Important Facts Regarding Progesterone and Estrogen; Including Different Thoughts About Total Estrogen
Posted on December 20th, 2016The following information regarding Progesterone and Estrogen comes from the medical literature. At the end of this article, I will share my different thoughts with you about progesterone and total estrogen.
Progesterone may have an important function in regulating the body’s total estrogen, but first it is important to understand the other functions sex hormones provide for the body.
PROGESTERONE
What is Progesterone?
Progesterone is a hormone found in men, women and children. Everyone needs a small amount of progesterone to maintain good health and attain proper longevity.
Progesterone is a major factor in maintaining a healthy female reproductive tract, and also providing a woman’s ability to have children.
Men also need progesterone, not only for maintaining good health, but also for maintaining a normal sex life.
Postmenopausal women and children have the lowest level of progesterone and often postmenopausal women may have a progesterone deficiency.
Men apparently have a similar progesterone level to women who are going through their follicular phase of their menstrual cycle.
Progesterone helps balance and neutralize the powerful effects of excess estrogen in both men and women.
What are the sources for progesterone?
!) A small amount of progesterone is produced by the adrenal glands in men, women and children.
2) Progesterone is produced mainly in the ovaries and in the testes.
3) Large amounts of progesterone are produced by the placenta at 8 to 10 weeks of a pregnancy.
4) Dairy products contain large amounts of progesterone, because the cows are milked during their pregnancy.
What are the biological functions of progesterone?
According to Wikipedia, the following are those functions that progesterone provides:
Involvement with hormonal interactions;
Provides normal health for the reproductive system;
Provides normal breast health;
Provides normal skin health;
Helps create normal sexuality;
Provides normal health for the nervous system;
Helps stop early aging;
Helps repair brain damage;
And helps with many other health issues.
What are the clinical symptoms for a progesterone deficiency?
Hot flashes;
Mood swings;
Insomnia;
Restlessness;
Night sweats;
In females, vaginal dryness may occur.
ESTROGEN
What is Estrogen?
Estrogen is a primary, female sex hormone that is also found in males. It is responsible for normal female reproduction and secondary sex characteristics.
What are the sources of estrogen?
- Natural estrogen is produced by the body. There are only three recognized estrogens in the medical literature and they are estradiol, estrone and estriole.
- Xenoestrogens come from estrogen mimicking chemicals like Bisophenol A and metalloestrogens. Xenoestrogens are stored in the body’s fat and unfortunately can accumulate and cause continued damage.
- Phytoestrogens come from plants. Phytoestrogens can also be harmful, but because they are organic, the body is able to process them in a short period of time and there is no evidence so far, that indicates that they can build up and be stored in the body.
- Mycoestrogens produce fungal estrogens.
According to Wikipedia, these are the biological functions of estrogen:
Helps maintain healthy heart function;
Plays an important function immunologically;
Helps with cognition and mental health;
And helps provide parenthood and many more health issues.
What are the clinical symptoms for an estrogen deficiency?
According to Wikipedia, these are the following clinical symptoms for an estrogen deficiency:
Depression;
Anxiety;
Emotional instability;
Lack of concentration;
Loss of memory;
Fatigue;
Insomnia;
Pituitary disorders;
Eating disorder;
and can create a thyroid disorder, including other health issues.
Hopefully this review will help you understand what the medical profession has discovered with their research, regarding progesterone and estrogen.
However, in my clinical practice involving Canines, Felines and Equines; I have found something different that involves an estrogenic imbalance This will lead to an elevated total estrogen and appears to involve the inner layer adrenal cortex.
I have also, through associations with human health care professionals that they have also found that the same estrogenic imbalances occurred in their human patients involving total estrogen with allergies, autoimmunity and cancer. All their patients had an elevated total estrogen, and either normal or deficient estradiol, estrone or estriole in their female patients.
I have been able to determine total estrogen values in 90,000 canine and feline males without testicles and canine and feline females without their ovaries. Their values are as follows;
MALE CANINES and MALE FELINES = 24.50 to 25.00 pg/ml.
FEMALE CANINES and FEMALE FELINES = 34.50 to 35.00 pg/ml
Of interest, ICN Pharmaceuticals has provided a Total Estrogen kit for many years. They are now called Valeant Pharmaceuticals.
Apparently there are other pharmaceutical companies that also provide a Total Estrogen kit, also.
The following are the normal values for total estrogen for humans that ICN Pharmaceuticals has provided;
MENSTUATING FEMALES
1 to 10 days = 61 to 394 pg/ml
11 to 20 days = 122 to 427 pg/ml
21 to 31 days = 152 to 357 pg.ml
PREPUBERTAL
Less than 40 pg/ml
POSTMENOPAUSAL
Less than 40 pg/ml
MALES
80 to 115 pg/ml
PREPUBERTLE
Less than 40 pg/ml
So there are test kits available to check for total estrogen if there is any interest.
I have also wondered whether progesterone influenced elevated total estrogen.
Assuming that the proper transfer enzymes are in place, Cholesterol is transferred to Pregnenolne, to Progesterone, and finally to Cortisol.
As this occurs, it becomes important in a patient to measure progesterone, total estrogen and cortisol, in order to see if a progesterone transfer to cortisol may be involved with elevated total estrogen.
My clinical studies have indicated with allergies, autoimmunity and cancer in animals and in humans, that it is very important to measure total estrogen, which appears to be produced by the inner layer adrenal cortex.
The medical literature only recognizes three types of estrogen which are estradiol, estrone and estriole. The medical literature rarely considers measuring total estrogen.
Only certain laboratories are checking for total estrogen for people and for animals.
LabCorp and Quest are doing total estrogen testing for humans, and National Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories is the only veterinary laboratory testing total estrogen for animals.
If total estrogen is also tested for with estradiol, estrone and estriole, often the other types of estrogens are deficient, but the total estrogen will still be elevated.
This can be a very dangerous, health hazard for postmenopausal women that have deficient estradiol and are placed on an estrogen supplement without first measuring their total estrogen.
Usually, in conjunction with their estrogen supplement, a progesterone supplement is also given.
It does make one wonder, if the progesterone supplement that is prescribed is transformed into cortisol, which in turn will fund the negative feedback mechanism to the hypothalamic-pituitary axis and lower the adrenal estrogen, or is the progesterone supplement merely funding a progesterone imbalance?
The elevated total estrogen appears to be caused by a cortisol deficiency or a defective cortisol, and when the cortisol imbalance is funded correctly, the total estrogen becomes normal. This might suggest that this elevated estrogen is coming from the inner layer adrenal cortex.
This would also indicate that the cortisol is funding the negative feedback mechanism to the hypothalamus-pituitary axis and reducing the total or adrenal estrogen.
For full details regarding human patients with total estrogen and disease, please Google "The Results of an International Conference for integrative MD’s, Regarding Dr. Plechner’s Findings for Many Different Chronic Human Diseases" with my name.
It may be time to include total estrogen as a standard hormone test.
Since elevated total estrogen deregulates the immune system it will cause the B-lymphocyte to reduce its production of immunoglobulin’s, and when the mucous membrane antibody, referred to as Immunoglobulin A (IgA) is below 68 mg/dL in a human patient, malabsorption of many different supplements will occur, especially with cortisol replacement, supplements.
NOTE: In canines and felines that level for malabsorption is at 58 mg/dL.
The next time a hormonal blood panel is taken, it might be interesting to include the following tests, if they are not already included;
FEMALES
Cortisol
Total estrogen
Estradiol
Estrone
Estriole
Progesterone
T3
T4
TSH
TBG
IgA
MALES
Cortisol
Total estrogen
Progesterone
T3
T4
TSH
TBG
IgA
Much more research needs to be done involving total estrogen and the roll that progesterone might play, involving the hypothalamic-pituitary axis and the inner layer adrenal cortex.
Also, possibly there needs to be more scientific studies regarding the enzymatic, transferring of Cholesterol>Pregnenolone>Progesterone> to Cortisol.
If there is an imbalance in the transferring enzymes, will a cholesterol lowering drug cause the cortisol to be lowered?
Do some patients with elevated levels of cholesterol have a lack of transferring enzymes and not have an elevated cholesterol, due to an improper diet?
Hopefully this article will stimulate some different thinking about those endocrine immune imbalances that are involved with causing allergies, autoimmunity and cancer in humans and in animals.
Sincerely,
Dr. Al Plechner
