When sufficient Natural Progesterone is replaced, uterine fibroid tumors ( myomas ) no longer grow in size (they generally decrease in size) and can be kept from growing until menopause, after which they will atrophy. This is the effect of reversing estrogen dominance."

Miscarriage & Progesterone

Dr. Katharina Dalton is one of the many scientists and doctors who have discovered that progesterone in the natural form protects the fetus from miscarriage.

If a woman has had four or five miscarriages in the first six or eight weeks of a pregnancy, this is always due to luteal phase failure, says Dr. John Lee. Progesterone is needed to facilitate implantation and to prevent rejection of the developing embryo, but the follicle may not respond to the ovum with enough. Dr. Lee's recommendation: "Wait till you ovulate, and then four to six days after possible conception do a blood test ( for HCG) to see if you're pregnant. If you are, start the progesterone; that way you will increase you chance of having a healthy baby." Blood tests for pregnancy tend to be positive within seventy-two hours of conception, whereas he says urine pregnancy tests are not usually positive until two weeks after conception.

One of Dr. Lee's notable findings is that there is an immune-suppressing effect in the uterus from higher doses of progesterone. This is important, because when conception takes place, half of the baby's chromosomes are from the male and half of them from the female. That makes the baby's tissue DNA different from the mother's because of the contribution of the father. If there's not a good tissue match, the difference will create tissue rejection. If you try to do a skin graft or a kidney or heart transplant and the tissue isn't the same, the body will reject it. But this doesn’t happen with pregnancy. Why? Because of the progesterone response in the uterus. It's a site-selective action that doesn’t occur anywhere else in the body; therefore, the baby is not rejected. By giving more progesterone after conception, you thus increase the likelihood that the baby will survive.

Looking at the problem from another perspective, Dr. Lita Lee informs us that "after conception progesterone prevents miscarriages resulting from excess estrogen." It is interesting to note the consistency of the research, as in Dr. Peat's study, indication that "pregnancy toxemia and tendency to miscarry or deliver prematurely are often corrected by progesterone." Dr. Peat goes on to say, "My dissertation research, which established that an estrogen excess kills the embryo by suffocation, and that progesterone protects the embryo by promoting the delivery of both oxygen and glucose, didn't strike a responsive chord in the journals which are heavily influenced by funds from the drug industry."

It is a fact that if a pregnant woman produces too much estrogen, her embryo can be suffocated (hypoxia). Dr. Lita Lee cautions that during the ninth week of pregnancy, a woman can lose her baby if she is a "high estrogen producer and/or [is] consuming commercial meat, poultry and dairy products containing synthetic estrogen (DES)." However, she goes on to say that natural progesterone "has been known to protect against the toxic effects of excess estrogen, including abortion." Make certain, if hormones are prescribed during pregnancy, that they are not the synthetic progestins or estrogens but the natural micronized products. We now know that artificial hormones can be dangerous to the fetus during pregnancy.

Dr. John Lee stresses that synthetic compounds cannot be efficiently "excreted by one’s usual enzymatic mechanisms. Despite their advertisements, synthetic hormones are not equivalent to natural hormones." Side effect can include fatigue, elevation of cholesterol, heart palpitations, headaches, depression, emotional disorders, weight gain, bloating, and more.

From all the data it seems clear that natural progesterone therapy offers no risks to the patient and will be likely to benefit those wishing to conceive. Additional reports indicate that without progesterone treatment, women with luteal phase defect are at very high risk for spontaneous abortion. Progesterone has been found to be important in maintaining a pregnancy during the early months.

Morning Sickness And Progesterone

Morning Sickness
Dr. Dalton calls morning sickness "a sign that the ovarian progesterone is insufficient and the placenta is not yet secreting enough progesterone." She says that giving the woman extra progesterone will ease the symptoms. Says Dr. Ray Peat, "Since natural progesterone has been found to reduce the incidence of birth defects, it would seem reasonable to be sure that your own progesterone has returned to normal before getting pregnant."

Pregnancy and Progesterone

Dr. Katharina Dalton, who conducted these studies, first discovered the amazing benefits of progesterone through personal experience when she found that her own menstrual migraines disappeared during the last six months of pregnancy. She concluded that the high levels of progesterone during pregnancy might have made the difference. She then tested the use of progesterone on other women and found the same rapid relief of both headache and other symptoms. Noting that if symptoms normally associated with PMS should return at any stage of pregnancy, a resumption of progesterone treatment would be indicated, she advises: "You could be wise to arrange prophylactic progesterone during pregnancy."

Dr. Dalton is one of the many scientists and doctors who have discovered that progesterone in the natural form:

protects the fetus from miscarriage
increases the feeling of well-being of the mother
increases the potential IQ of the child
produces calmer, less colicky babies
To protect the fetus the body secretes ten to fifteen times more progesterone during pregnancy than at other times. Dr. Lee tells us that the placenta becomes the major source of progesterone, producing 300 to 400 mgs. per day during the third trimester. What a great protection we have during pregnancy with this incredible hormone! And with no known dangerous side effects.

Breastfeeding And Progesterone

More progesterone children were breast-fed at six months, more were standing and walking at one year, and at the age of 9-10 years the progesterone children received significantly better gradings than controls in academic subjects, verbal reasoning, English, arithmetic, [and] craftwork, but showed only average gradings in physical education.