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A study done at the
College of Nursing and Health Sciences at The University of Texas at
Tyler in 2004 showed concrete clinical evidence that natural
progesterone cream provides relief for symptoms of menopause while
showing no short-term health risks. Dr. Kenna Stephenson, M.D. along
with other medical researches at the University of Texas at Tyler
published their study in Blood: Journal of The American Society of
Hematology.
Carol Prise, M.S.N,
co-investigator on the study said that women she worked with wanted
to know more about natural, safe and effective treatment for their
menopausal symptoms instead of synthetic hormones.
Approximately 50
million women in the U.S. are in the peri-menopausal or menopausal
age group. They are seeking solutions for symptoms of hot flashes
without the risk of life-threatening diseases.
The study consisted
of 30 menopausal women who were given either a placebo cream or
natural progesterone cream to use for one month. After a break, the
women switched to the opposite cream to use for an additional month.
Completed questionnaires by these women showed that using natural
progesterone cream reduced their menopausal symptoms.
According to Dr.
Stephenson, natural progesterone showed no relation to any
indicators related to serious diseases associated with the
traditional hormone replacement therapy, such as Provera or Prempo.
The progesterone creams in this study were tested for safety,
efficacy and any short term benefits or harmful effects, by looking
at biomarkers. Biomarkers immediately indicate serious diseases such
as cancer, heart disease, infections and dementia. As a result, no
markers were found in natural progesterone creams.
Both the synthetic
drugs Premarin and Prempro have shown to increase blood clotting
therefore women are looking for other options. Dr. Stephenson’s
study has provided women knowledge about natural progesterone as an
option to help relieve menopausal symptoms. She said “the results of
this study are encouraging because it is clinical evidence of the
viable option of bioidentical progesterone cream for menopausal
women in their search to relieve menopause symptoms.”
One of the things Dr.
Stephenson observed during the study was cortisol levels. She
noticed a decline in cortisol to normal range when women were using
progesterone cream compared to placebo. We know that cortisol is
activated during stressful events and an abnormal cortisol pattern
can increase the risk of heart attacks, cancer and obesity.
This study shows that
women who choose natural progesterone for their menopausal symptoms
do not need to worry about side effects.
The results correlate with another independent study that showed
that women using natural progesterone had up to an 83% decrease in
hot flashes.
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