Menopause & Progesterone
The balance of hormones in a woman's body changes over time, from the start of the menstrual cycle through menopause. Menopause is a time of changes in hormone levels and bodily functions, and for a long time, the medical focus was all on estrogen. However, progesterone also plays an important role in a woman's health, and it has important functions for the older woman as well.
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Purpose
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So what does progesterone do? It's widely established that it initiates pregnancy by thickening the lining of the uterus in preparation of receiving the fertilized egg, but it has many other roles in the woman's body. Estrogen and progesterone work in opposition to each other, balancing the body. Progesterone is important in keeping the effects of estrogen from becoming overwhelming. One of the chief complaints during menopause is moodiness and water retention. Progesterone acts as an antidepressant on the body, alleviating the symptoms of depression as well as being a natural diuretic. The risk of osteoporosis increases with age, especially with the event of menopause for older women, and progesterone is known to stimulate bone growth.
Production Comparison
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While neither estrogen nor progesterone production halts entirely as a woman ages, the levels of it do alter dramatically. Estrogen has typically been the main focus of study and the primary target of hormone replacement therapy, but the levels of natural production generally only reduce to about 40 to 60 percent of its former level during menopause. In contrast to that, menopause causes the production of progesterone to plummet to levels lower than the average amount for men, leaving the body in a state of hormonal imbalance.
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Balance
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Balancing forces within the body is critical for health, and maintaining the appropriate relationship between estrogen and progesterone is no exception. Many health care providers have hypothesized that the symptoms of menopause may be more the result of estrogen excess than deficiency, when compared to menopausal levels of progesterone. Along with the symptoms of menopause come increased risk of osteoporosis and heart disease, both of which can also be attributed to the imbalance between progesterone and estrogen.
Hormone Replacement Therapy
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Any woman who has approached or gone through menopause knows that HRT is an important consideration at that time in their life, and thankfulloy, progesterone is being used more in HRT. However, the progesterone being used is synthetic rather than natural. While natural progesterone causes no known side effects, synthetic progesterone offers a wide variety of potential discomforts for users. Some women have reported breast tenderness, cervical erosion, depression, jaundice, water retention, blood clotting and even strokes in response to the use of synthetic progesterone.
Benefits
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Progesterone therapy has been shown to provide incredible relief to the discomfort of women during menopause by preventing some health issues like osteoporosis, alleviating symptoms like hot flashes, and even going so far as to shrink fibroid tumors. The usual method of delivery for progesterone treatment is in topical creams, which are rubbed into the body in areas where the skin is thinner and so can be more easily absorbed.
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