In Part I of Natural Hormone Balance, we explored the ongoing debate about synthetic hormone replacement therapy (HRT) vs. all-natural progesterone products. International Health Distribution understands the importance of HRT and how it affects women of all ages. We continually strive to not only provide top-of-the-line natural progesterone products, but also to educate and keep you informed of the latest medical studies on the subject. As promised in Part I of Natural Hormone Balance, International Health Distribution offers up some clarifying definitions of common buzz words among women’s health.

Progesterone

Progesterone identifies one specific chemical. More specifically, progesterone identifies one single molecule (sometimes confused with a class of hormones). It is just this one single hormone that impacts the woman’s body—and it’s manufactured in the body by various organs.

Progesterone is a "building block," if you will, for other hormones such as adrenal hormones (adrenaline), which are used in response to stress and danger. The adrenal hormones increase blood pressure to prepare the body for self-defense.

Progestins

Available from pharmaceutical companies with a prescription from a licensed physician, progestins are synthetic, wherein progesterone is actually altered at the molecular level. As you can imagine, altering the molecular structure of progesterone to progestin can cause significant changes, particularly as it affects the human body.

It has been documented that progestins are not utilized as an aid to supplement hormones, and they are actually difficult for the body to break down and excrete. Most progestins can also be derived from organic compounds, such as found in plants, through a process called hydrolyzation.

Natural Progesterone

Natural Progesterone can be derived from wild yams and soybeans, and developed into progesterone. This is exactly the same in molecular structure and action to human progesterone, which is made for this method and graded by the U.S. Pharmacopoeia (USP). It is commonly transformed into a cream for transdermal (rubbed into the skin) absorption.

It is said to be an "identical likeness" to human progesterone. Dr. Ron Eaker claims there is evidence that natural progesterone creams are helpful for many menopausal side effects. He, along with other medical professionals, now shows significant data that this is valid.

Recently, there were two papers presented at the World Congress of Fertility that documented improvement in hot flashes for women using progesterone creams. These papers also acknowledge many testimonies of natural progesterone effectiveness for pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) as well as various other menopausal symptoms. More investigations are forthcoming almost daily.

Another study recently published in a medical journal found significant improvement in hot flash symptoms when transdermal natural progesterone was used. All-natural progesterone has also proved to inhibit abnormal growth of cells in key body organs, which may actually transfer to additional diseases potentially impeding the growth of cancer developed cells, which has obvious major implications.

In summary, natural progesterone that is applied in the form of a cream has been documented to be a viable option for women wishing to effectively and safely treat basic hormonal imbalance, including symptoms and conditions that occur throughout a woman’s life span. Researchers have also linked these findings to acne improvement, particularly for teenage girls.