|
February 24, 2010
Welcome to the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research newsletter! We hope this newsletter will keep you informed of what's new in women's health research here at CeMCOR.
In today's edition:
Is Ovulation (and are Normal Progesterone Levels) Important for the Health of Women? The Essential Balance of Progesterone with Estrogen
by Dr. Jerilynn C. Prior, Scientific Director, Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research. We have been asking, through a series of newsletters, what we know about women’s health related to normal progesterone levels and ovulation. We have discussed the fact that ovulatory disturbances (meaning anovulation and short luteal phase cycles) are common and hidden within menstrual cycles that seem perfectly normal. I speculate that at least a third of all cycles - in regularly menstruating, healthy women 10-30 years since menarche (their first period) - produce too little progesterone. (We don’t really know the percentage of cycles with ovulatory disturbances in the general population because no one has studied it. CeMCOR in joint study with Norwegian scientists and funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research is currently trying to learn what proportion of women’s cycles is anovulatory.)
In previous newsletters we described how difficult it is to know if we have ovulatory disturbances. Most of the time, unless we are working to become pregnant, we think everything’s fine. Thus, doctors would call ovulatory disturbances “subclinical” because they don’t come to medical attention. The majority of ovulatory disturbances occur within cycles of normal length, normal flow and even with perfectly normal estrogen levels (1). However, they are lacking any (anovulation) or have too little progesterone production (short luteal phase). Thus, ovulatory disturbances provide an “experiment of nature” that allows us the opportunity to understand how progesterone alone - not just in combination with estrogen, its essential partner ovarian hormone - contributes to women’s health.
Earlier we discussed that estrogen’s job is to stimulate the growth of cells (i.e. proliferation) but that progesterone’s role is to decrease that proliferation and induce maturation and differentiation of tissues (2). Although much of our research and treatment has focused on estrogen, which is considered the primary “woman’s hormone”, I believe that progesterone is an essential partner hormone to estrogen. These two important ovarian hormones are meant to work together, complementing or counter-balancing each other in every tissue and every cell of women’s bodies and across our life cycles (3).
I’ll say again what I believe, and what we are making progress in proving: Regular menstrual cycles with consistently normal ovulation during the premenopausal years will prevent osteoporosis, breast cancer and heart disease in women.
The purpose of this article is to describe new and suggestive evidence that progesterone is important for preventing women’s cardiovascular diseases (CVD, heart attacks, strokes and blood clots). However, before we can make sense of any information about progesterone and CVD, we have to put what we currently believe and know into a context.
We are now ready to wrap up this review of progesterone and women’s health. This final section concerns women’s risk for heart disease, stroke and diseases of the blood vessels and the relationships of these vascular problems to estrogen and progesterone. Let’s start with what “we” believe—by this I mean the two main cultural myths that surround women’s heart disease.
- The first myth--women’s heart disease is the same as men’s
- The second myth—women’s heart disease is caused by estrogen deficiency
Click here to continue reading about ovulation and cardiovascular disease..... Or, click here to access the full article as a PDF
We will continue with new, exclusive articles in the next CeMCOR newsletter. Stay tuned!
Research News
Our pilot study is going well, with 18 women enrolled, but we need a few more women before we are done. To participate, you should be 35-50 years old, have night sweats, no hormones in the past 3 months (contraceptives, hormone therapy, creams, rings, etc.), and your periods should come no more than 60 days apart. The study will help us prepare for a therapy trial of progesterone in perimenopausal women, and also help us learn about night sweats in women who are still menstruating.
For more information, including eligibility criteria, visit the study web page. Please help us find participants by telling your friends and putting up study posters [PDF]in your local community centre, coffee shop, gym, etc.
NOW AVAILABLE:
 In this revealing work, Dr. Jerilynn Prior teams up with Susan Baxter, a medical writer, to explain the controversy over medicine prescribing estrogen for perimenopausal women in the United States, and to detail why progesterone is actually a far more effective, and a far less risk-ridden, approach. Citing long-standing and emerging research, patient vignettes, and personal experience, endocrinologist Jerilynn Prior and writer Susan Baxter tell us how false beliefs on estrogen became entrenched in U.S. medicine and culture, and why business and politics have played a role in this erroneous thinking.
What others are saying about The Estrogen Errors: "Jerilynn Prior can always be trusted to go beyond the surface to what is really happening in women's bodies. She is a true champion in women's health. This book will help you finally understand your body and hormones."
-Susan Love MD
President of the Dr Susan Love Research Foundation and author of Dr Susan Love's Breast Book
“In this provocative book, Jerilynn Prior and Susan Baxter raise many key questions that women's health researchers and clinicians have failed to ask or investigate. They are especially effective in deconstructing prevailing myths about "too little estrogen" during the peri-menopause.” -Judy Norsigian
Executive Director, Our Bodies Ourselves How to order:
You can order your copy at your favourite online retailer, including Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and Barnes and Noble.com. A portion of all proceeds from the sale of The Estrogen Errors will be donated to the CeMCOR Endowment Fund.
Or visit your local bookseller and request a copy using the following ISBN number: 978-0-313-35398-7 If you have trouble finding the book, please call our office at 604-875-5927 and we will be happy to help.
Have you read The Estrogen Errors? If so, please help spread the word by posting your review on Amazon!
Women's Health in the news
Estrogen pills may increase asthma risk - MSNBC - February 8,2010 New morning-after pill works for up to 5 days - CBC News - January 29, 2010
Time to end pelvic exams done without consent - The Globe and Mail - January 28, 2010
Menopause, as Brought to You by Big Pharma - The New York Times - December 12, 2010
|
