Article [7]
SOME PERSPECTIVES ON NATURAL HORMONE REPLACEMENT by: David G. Schwartz, M.D.
Many people are concerned about the decrease in various hormones
that our bodies produce as we age, both men and women, and the controversies
around the use of hormone replacement.
Here are some perspectives of several experts in the field of
natural and holistic medicine regarding this treatment.
Dr. Lisa Everett, Ph.D., nutritionist and pharmacist spoke at the
23rd Annual Scientific Conference of the American Holistic Medical Association
May 31-June 3, 2000 about natural hormone replacement. She supervises the
treatment of over 10,000 patients on natural hormone replacement.
She made several important points:
1. All body cells have some receptor activity for our secondary
sex hormones, not just the tissues of the uterus and the breasts, and brain
cells produce some of these hormones.
2. Many xenoestrogens (synthetic chemicals that are
"foreign" to the human body that have estrogen-like activity), mostly
organic fat soluble pesticides in our environment that get into our food and
water, play havoc with our estrogen receptors. They are a major factor in
the increasing incidence of breast cancer (one in eight women now in comparison
to one in 60 back in the 1950's.) Our drinking water commonly has 1300
kinds of chemicals that were not allowed in water in the 1960's, 700 of which
are known carcinogens.
3. Commonly used estrogens (Premarin - conjugated
estrogens), and progestins (Provera - medroxyprogesterone acetate), used for
hormone replacement therapy, are not natural to the human body.
My insertion - I found that the Physician's Desk Reference lists
the horse hormones present in Premarin, which are equilin, equilenin, 17alpha
dihidroequilin and 17 alpha dihidroequilenin as well as some of the estrogens
present in humans.
4. She recommends using real progesterone and human
estrogens (in the ratios recommended by Dr. Jonathan V. Wright, M.D, pioneer in
nutritional medicine, which includes 80% estriol, the safer majority estrogen
that is probably anticarcinogenic).
5. The public and the medical profession have both been
misinformed by academic medicine about progesterone. Medroxyprogesterone
acetate or Provera is commonly referred to as "progesterone."
They are two totally different compounds. Provera was synthesized and does
not occur naturally in the human body.
"Real" progesterone is produced by the female body in
amounts of 2-22 mg.day in the nonpregnant condition, and up to 150-200 mg/day
during pregnancy. (Dr. John R. Lee, M.D., Natural Progesterone, BLL
Publishing, 1993, p. 12)
Dr. Everett points out that progesterone supports pregnancy, and
extra progesterone is given to pregnant women to prevent miscarriage, abut that
Provera is contraindicated in pregnancy, makes the uterine lining hostile to the
embryo, and masculinizes the fetus.
She mentions that there are over 17 differences in physiologic
effect between the two compounds.
The following are some comparisons between Provera nd
progesterone, from Dr. Jonathan V. Wright's book, Natural Hormone Replacement,
Smarta Publications, 1997, pp. 65, 67:
Provera promotes breast cancer; progesterone protects against it.
Provera blocks the production of other sex hormones, while
progesterone is needed in their pathway of production.
Provera cause fluid retention; progesterone has a diuretic
effect.
Provera causes depression and irritability, and progesterone is a
natural tranquilizer.
Provera can cause blood clots; progesterone normalizes clotting.
Provera impairs glucose (sugar) tolerance, and progesterone helps
normalize blood sugar.
Dr. Everett makes further distinctions: Provera can cause
migraines, but progesterone can prevent migraines and seizures and is used in
England as a substitute for anticonvulsant drugs. Provera can cause weight gain,
and progesterone promotes the burning of fat.
Why was Provera used in the first place? It could be
absorbed orally, and it could be patented and could therefore be more profitable
("patent medicine"). Pharmaceutical companies could therefore
afford to do the expensive testing required for approval by the FDA.
Dr. Everett points out the "clincher" in the Provera-progesterone
issue, (which I consider to be a "catch-22" for physicians): All
the major scientific studies regarding heart disease, breast and uterine cancer,
and osteoporosis, have all been done with Provera and Premarin, not with
progesterone and the natural estrogens. Furthermore, the laboratory test
for "progesterone" receptors in breast tissue tests for
medroxyprogesterone acetate (Provera), not for progesterone. Thus much
confusion about interpretation of the data. It is no wonder why currently
increasing numbers of patients are mistrusting doctors to be intellectually
competent when the medical profession, the FDA, and the pharmaceutical industry
have colluded to produce this very confusing situation of misinformation.
This can appear to be an intellectually untenable situation to women who are
prescribed these drugs without being given the real information about them.-My
comments.
Dr. John R. Lee, in his book, What Your Doctor May Not Tell you
About Menopause, makes further observations about progesterone:
The acceleration of bone loss in women is correlated more with a
drop in progesterone, occurring before menopause, when estrogen levels are still
high.
Many women's symptoms are caused not be a deficiency in estrogen,
by by progesterone deficiency or estrogen dominance, or both.
Estrogen can only prevent bone loss, but progesterone can
actually build bone also.
Dr. Lee notices that the overwhelming emphasis in hormone
replacement by the medical profession is on estrogen, totally ignoring the
importance of progesterone with the exception of using Provera to prevent
uterine cancer. "If you don't have a uterus, you don't have to take
progesterone."
Dr. Lee has treated many women with nutrition and progesterone
replacement without estrogen, and bone density has improved.
Dr. Lee describes a host of other conditions and symptoms
that may be due to progesterone deficiency and which have responded to his
treatment with transdermal progesterone. He lists several reliable over-
the-counter preparations of progesterone cream.
Dr. Lee and Dr. Wright have had many years of experience treating
patients with hormone supplementation and have a wealth of information for those
who want to understand more fully the whole spectrum of hormone replacement,
including many other hormones besides estrogen and progesterone.
Natural Hormone Replacement, by Wright and Morgenthaler, ISBN
0-9627418-0-9 is available through www.smartpublications.com
Dr. Lee's books, Natural Progesterone ISBN 0-9643737-3- 4, and
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menogpause ISBN 0-446-67144-4, are
available through www.johnleemd.com or
Transitions For Health 503-226-1010. Also, informative is Dr. Alan Gaby's
book, Preventing and Reversing Osteoporosis, ISBN 1-55958-298-7, Prima
Publishing 916-786-0426
Some organizations with referral lists of doctors who prescribe
natural treatments are: American Holistic Medical Association www.holisticmedicine.org,
the American College for the Advancement of Medicine www.acam.org,
and the Institute for Functional Medicine, www.fxmed.com
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