Progesterone Cream Basics

Progesterone is a steroid hormone giving to women that are under going hormone replacement therapy for menopause, this is done to stabilize or check the effects of estrogen. When estrogen is left un-stabilized or unchecked, estrogen generates a great risk for reproductive cancers as well as breast cancer, while in men results in prostrate cancer. Research has shown that during menopause, progesterone levels could drop to as much as zero in some women, while estrogen levels drop to between 40 and 60% which is just adequate to stop the menstrual cycle. Progesterone precedes a lot of steroid hormones and as such its use is very crucial to women during menopause.

Progesterone has many uses one of which is boosting bone building which prevents osteoporosis often referred to as porous bone. Osteoporosis is a disease which occurs in men and women but it occurs mostly in women that are menopausal, in which the bones become really porous and are subject to fracture, these fractures mostly occur in the wrist, hip or spine though the most common fractures are those of the spine and hip and any bone can be affected. Progesterone that is used in stabilizing or checking estrogen is produced from soy beans as well as from the extracts of some wild yam which is found in Mexico. The soy bean as well as the Mexican wild yam contain a hormone called phytoestrogen which is synthesized into progesterone in the laboratory. The progesterone that is produced is referred to as bio-identical hormone because it’s composition matches that produced by the body which is why it is easily absorbed by the body. The best places to apply the progesterone cream are those places in the body that blush like the buttocks, cheeks, neck and palms. Progesterone cream should be as prescribed by a medical practitioner.

Production of Progesterone Cream

Progesterone is a steroid hormone which in women is produced in the ovary at the time of ovulation which is also produced in small quantities by the adrenals. This hormone is given to women to treat premenopausal symptoms like irritability, hot flashes, depression, breast tenderness, mood swings, sleepless nights, headaches, weight gain, vaginal dryness, and fatigue.

Premenopause also referred to as perimenopause, is the period in a woman’s life which is before the onset of menopause, menopause is when a female’s menstrual cycle ceases permanently. The average age at which a woman starts to experience premenopausal symptoms is 45, but women as young as 25 and as old as 70 can also show signs of premenopause. The length of premenopause varies greatly in woman. When the level of progesterone in the body decreases, the level of oestrogen increases and when the oestrogen level is left unchecked, it results in prostrate cancer in men and breast cancer in women. To put the oestrogen level in check, progesterone needed in the body would have to be produced from the extracts of a wild yam which is found in Mexico, progesterone can also be produced from soy beans.

The wild yam and soy beans contain a hormone called phytoestrogen (phytoestrogen is a plant constituent with a structure similar to that of estrogen). The phytoestrogen is then synthesized in the laboratory into progesterone. The progesterone that is so synthesized is referred to as bioidentical hormone. Bioidentical hormone according to wikipedia is a layperson's term for the treatment of the hormone deficiencies caused by menopause using only molecules that are identical to the hormones found in the human body.

Importance of Progesterone

regularizes blood sugar levels
Natural anti-depressant
Helps use fat for energy and keep it off the hips
aids thyroid hormone action
Restores proper cell oxygen levels
boosts libido
stabilizes blood clotting
standardizes copper and zinc levels
Protects against breast cysts
boosts bone building
Helps in the prevention of breast cancer

What is Progesterone?

It is one of the two main hormones produced every month by the ovaries of menstruating women, the other hormone is estrogen, men also produce a small amount of progesterone, but its production is not as important as that of testosterone (male sex hormone). It is the major female reproductive hormone which is produced naturally during the last 2 weeks of the menstrual cycle, its production is to enhance the chances of a woman becoming pregnant. It is made by the corpus luteum (according to the Stedman’s online medical dictionary, corpus luteum is the yellow endocrine body, 1–1.5 cm in diameter, formed in the ovary at the site of a ruptured ovarian follicle immediately after ovulation; there is an early stage of proliferation and vascularization before full maturity; later, there is a festooned and bright yellowish lutein zone traversed by trabeculae of theca interna containing numerous blood vessels; the corpus luteum secretes estrogen, as did the follicle, and also secretes progesterone. If pregnancy does not occur, it is called a corpus luteum spurium, which undergoes progressive retrogression to a corpus albicans. If pregnancy does occur, it is called a corpus luteum verum, which increases in size, persisting to the fifth or sixth month of pregnancy before retrogression. Syn: yellow body) of the ovary. It is normal for the levels of progesterone to rise and fall during the monthly cycle. Its production starts just before ovulation every month and increases swiftly after ovulation. This is what assists the fertilized egg(s) to survive. Just before ovulation the body temperature increases a little because of the rise in the progesterone level in the body, there is also an increase in the quantity of the mucus produced in the vagina which increases the chances of the sperm reaching the egg(s) in good time to fertilize it.