Another myth is that osteoporosis is an estrogen deficiency disease. Not even basic medical texts agree with this. It is a fabrication of the pharmaceutical industry with no scientific evidence to support it. Osteoporosis begins long before estrogen levels fall and accelerates for a few years at menopause. Taking estrogen can slow bone loss for those few years, but its effect wears off within a few years after menopause. Estrogen cannot rebuild new bone.
Still yet another myth is about osteoporosis being a disease of menopause. This is at least a decade short of the truth. Osteopososis begins anywhere from five to 20 years prior to menopause, when estrogen levels are still high. Osteoporosis accelerates at menopause or when a woman's ovaries are surgically removed or become nonfunctional, such as can happen after hysterectomy. It's scary to think of how many thousands or even millions of women have been doomed to a crippled old age and early death because their uterus and/or ovaries were unnecessarily removed befoe menopause and progesterone replacement was ignored.
Osteoporosis is a progressive disease with many factors contributing to its cause. It is a disease of excessive bone loss and decreased bone density; that is, over time there is less bone, and what is left is lighter and more porous. The danger in osteoporosis is an increased risk of bone fractures, which can be painful and debilitating enough to lead to premature death. The most common fractures occurring as a result of osteoporosis are of the spinal vertebrae, forearm, hip, shoulder and ribs, with hip fracture the most costly and most likely to be disabling.
Osteoporosis occurs earlier and with greater
severity in white women of Northern European extraction who are relatively
thin. It is also more common among those who smoke cigarettes, are
under exercised, deficient in vitamin D, calcium, or magnesium and in those
whose diet is meat based rather than vegetable and whole grain based.
Alcoholism is also a potent risk factor.
The makers of Premarin and other estrogen manufacturers would have us all believing that estrogen loss is the major hormonal factor in osteoporosis in women. If that is so, why does significant bone loss occur during the 10 to 15 years before menopause, when estrogen levels are still normal ? In the United States, it is a fact that peak bone mass in women occurs in the midthirties, and that a good percentage of women arrive at menopause with osteoporosis well under wy. The more important factor in osteoporosis is the lack of progesterone, which causes a decrease in new bone formation. Adding progesterone will actively increase bone mass and density and can reverse osteoporosis.
Bones are living tissue and they grow as the body grows, mend when broken and continually mend themselves throughout life. There two types of cells important in the development and maintenance of healthy bones, osteoclasts and osteoblasts. Osteoclasts are the cells that cause the breakdown of old bone tissue whereas osteoblast are the cells that stimulate the formation of new bone tissue.
Osteoporosis is bone loss as the result of osteoclast dominance. If more bone is being absorbed by the osteoclast cells than is being made by the osteoblast cells then osteoporosis will result. According to the research of Dr. John Lee and also Dr. Jerilyn Prior, the evidence is that estrogen's actions relate only to the breakdown of old bone tissue. Other studies have shown that a lack of estrogen stimulates production of a substance called interleukin-6 which stimulates growth of bone loss. Dr. Lee's studies show that the effect of a lack of estrogen is most noticeable in the five years following menopause and after that period estrogen is relatively ineffective and bone loss continues at the same rate as those who are not on estrogen.
Dr. Lee's research demonstrates that natural progesterone supplementation stimulates osteoblasts which produce new bone to fill the spaces left when osteoclasts has removed old bone.
One of the most significant findings of Dr.
Lee's research demonstrated that natural progesterone prevents osteoporosis
but more importantly will reverse osteoporosis so that bones regain their
normal bone mineral density. Dr. Lee and other researchers demonstrated
that 20 mg. of progesterone a day typically leads to a 15% increase of
bone mineral density in the first year and 30% over 3 years. If the
objective of taking progesterone is to reverse osteoporosis, Dr. Lee recommended
an overall regime that includes Vitamin C, Vitamin D, magnesium and calcium.
For these additional supplements to be effective, the body's hormones must
be balanced by applying a good Progesterone cream.
