Estrogen:  Friend or Foe?

The first hormone touted for its anti-aging effects was estrogen, way back in the 1960's. Estrogen is produced by the ovaries, the adrenal glands and body fat stores. It is a potent antioxidant, promotes good cholesterol, reduces clots and strokes, stimulates the brain, tones the skin, and helps maintain bone mass.

Estrogen also reduces the risk of colon cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease.  In combination with natural progesterone, it may reduce the risk of breast cancer. When estrogen and progesterone are taken together, it is known as hormone replacement therapy or HRT. Indeed, HRT has been shown to reduce the risk of death in women by 20% to 37%. Therefore, estrogen is rarely prescribed "unopposed" anymore, but almost always in combination with progesterone.
Unfortunately, many women quit before 3 years because of a) side effects, usually from synthetic estrogen and synthetic progesterone, also known as progestins, or b) fear of breast cancer.

The Natural Solution
Many of us don't realize that the hormones we take are usually synthetic. By taking natural hormones, most of these side effects can be avoided. Besides, many of the good effects of estrogen are actually blocked by synthetic progestins like Provera!

Natural hormones tend to be made from soy and yam products. For most women, a single transdermal application of both progesterone and the three estrogens (estrone, estradiol, and estriol) is the safest.  Estriol is the dominant estrogen during pregnancy and should be the major estrogen replaced because it actually protects against breast and cervical cancer!

Estrogen Is Not for Everyone
Some women may need to avoid estrogens. Those with active liver, gall bladder disease, cervical cancer or pre-cancerous lesions, and deep vein thrombosis probably need to avoid estrogens.

Those with multiple strong risk factors for breast cancer, a history of breast cancer, or a strong family history of it (or prostate cancer in closely related males) should likely avoid estrogens as well.

Strong risk factors for breast cancer include:

	women who experienced menses at 13 or earlier
	women experiencing menopause past 50
	women with no children before 25
	women with less than 2 full term pregnancies
	women with a history of birth control use greater than 10 years
	women with certain abnormal pap smears may need to avoid estrogen. (All women over 40 should be tested regularly.)

Other risk factors include:

	chronic lack of exercise
	the typical American diet
	smoking
	excess alcohol and caffeine.

Conversely, the women with the following should consider estrogen enhancements:

	a family history of early heart disease (before 60)
	High blood pressure (HBP)
	high LDL "bad" cholesterol and low HDL "good" cholesterol an actual history of heart disease.

Women that should also consider estrogens are those with:

	a family history of Alzheimer's
	the onset of adult diabetes before 60
	thin, blond, Caucasian women, slight Asian women, especially if eating a western diet
	anyone else who is at strong risk for osteoporosis.

For those with high risk factors for breast, cervical, or endometrial cancer, natural progesterone, along with soy foods might suffice. Try this for 3 months.

If vaginal dryness, hot flashes, night sweats, and/or low mood continue, a phyto-estrogen supplement with such herbs as dong quai, black and blue cohosh, chasteberry, ginger, and fennel, perhaps combined with vitamin E (800 IU), B-complex vitamins, and licorice, ginseng or even some raw adrenal substance might help.

Phyto-estrogens are safe in that they have only 1/400th the power of estrogen. Yet they compete with "exogenous" estrogens (estrogen like hormones in meat) and xeno-estrogens, (as in petrochemical pollutants) from occupying estrogen receptor sites, and thereby preventing these "bad" estrogens from causing trouble.

Consider a good adrenal herbal and/or glandular supplement if the above are not enough to eliminate menopausal related problems naturally w/o estrogen. (The adrenals continue to make estrogen after menopause.)

For the rest, taking a natural combined estrogen/progesterone cream transdermally, three weeks every month, is the most likely way to proceed. Such a crème should contain all three estrogens, but mostly estriol the safest estrogen, and progesterone all in one.

Either of these protocols may be considered anytime after menopause, or even during the peri-menopausal experience, especially if there are uncomfortable symptoms.

The best way to verify your need and to monitor levels periodically is by hormone testing. The minimum test to run is estradiol and progesterone. Adrenal hormone DHEA and cortisol could be measured as well. This can easily be done with salivary tests kits.

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