Some 40 years ago, the subject of the menopausal life stage of women became a popular topic of women's health. In those days, several segments of society and medicine popularized the idea that menopause was a tragic condition that women were obliged to suffer through, from which they should be rescued.
At that time, HRT or hormonal replacement therapy for treatment of menopause symptoms came into vogue. With this treatment, synthetic estrogen hormones were administered to women, effectively increasing their estrogen hormone levels without any method of counterbalance. Once introduced, this treatment was widely used without sufficient study of its effects and the possible health risks it may include.
By the mid-1970's it was discovered and well-documented that HRT using synthetic estrogen was indeed hazardous with increasingly deadly consequences for women. The women who had used HRT were alarmingly more likely to develop endometrial cancer.
More recently, HRT has been employed using a combination of synthetic progesterone (progestin) and estrogen. However, in 1995 the New England Journal of Medicine published the results of a study conducted on over 120,000 women regarding the use of HRT.
The published study warned of the significant increased risk of breast cancer related to HRT. It determined that women using HRT longer than five years had an increased risk of breast cancer by as much as 30 - 40 percent. For women aged 60 - 64 years who used the treatment for more than five years, the risk jumped to an even more alarming 70 percent. Last, the study determined that women who used HRT were 45 percent more likely to die from breast cancer than those who had not used HRT, or had only used it for less than a five year period.
As a result of these and other findings, attention was turned to the use and benefits of natural progesterone as an alternative to traditional hormone replacement therapy. In the 1980's, Dr. John Lee began to research the use of synthetic hormones in HRT. Some 10 years ago, he first published his findings demonstrating that not only did synthetic hormones not perform as they were thought to, but they actually posed a threat to women's health.
Natural progesterone is now being used by women worldwide as an alternative to HRT with positive results. Relief from menopausal symptoms as well as symptoms associated with conditions of estrogen dominance or low progesterone are widely reported. In addition, there are benefits to other systems of the body (not only reproductive) that progesterone affects .
While there needs to be ongoing study of natural progesterone use for a full understanding of its impact and potential in hormonal treatments, it's quite evident that it is a viable alternative for women seeking help with issues related to hormonal health.
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