Progesterone’s Health Benefits

By nature, progesterone is a calming or tranquility hormone. It can even cause you to feel a bit sleepy; that’s one reason why it is taken at night. It makes a woman feel better from the symptoms of PMS such as:

• Bloating.
• Irritability.
• Breast tenderness.
• Migraine headaches.
• Anxiety.

Progesterone is also used to reduce heavy or painful periods. In fact, symptoms of progesterone deficiency include bloating of the face, hands and feet from water retention before your period. Tension in your face and feeling a lot of pressure during this time of the month can also indicate that progesterone levels are insufficient. Breasts that are painful or develop cysts can be a sign of low progesterone, too. The same holds true for ovarian cysts and uterine fibroids.

Progesterone supplementation is also used to stop the symptoms associated with early menopause when ovarian function slows and the ovaries stop producing estrogen. The symptoms include:

• Hot flashes.
• Breast tenderness.
• Worsening PMS.
• Decreased sex drive.
• Vaginal dryness.
• Irregular periods.
• Fatigue.
• Urinary problems (leakage, urgency).
• Mood swings.
• Insomnia.

Health Protection

Beyond helping with the bothersome symptoms of PMS and perimenopause, there are more urgent reasons women use natural progesterone supplementation: Progesterone helps protect women from heart disease, cancer and osteoporosis (brittle bones). This is largely because progesterone can decrease certain ill effects of estrogen, reducing the chances of uterine cancer and breast cancer. Many scientific studies have shown that progesterone decreases breast cancer risk:

• A study reported in the Journal of Epidemiology[1] in 1981 looked at 1,083 women who were treated for infertility. The researchers followed these women for 13 to 33 years, noting their incidence of breast cancer. The premenopausal risk for breast cancer was 5.4 times higher in women with low progesterone levels compared to those with normal levels. There were 10 times more deaths from cancer in the low progesterone group compared with those with normal progesterone levels.

• A 2002 case-control study reported in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention [2] looked at third trimester progesterone levels and breast cancer risk. It found increasing levels of progesterone were associated with decreased risk of breast cancer. This association was strongest before the age of 50. They also found that those in the highest quartile of progesterone levels had a 50 percent reduction in breast cancer risk compared with those in the lowest quartile of progesterone levels.

• In 2004, a prospective study of progesterone levels and associated breast cancer risk in 5,963 women was reported in the International Journal of Cancer.[3]

• In 2008, researchers reported that they had followed 80,000 postmenopausal women for more than eight years. They showed that using progesterone along with estrogen significantly reduced breast cancer risk compared to the use of synthetic progestin.[4]

Progesterone also is beneficial to heart health. It actually has a vascular relaxation effect. The Women’s Health Initiative studies showed that progesterone (unlike progestins) increases the cardio-protective effects of estrogen and reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke. Progesterone also improves lipid profiles and helps estrogen improve lipid profiles (unlike progestins). Many studies which compare progesterone with estrogen versus progestins with estrogen prove this fact.

Dosing Guidelines

If you are sufferPMS symptoms, you can use the daily sustained release or topical cream progesterone on days 14 through 25 of your cycle. If you are having perimenopausal symptoms, the same dose of progesterone as for PMS applies, but starting on day 12 of your cycle works best to control irregular bleeding.

Vaginal suppositories also have good absorption like creams. If progesterone alone does not control your perimenopausal symptoms, you should add in bi-estrogen (estradiol plus estriol usually in a 50:50 or 20:80 ratio) in a topical cream starting at a dose of ¼ to ½ mg daily.

After Menopause

After menopause you should consider using both progesterone and estrogen even if you have no symptoms. These hormones have significant benefits for your heart, liver, brain, bones and skin. After menopause these can be taken daily or with a break for three to five days per month. You also may need the strengthening and libido-enhancing benefits of daily low dose testosterone (¼ to 1 mg) or consider taking DHEA (a precursor hormone to testosterone).

Progesterone reduces the bothersome symptoms of PMS and also of perimenopause. It improves mood and sleep. It lowers risk for breast cancer, uterine cancer and heart disease. It’s even an effective protection against osteoporosis. Progesterone supplementation can be a pretty good deal for those of you who need it. Be assured it is safe because it is not a progestin. I’ll discuss the health benefits of transdermal estrogen supplementation in my next article.

To your best health,

Michael Cutler, M.D.
Easy Health Options

Progesterone’s Health Benefits

In women, the hormone estrogen stimulates growth of tissue inside the uterus. To keep the body from producing uterine overgrowth, the hormone progesterone slows this activity and boosts growth elsewhere. (It helps strengthen bone, for example.) Progesterone restricts estrogen synthesis and suppresses the enzymes that promote estrogen production. It blocks estrogen receptors and suppresses the genes that are encoded to promote estrogen production.¹

We also know that progesterone is beneficially active upon breast tissue. In fact, progesterone reduces estrogen’s stimulation of breast cancer growth. This was described by the authority in modern gynecological endocrinology, Dr. Leon Speroff, who noted, “Evidence indicates that with increasing duration of exposure, progesterone can limit breast epithelial growth as it does with endometrial epithelium… Human breast tissue specimens removed after patients were treated with estradiol and progesterone indicate that progesterone inhibits in vivo [living humans] estradiol induced proliferation.” ²

Breast Cancer Risk

What’s more, the studies all show that while progesterone lowers breast cancer risk, progestins (synthetic forms of progesterone) do not. It is vital to know the difference between these two if you are considering progesterone hormone supplementation. The alleged “experts” from the American College of Gynecology love to denigrate “so-called” bio-identical progesterone while promoting the use of synthetic progestins.

This doesn’t account for the fact that synthetic progestins promote breast cancer and heart disease, while progesterone beneficially lowers breast cancer and heart disease risk.

Startling Studies

The Women’s Health Initiative reported some startling information in 2002. It revealed that even though some 50 million women had been prescribed synthetic oral estrogen plus progestin therapy for better health (in the belief it would lower heart disease and breast cancer risk) since 1972, it was a mistake.

Prescribing artificial hormones was really an experiment. Nobody knew the long-term effect of these synthetic chemicals. The study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) showed that Premarin® (a synthetic estrogen) and Provera® (a synthetic progestin) users had increased rates of heart disease and breast cancer, not lower rates.

This study showed that “absolute excess risks per 10,000 person-years attributable to estrogen plus progestin were 7 more CHD events [heart attacks], 8 more strokes, 8 more pulmonary emboli, and 8 more invasive breast cancers. The benefits were absolute risk reductions per 10,000 person-years of 6 fewer colorectal cancers and 5 fewer hip fractures.” ³

By the way, the risks attributed to oral estrogen are not at all what we find with bio-identical estrogen when applied transdermally (on the skin). This difference is likely due to the way it is metabolized by the liver.

Hormonal Fear

Women continue to be afraid of progesterone, thinking it is the same as progestin. Don’t be confused here. The Women’s Health Initiative again reported this effect of progestin (not progesterone) in 2009 with a study in the New England Journal of Medicine⁴ and in 2010 with a study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association ⁵ (JAMA) of more than 16,000 postmenopausal women from 40 U.S. clinical centers during 5.9 years. This research showed that progestins plus oral estrogen caused an increase in breast cancer rates. Don’t be alarmed — this was not progesterone that they were using in the study.

Many other studies confirm this distinct difference between progestins (synthetic) and progesterone. Lyytinen, et al. used estrogen and a progestin and found increased breast cancer rates in 3 years.⁶ The Nurse’s Health Study, which followed 58,000 postmenopausal women for 16 years, found estrogen (oral) alone increased risk for breast cancer by 23 percent, but addition of synthetic progestin resulted in tripling the risk.⁷

In 2000, Rose, et al. reported a study in which they compared risk for breast cancer between 1,897 postmenopausal women on oral estrogen and synthetic progestin versus 1,637 control women who had never used hormone replacement therapy. They found that progestin increased the risk for breast cancer by 25 percent for every five years of use compared with estrogen alone.⁸ In addition to these, I have many more such clinical studies I could share with you.

Mistaken Beliefs

You can see that if most physicians and lay people believe progestins to be equivalent to progesterone, they misinterpret these studies to think progesterone is harmful and can promote breast cancer. Progesterone doesn’t do this. Progestins are not the same as progesterone.

So you may wonder if there are clinical studies to prove that progesterone lowers breast cancer. There are eight such studies, each well-designed and with large, impressive numbers to show clear statistical significance.

Better Heart Health

One other important difference between progestins and bio-identical progesterone is their influence on cardiovascular health. Progestins cause potentially harmful vasoconstriction (blood vessels narrow); progesterone stimulates vascular relaxation. Also, lipid profiles (blood fats) are worsened with progestins, but improved with progesterone. There are plenty of studies to show this in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, too.

There are distinct differences between synthetic progestins and real progesterone.

Biochemically, the body does not even make progestins, nor do we know of any enzymes that the body naturally has that can properly metabolize progestins the way it has for progesterone.

Likewise, the enzymes needed to metabolize progesterone properly into either 11-deoxycorticosterone or 17-hydroxyprogesterone requires enzymes that we know the human body has. However, with progestins, we do not know if there are enzymes that will convert it to something safe or to something that is unsafe over time. Once again, this is according to the bible of female hormone metabolism in medical education today, Clinical Gynecologic Endocrinology and Infertility, by Leon Speroff, M.D., and others.

Furthermore, the biochemical structures of several other synthetic progestins have carbon-carbon triple bonds, which are not present in the hormones that humans naturally have. These unnatural synthetic progestins include norethindrone, levonorgestrel and norethindrone acetate.

Hormone Problems

The synthetic hormone problem continues and younger women still receive synthetic progestins for reasons not relating to birth control. Doctors are not acknowledging that the oral contraceptive “pill” (aka OCP) has a link to breast cancer in later years, too. Most studies of OCP and new breast cancers in women before age 40 (the worst ones) show a definite link between cancer and the use of the OCP for long durations. Women who began using the OCP as teenagers (younger than age 20) have a 20 percent relative increased risk for breast cancer. It seems to be related more to the duration of exposure to progestins than the dose for shorter periods of time.⁹ 

All of these facts represent information about progestins and progesterone that most doctors don’t know. But with this knowledge, you can look upon bio-identical progesterone very differently than synthetic progestins. In my next article I’ll share the benefits of natural (bio-identical) progesterone and transdermal estrogen (different safety profile than oral estrogen) for you to consider.

To your best health, 

Michael Cutler, M.D.
Easy Health Options

In 2007, researchers reported in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism [1] about the population-wide decline (17 percent) in men’s testosterone levels from 1987 to 2004.

To find the possible reasons for this decline in testosterone, look to metabolic and functional medicine models of hormone health to demonstrate how and why testosterone levels can drop.

Emotional Stresses

We know that stress, chronic worry, anxiety and depressed mood are emotional triggers that increase cortisol production. The production of this hormone slows the manufacture of testosterone from the testosterone precursors DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), androstenedione and androstenediol. Also, we know that having too much body fat produces inflammatory chemicals that further disrupt hormone function. The fatter you are, the more your testosterone is converted to estrogen because of an enzyme called aromatase.

Plus, there are other factors that boost cortisol production and reduce testosterone. Called the “cortisol steal” phenomenon, the condition is linked to chronic pain, low blood sugar, insulin problems, sleep deprivation, disrupted light cycles, infection and chronic inflammation.

Toxic Difficulties

We also know that toxic exposures seem to be increasing as our world of commercial personal-care products grows. Many cosmetics and other items contain chemicals called phthalates. Phthalates were introduced in the 1920s for industrial uses, but their use has expanded in recent years.

In 2008, the National Research Council[2]  reported: “A variety of effects on the development of the reproductive system can be observed in males at much lower doses than previously observed after exposure to various phthalates.” The findings included increased rates of infertility, decreased sperm count and other characteristics of androgen hormone disturbance. Phthalates are not only used as plasticizers, food binders and lubricants, but are included in personal-care items (shampoos, moisturizers, liquid soaps, hair sprays and colognes), bathroom scents, sprays and detergents.

Moreover, bisphenol-A (BPA), a toxin frequently found in plastics, is a known endocrine disrupter and can mimic human hormones in your body. The average levels of bisphenol-A in people are above those that cause harm to animals in laboratory experiments, according to a 2007 consensus statement by 38 experts.[3] Bisphenol-A is often used in the plastics of water bottles, baby bottles, sports equipment, CDs/DVDs, dental sealants and more.[4]

Testosterone Supplementation

The treatment for testosterone deficiency is really quite simple. Your doctor will probably require a blood test before prescribing it to look for levels of the other related hormones DHT, DHEA, SHBG, LH/FSH and estradiol in your blood, urine or saliva. The bio-identical testosterone from compounding pharmacists offers fewer side effects and better efficacy over the long term; it is used in the form of a cream or gel applied daily to the soft skin areas, excluding genitalia. Alternatively, synthetic versions come in creams, gels and shots. I recommend you stay away from the pellets until you’ve proven testosterone therapy is working for six months without side effects.

You previously may have heard that that testosterone therapy worsened BPH (benign prostatic hypertrophy). This has clearly been disproven, and there are no worries about that.[5] Prostate cancer risk with testosterone supplementation, however, has been more controversial. In a search of the scientific literature on this, I found two earlier reports[6] [7] (2005, 2007) suggesting there is a risk and recommending “regular monitoring for prostate cancer” for those getting supplementation.

In 2008, researchers reported in Endocrinology Practice: [8] “Trials of up to 36 months in length and longitudinal studies consistently fail to demonstrate an increased prostate cancer risk associated with increased testosterone levels.” And in 2009, a review by German researchers showed there are no valid studies suggesting a risk of prostate cancer with testosterone supplementation.[9]

Furthermore, in men who have had prostate cancer and been treated, testosterone supplementation has been shown to be safe. Researchers in this area[10] [11] conclude: “Monitoring with PSA and digital rectal examination at regular intervals is recommended.”

Sperm Count

We also know that sperm count has been shown to decrease when testosterone therapy is continued beyond about six months. This happens because the body naturally slows endogenous testosterone production when it is detected that there is plenty in the blood circulation and tissues. Correspondingly, sperm count decreases, albeit not drastically. Shortly after discontinuation of testosterone therapy, sperm count begins to rise. Within a year, it can be back to pre-treatment levels.

I think this gives you a pretty good idea about testosterone supplementation. Next week, I’ll address the hormones estrogen and progesterone.

Feel good for your best health,
Michael Cutler, M.D.
Easy Health Options

Hormone balancing seems to be a field that few doctors know about. Most of my knowledge in this area comes largely from the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, the pioneers of functional and metabolic medicine.

Cholesterol And Hormones For Better Health

In the new medical specialty of anti-aging and hormone-balancing medicine, we know that low cholesterol in the diet is largely to blame for the body’s insufficient production of steroid hormones. The hormone metabolic pathway chart below shows that cholesterol must be present in order for the body to manufacture the important steroid hormones. The hormones in red are the ones we measure and can replace with supplementation if needed. I’d like to first discuss testosterone, the most critical for men and which women also need for health and a good sex life.

 Source: Michael Cutler’s notes from American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine Fellowship training

Testosterone

Testosterone is produced mainly in the testes and to a degree in the adrenal glands in men. Women produce it in their adrenals and ovaries. It is the “life force hormone,” and it’s the primary source of libido and sperm production.

But it is much more: Testosterone helps maintain bone mass, male patterns of fat distribution, male hair patterns, muscle mass, muscle strength and positive mood.

When a man’s testosterone levels decrease to a point where unwanted symptoms occur, the condition of being testosterone-deficient is called “andropause.” It is a wonder that more doctors don’t learn about hormone balancing. I suppose it’s because more men don’t want to discuss these problems.

Remarkably, one in five men already suffers from andropause symptoms by the time he reaches age 40. By age 65, one in three has this problem. By age 80, one in two have it (in a conservative estimate). [1]

Testosterone Deficiency

For men, these symptoms, at any age, indicate a testosterone deficiency that leads to sub-optimal health and faster aging:

• Decreased muscle mass and strength.
• Decreased sex drive (low libido).
• Reduced ability to obtain and maintain a firm erection.
• Reduced frequency of spontaneous erections.
• Reduced ejaculate volume, intensity of orgasms and genital sensation.
• Shrinking testes.
• Breast enlargement, increased body fat and body mass index.
• Loss of pubic hair, axillary hair and normal hairy areas.
• Decreased energy.
• Hot flashes (yes, even in men).
• Emotional or high sensitivity to situational difficulties.
• Unnecessary worry, anxiety or fear.
• Decreased memory or concentration.
• Depressed mood.
• Loss of self-confidence.
• Persistent fatigue with physical activity; joint pains.

Hormonal Protection

But testosterone is not just a hormone for sexual function, strength, good mood and energy. It also protects against many serious diseases that can take your life early. Testosterone in optimal levels has been proven to decrease your risk of:

• Osteoporosis.
• Heart attack and stroke. [2]
• Diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
• Alzheimer’s dementia.
• Inflammation in metabolic pathways.
• Anemia.

In fact, even the rate of death has been found to be 33 percent higher in men with the lowest testosterone compared to those with the most in a study of 800 men over the age of 50 who were followed for 18 years. [3]

Next week, I will discuss what causes testosterone to become low in such a large number of men. I’ll accompany that information with the best treatment options in my next column.

To your best health,
Michael Cutler, M.D.
Easy Health Options

Cholesterol Does Not Cause Atherosclerosis

Unfortunately, the cholesterol-heart disease hypothesis is still the major dogma of modern medicine today. This is the theory that abnormally high cholesterol levels cause atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and heart disease. The theory has been touted simply for large financial gains and believed by the masses. It originated in the late 1940s and early 1950s due to political pressure in the medical industry to find a cause for coronary artery disease (CAD), which was becoming the No. 1 killer of Americans. The mild correlation made between high cholesterol and CAD in middle-aged men was enough to form the basis of a public campaign.

The problem is that no one ever proved causation, but only a correlation. Scientifically speaking, you could have argued that CAD causes high cholesterol. But that would have been equally wrong.

Neglected Report

You probably never heard about the 1964 report by the famous heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey, in Houston. He and his colleagues studied 1,700 surgical patients only to find no correlation between their blood cholesterol levels and the extent of CAD. This was reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association. [1] This is consistent with the fact that about 50 percent of people hospitalized for heart attacks or undergoing CABG (coronary artery by-bass graft) surgery have normal cholesterol levels.

Furthermore, in 1992, Dr. William P. Castelli, former director of the Framingham Study, reported a similar discovery: “…in Framingham, Mass., the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person’s serum cholesterol…We found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least, and were the most physically active.” [2] This is the exact opposite of what people are being told. This does not mean that high consumption of animal meat is going to lower your heart disease risk, because animal meat in high amounts triggers inflammatory processes, while consuming fresh fruits and vegetables and raw foods lowers inflammation.

Powerful Myth

Yet the commercial effect of the cholesterol myth grew tremendously. Low-cholesterol foods, testing for blood cholesterol and the multibillion-dollar cholesterol-lowering drug industry became very profitable even without scientific proof of causation. Unfortunately, doctors still prescribe statin drugs to lower cholesterol when there are much better and safer ways to lower CAD risk.

Recently, I attended a seminar by Mark Houston, M.D., M.S., F.A.C.P., F.A.H.A. He teaches the courses on the functional and metabolic management of hypertension, CAD and dyslipidemia for the fellowship training of the American Academy of Anti-aging Medicine (AAAAM). The latest scientific literature clearly shows that knowing your HDL and LDL cholesterol blood levels provides no real information about cardiovascular risk. Indeed, cholesterol is involved in heart health; but the chronic inflammation, immune dysfunction and oxidative stress of the vascular system are the real culprits. Chronic infections and the consumption of inflammatory foods (such as refined sugars and processed grains) are the two main inflammatory triggers for atherosclerosis.

Only the newer, expanded lipid profile and highly sensitive C-reactive protein levels can really give you a measure of cardiovascular disease risk. The expanded profile measures the LDL particle size and number, the HDL particle size and number, and other lipoprotein subclasses — all measures of inflammation.

Therefore, LDL cholesterol is bad only if it is modified to an oxidized form. That begs the question: How do cholesterol-lowering (statin) drugs lower heart disease risk? Well, it turns out that their effectiveness is due to their anti-inflammatory effects and not cholesterol-lowering effects. Here are some classic scientific studies that help demonstrate this.

Significant Reductions

In The Heart Protection Study [3] reported in the Lancet in 2011, researchers followed 20,536 patients treated with the statin drug simvastatin. They found a significant reduction in heart attacks independent of the baseline blood level of C-reactive protein and in those who already had a low LDL cholesterol level.

A whole set of studies from peer-reviewed journals [4] [5] [6] show that consuming one to seven eggs per week (lots of cholesterol) does not increase the risk of dying from CVD or stroke in men or women. Better yet, there was a trend for men with higher egg consumption to have even a lower rate of stroke. In people with pre-existing obesity, diabetes or insulin resistance, there were a higher number of CAD deaths than normal in comparison with the total population.

A 2009 scientific article [7] published in Current Atherosclerosis Reports from the Framingham Heart Study, the Lipid Research Clinics Study and Male Health Professionals Study all showed that dietary cholesterol has little to no effect on the risk for CAD. However, eating foods with lots of trans-fatty acids (hydrogenated oils) significantly increases the risk for CAD; substitution of saturated fat with refined carbohydrates increases CAD; and very low saturated fat actually increases the risk for hemorrhagic stroke.

Negligible Impact

Earlier in 2001, the British Medical Journal reported a systemic review [8] of 27 randomized clinical controlled trials with a total of 3,902 people who reduced or modified their dietary fat intake for longer than two years, looking at the effect this had on deaths from CAD. The effect was almost negligible: mortality reduced a mere 2 percent!

Now, consider the fact that cholesterol conveys health benefits. In the new specialty of anti-aging and hormone-balancing medicine, we know that low cholesterol in the diet is largely to blame for insufficient production of steroid hormones. See the accompanying metabolic pathway chart. The hormones in red are the ones we measure and replace with supplementation to reverse a large number of illness signs and symptoms.

Source: Michael Cutler’s notes from Fellowship training by AAAAM

You must have sufficient cholesterol in your diet to make sufficient amounts of these critically important hormones: progesterone, aldosterone, cortisol, DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), testosterone and the estrogens. As you can see, they all are manufactured from cholesterol, which you must get from your diet. I‘ll further discuss these hormones and hormone balancing in my next article.

To your best health,
Michael Cutler, M.D.
Easy Health Options

Sex And Social Rules

What did your parents teach you about sex? What is society teaching you now? Certainly, it is a gift for us to enjoy. I believe the best circumstances for sex are in a loving, committed relationship. In this case we call it “making love.” However, depending on your age and your own social rules of “rightness” or “wrongness” about sex in our society, I’ll bet you have some discomfort or hidden fears about sex or perhaps even condemn others for their proclivities.

Also, I think it is rather humorous that my local church leaders have created the role of “anti-pornography expert.” The more we fight anything the more we empower it. Although I do not promote pornography, I also cannot condemn it. For some, watching sex can help improve the intimacy experience. It opens the mind to sexual creativity in the bedroom for both men and women. This also up-regulates sexual desire and sexual fantasies, which are not only natural and normal but also healthy. Visual sexual stimuli for both women and men can work really well.

Why is there so much fear that a husband or wife may find pornography on the Internet and begin to enjoy it? Are marriages really ruined because of pornography itself (inherently, it is joyful), or is it the judgment and shame — the immaturity on the part of someone in the relationship — that is really to blame?

Sex Helps You To Love More And More

Since love is a spiritual feeling, sexual intimacy is best used as a way to express this feeling and to energetically connect more deeply. You can also use your sexual energy and direct it into loving acts of service, quality time together, words of appreciation and gifts that are further expressions of your love connection. The key is to focus on the relationship aspects that you enjoy and not waste energy or attention on unrewarding activities.

The Beneficial Effects Of Sex On The Heart And Other Health Parameters

Epidemiological studies have suggested that sexual activity has favorable effects on long-term health.[1] Researchers followed 914 middle-aged men for more than 20 years and found that having sexual intercourse twice or more a week reduced the risk of fatal heart attack by 2.8 times on average compared to those who have sex less than once a month. This was reported in the February 2002 Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.[2]

Blood pressure can improve, too. In 2002, German researchers reported in Biological Psychology that frequent intercourse among couples living together was associated with lower diastolic blood pressure.[3] The same journal reported a study that showed a more favorable blood pressure response to stressful events in those who routinely had sexual intercourse compared to those who had only other types of sexual activity or abstained. Maybe these cardiovascular benefits also derive from the fact that sex burns calories and can be considered exercise. It is estimated that sexual intercourse burns about as many calories as walking slowly (at about 2 mph).

Prostate Issues

Prostate cancer was once thought to be linked to frequent sexual intercourse. But a large prospective study with 29,342 men ages 46-81 with eight years of follow-up reported in the April 2004 Journal of the American Medical Association  found that high frequency of ejaculations (21 or more per month compared to fewer than 4-7 per month) is associated with lower prostate cancer risk. For high frequency of ejaculations during the ages of 20-29 (from subjects’ recall), researchers found an 11 percent lowered risk of total cancer. For high frequency of ejaculations during their former ages of 40-49, subjects experienced a 32 percent lowered risk of cancer.[4]

Sex helps reduce pain, too; the bliss of sex alone is enough to block pain. Some researchers postulate that the hormone oxytocin is released with sex while endorphins, natural analgesic chemicals, also increase. A study published in the Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine shows that oxytocin has a strong potential as a pain reliever.[5]

Sex improves sleep almost universally. It certainly does for me. The wonderful sense of well-being is the perfect thing to eliminate your worries or feelings of stress. Sex also improves your confidence for overcoming life’s challenges.

Sex Fuels Creativity

The fact that a healthy sex life can enhance your focus, concentration and creativity is another reason why sexual energy is so powerful — for more than just enjoying those moments of bliss. Frequent sex keeps you feeling good, which opens the channels of inspiration for new creative thinking.

I believe the creative power that all men and women have is somehow related to attractive and joyful sexual energy. In my column next week I’ll begin a discussion of sex hormones.

To your best health,
Michael Cutler, M.D.
Easy Health Options

Clinical Experience

Much of what we know about the thyroid comes from the clinical experience of Dr. Broda Barnes and the generations of the renowned Hertoghe family of endocrine physicians in Belgium.

These physician pioneers have determined that thyroid deficiency is actually the leading cause of heart disease. You may believe that high blood cholesterol levels are to blame for heart problems. But they have found that thyroid supplementation is an easy way to control blood pressure and to normalize high blood cholesterol in thyroid-deficient patients.

In their work, they also revealed that thyroid deficiency is not only highly associated with coronary heart disease, but also cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis, dementia and many of the autoimmune diseases. Dr. Barnes reported in 1976 that when his thyroid-deficient patients were properly treated with natural thyroid hormone, they experienced a 94 percent protection rate against heart attacks.¹ Moreover, his report was preceded by others linking coronary artery disease to thyroid deficiency. Often, I am more accepting of these types of older studies in light of the fact that more recent medical literature is increasingly confounded by conflicts of interest involving funding sources.

I find two studies done more than 100 years ago particularly interesting.

Thyroid Experiments

In 1895, a group of prominent Austrian physicians conducted a series of thyroid experiments on animals. They knew that domesticated, grazing animals are vegetarians and also that they never get arterial disease. With that in mind, they removed the thyroid glands of sheep and goats. All of the animals subsequently developed severe diffuse arteriosclerosis, including coronary artery disease.²

But the experiments did not stop there. Later, other Austrian physicians removed thyroid glands from sheep and goats and then gave them supplements of hormone replacement from thyroid extract. None of the animals developed arteriosclerosis.³

This type of research shows that severe thyroid deficiency is a sure cause of cardiovascular disease.

Other work provides evidence that thyroid therapy may regress arteriosclerosis. Reportedly, one of Barnes’ patients had stage IV arteriosclerosis that was completely reversed after about one year of thyroid replacement therapy.

Other Reasons For Thyroid Replacement

Thyroid hormone determines the metabolic rate of every cell. It increases blood flow, heart rate, heat and energy production, and metabolism. It speeds up thinking, intestinal motility, thirst and urination, and improves HDL (good) cholesterol. Thyroid is known to eliminate cellular waste products including old, worn-out enzymes. Even your immune defenses against various infections and cancer are improved by thyroid hormone. Additionally, thyroid hormone decreases total and LDL (bad) cholesterol and lowers blood pressure.

Thyroid deficiency causes a myxedema of the tissues. This is essentially an accumulation of mucous waste products outside cells, a condition that leads to a multitude of organ system dysfunctions.

The Best Thyroid hormone Sources

Natural desiccated thyroid hormone preparations (pig thyroid gland tissue) include Armour Thyroid, Naturethroid and Westhroid. These work best because target cells use T3 ten times more than they use T4.

Don’t let your doctor treat you with just a synthetic T4 such as Synthroid®. Likely you will have difficulty converting T4 into T3. It is postulated that there must be substances secreted by the thyroid gland itself (not yet identified) which are required for cells to fully use T3 and T4. That’s why patients improve more satisfactorily with whole-gland preparations. Keep in mind that dry skin and fluid retention are two symptoms that almost never resolve with synthetic T4.

Optimal Dose

The optimal dose of thyroid hormone is the dose that resolves your low-thyroid symptoms without causing symptoms of thyroid excess.

Foods For The Thyroid

There is evidence that eating a high amount of fruits and vegetables helps the thyroid function. So does eating sugar from natural forms. In contrast, eating too much meat and poultry or restricting calories can lower thyroid activity by slowing the conversion of T4 into T3. Calorie restriction also is expected to lower the production of T4 and T3 by the thyroid gland.⁴

To your optimal health and hormone balance,

Michael Cutler, M.D.
Easy Health Options

¹Barnes, Broda O: Solved: The Riddle of Heart Attacks, Robinson Press, Fort Collins, CO,1976

² von Eiselsberg, AF: “On the Vegetative Disturbances in Growth of Animals after Early Thyroidectomy,” Archives Klinik Chirurgie, 49:207, 1895

³Pick, EP, Pineless, F: “Research on the Physiologically Active Substance of the Thyroid,” Exp Path Ther 7:518, 1910

⁴ Hertoghe, Thierry: The Hormone Handbook, International Medical Publications, U.K., 2006

The Importance Of The Thyroid

The thyroid gland, which surrounds your trachea in your lower neck, determines the metabolic rate of every cell. It influences nutrient delivery into each cell as well as the removal of waste products. If you’re thyroid deficient, no cell can function optimally. Subsequently, there is a long list of symptoms that can be caused by the hypothyroid state (low-functioning thyroid). If the thyroid begins functioning better, other endocrine glands improve their function and become better able to produce their respective hormones, including cortisol and the sex hormones. This is a serious issue: At least 50 percent of all American adults suffer from a thyroid deficiency.[1]

Want to know why the diagnosis of low-thyroid state is so commonly missed? Well, in part, there is such a huge diversity of related symptoms that only a very few physicians trained in this area can recognize the condition. I didn’t comprehend these thyroid problems for many years until a formerly retired cardiovascular surgeon recently brought me up to speed. He came out of retirement because he felt there was an important need to help patients improve by using hormone restoration and nutrition.

Blood Tests

Another reason orthodox medicine doesn’t do an adequate job of treating the thyroid is its over-reliance on thyroid blood tests. Doctors mistakenly believe these tests are required to make a diagnosis. The tests (T4, T3, and TSH levels) are notoriously unreliable for detecting hypothyroidism at the subtle level that contributes to illness.  They do not always indicate what is going on in the relationship between thyroid hormone and the cells of body.

A hypothyroid diagnosis is best made from observing a low basal body temperature and symptoms of hypothyroidism. Ideally, these indications are supported by urine testing that demonstrates the urine thyroid hormone level remains low over a 24-hour period.

To do the basal body temperature test, simply use a thermometer to check your axillary (armpit) temperature while lying in bed for 10 minutes before you get up in the morning. Take at least three morning readings. For women, the best times are days 2, 3 and 4 of menstrual flow if you are menstruating. If your temperature is consistently below the range of 97.8 – 98.2 °F, then it is nearly certain you are thyroid deficient.

Low Thyroid Symptoms

To analyze your symptoms, take this symptom quiz. Do you experience:

1. Sensitivity to cold.
2. Hands and feet often cold.
3. High blood cholesterol.
4. Stiff or painful joints; rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis.
5. Puffy face or swollen eyelids in the morning.
6. Tendency toward rapid weight gain.
7. Trouble getting up in the morning or anxiety or depression upon waking.
8. Feeling tired in daytime when sitting or at rest.
9. Headaches.
10. Frequent colds, sore throats, earaches or other infections.
11.  Memory impairment or difficulty with concentration.
12. Nervousness, depression or bipolar symptoms.
13. Dry, brittle, thick or slow-growing hair or nails; excessive hair loss.
14. Dry skin; thick skin
15. Acne, eczema, psoriasis.
16. Constipation, abdominal bloating or colitis.
17. Menstrual disorders (excessive bleeding or painful menses).
18. Endometriosis, infertility, miscarriages.
19. Night time muscle cramps; burning or tingling.
20. Hypoglycemia.

Most often, only a few of these symptoms are found when thyroid deficiency is mild.

Pioneering Approach

The great pioneers of natural therapy medicine since the mid-1900s have been routinely reversing many chronic illnesses by treating the thyroid — an approach that has been almost entirely ignored by orthodox medicine. And many of these experts estimate that thyroid deficiency is the No. 1 underlying cause of heart disease.

Natural-health experts have found that thyroid supplementation is an easy way to control blood pressure and normalize high cholesterol.

I will elaborate on the important relationship of the thyroid to the heart in my article next week on thyroid hormone. I’ll also tell you more about foods to eat for optimal thyroid health, choosing the proper dose of thyroid hormone and which brands to use.

On to your best health,

Michael Cutler, M.D.
Easy Health Options

Turn Around

Supplementation with cortisol or glandulars can improve your mood and resistance to stress. However, its benefits aren’t restricted to those actions, and there are many more conditions it can turn around. Keep in mind, though, I am discussing a cortisol dose which is equivalent to about one-tenth that of a typical prescription of prednisone.

When I learned about the many effects that cortisol has on the body, I understood better why even a minor deficiency needs to be corrected. As I go through these physical complaints, please understand that there may be other causes for each of them. For example, excessive thinness and difficulty gaining weight can be caused by emotional disturbances, intestinal disease, type 1 diabetes, or even cancer and other conditions.

Also, cortisol can be measured with a blood test (see below), and a lack of cortisol may cause:

• Cravings for sweet and salty foods.
• Acute hair loss or slow loss in patches.
• Stress headaches.
• Skin rashes, eczema, psoriasis, vitiligo (white spots), keloids (thick scars), irregular browns spots; heavy sweating in armpits, palms, and bottoms of feet; or rapid tanning of skin.
• Muscle, tendon or joint pains; hollow cheeks; tired appearance.
• Allergies of the nose and throat, eye irritation, asthma and food sensitivities.
• Autoimmune inflammatory diseases such as Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis and lupus.
• Fatigue, low energy (from stressful events or ongoing stress); a need for extra sleep.
• Intense hunger attacks.
• Digestive pains, bloating, diarrhea.
• Excessive sensitivity to pain.
• Proneness to infections (e.g. mononucleosis, influenza, rhinitis, sinusitis, bronchitis, pneumonia).

Signs

Additional signs that you may need cortisol include behavioral disturbances that disrupt interactions with other people.

Imagine someone who has a waning cortisol level and does not deal with stress very well. Here are the classic behaviors you will see:

• Nervous irritable behavior; nervous laugh to cover embarrassment.
• Accusatory language; always thinking about one’s self and discussing one’s role as a victim.
• Sharp verbal retorts to try to stay in control of discussions.
• Overuse of melodramatic or negative words (terrible, horrible, impossible).

Now if you look at all these signs and symptoms listed above, can you think of someone you know (maybe you?) who could benefit from getting their cortisol level into the optimal range?

Blood Testing And Getting A Prescription

You’re probably wondering how to go about getting cortisol for you or a loved one. Get your doctor to test the cortisol in your blood or urine. Morning blood tests for free cortisol levels or total cortisol levels or, alternatively, an afternoon test for free or total cortisol levels usually provides a definitive diagnosis. If you are in the lower portion of “normal,” this means you are low, because almost all normal reference ranges are a reflection of the average population which is normally low in cortisol. This may require an informed interpretation by a physician experienced in hormone management.

Finding a qualified physician capable of performing this diagnosis can be a challenge.

How do you find a doctor who will order testing and also prescribe cortisol (Hydrocortisone®) or a glandular supplement for you? You can email me at drcutler@easyhealthoptions.com and we may want to establish a doctor-patient relationship if you can come see me in Utah. Alternatively, there is a network of physicians trained in anti-aging medicine called BodylogicMD (www.bodylogicmd.com).

In my next article I’ll tackle the thyroid gland and the huge prevalence of low thyroid hormone among American adults.

To your best health,

Michael Cutler, M.D.
Easy Health Options

Corticosteroids Get An Undeserved Bad Rap

The adrenal glands sit on top of your kidneys. Cortisol is the key hormone manufactured by the adrenal cortex (outer portion). Although cortisol has many important functions within your body linked to metabolism, there are some key symptoms that are corrected when you receive cortisol supplements.

Cortisol (in the body) is the same molecule as the prescriptions hydrocortisone (Cortef®) and Compound F. Prednisone, prednisolone (which is the active form of prednisone), methylprednisolone (Medrol®), betamethasone and dexamethasone are simply synthetic derivatives of natural cortisol and are used as powerful anti-inflammatory medications.

Unfortunately, physicians and their patients alike often fear these versions of cortisol. The reason for this fear: a regrettable blunder by orthodox medicine. When researchers first discovered cortisone at the Mayo Clinic in 1949, they didn’t know how much to give a patient. Therefore, they gave people with crippling arthritis a whopping 100-200 mg a day — about 10 times the daily physiologic replacement dose – enabling some patients to get out of their wheelchairs and go back to work. However, as we now know, the long-term response to these massive doses is disastrous. After a year or two, many of these patients were either dead or nearly dead.[1]

Recognizing The Truth

Some physicians knew the truth. Broda O. Barnes, M.D., Ph.D., was a prominent and experienced endocrine physician of the time. When Barnes found out what was occurring, he quickly saw that that the doctors administering cortisone were making a serious mistake.

He knew that no adrenal gland could produce that much cortisone. So the problem wasn’t the hormone, but rather the high doses being given. The huge pharmacologic doses were causing rapid immune suppression, depressing the thyroid gland and leading to a host of related diseases.

Paradoxically however, in low physiologic doses, corticosteroid hormones (cortisone) improve thyroid function and also enhance the immune system, with no untoward side effects. William McK. Jefferies, M.D., from Harvard, published the definitive work on this entitled, Safe Uses of Cortisol.[2] Barnes as well as the Hertoghe family of endocrine pioneers in Belgium has confirmed his findings through their extensive experience.

Cortisol Enhances Mood And Fights Stress

Cortisol supplementation improves many symptoms all of us have. Consider its benefits for mood, for example.

Cortisol calms down excessive activity of the sympathetic nervous system. This is important because, when you are under mental or physical stress, your adrenal gland produces adrenalin, a stimulating neurotransmitter. This becomes a major cause of emotional outbursts if your cortisol levels are low. Consequently, people who lack cortisol often have high levels of adrenaline. The situation arises because they are not experiencing the mood-calming action of cortisol.[3]

Cortisol produces energy in emotionally, mentally or physically stressful situations in order to calm you down. When you exercise, you normally produce extra cortisol. The reason: Physical exercise is a stress to the body. If your cortisol levels remained low, it would be impossible for you to deal with activity without suffering debilitating fatigue and exhaustion.

Cortisol Levels

Having insufficient cortisol can also cause you to react to stress with a variety of inappropriate and excessive emotions. Most of us have “drama queens” or “stress messes” in our circle of friends or family. They probably get that way from inadequate cortisol. Consider also that cortisol supplements can ease excessive cravings for sweet or salty food.

Even depression, extreme moodiness, memory loss, confusion, absentmindedness, outbursts of anger, excessive anxiety and panic attacks have been seen to resolve with cortisol supplementation.

In addition, there is a possible link between low cortisol levels and low blood pressure. When blood pressure is 100/60, some people who lack cortisol suffer a significant drop in blood pressure when they suddenly sit up. This low blood pressure effect can contribute to feeling drowsy, empty-headed, easily distracted, absentminded, lightheaded or faint. It can even contribute to excessive daydreaming.

Mainstream Medicine’s Lack Of Knowledge

Jefferies was a pioneer in the safe uses of small physiologic doses of cortisol. He published three editions of his book.[4] His credentials were impeccable. He graduated from the University of Virginia School Of Medicine. He served for five years as a research fellow in the Thyroid and Endocrine Clinics at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He ultimately returned to the University of Virginia School of Medicine as a clinical professor of internal medicine.

In his book, Dr. Jefferies explains why mainstream medicine doesn’t use cortisol: “There has been no promotion of physiologic dosages by pharmaceutical companies. Patents on cortisone and cortisol have expired, and drug regulations require that, when a new use is found for an old drug, even at a lower dosage, it must be treated as if it were a new drug, and meet all the investigational requirements of a new drug before the use can be included in the package insert or advertised. Although this requirement is obviously desirable, there is little incentive for a pharmaceutical company to invest the sums necessary to meet these requirements, when any competitor could market the drug, especially in the case of medications such as cortisone and cortisol, where such a great apprehension exists that a major educational program would be necessary to have the product accepted.”

He also writes: “There has been little, if any, discrimination between the effects of physiologic versus pharmacologic dosages. Package inserts for cortisol and cortisone acetate, for example, do not differentiate between physiologic and pharmacologic dosages and effects, implying that any dosage may cause any of the numerous grim side effects that are included in the sections on warning, precautions, and adverse reactions! This not only causes physicians to be unaware of the safety and proper usage of physiologic dosages, but with recent emphasis upon package inserts being made available to patients, has caused patients with conditions that require physiologic dosages in order to live normal lives, such as adrenal insufficiency or congenital adrenal hyperplasia, to become so frightened that much reassurance is necessary to convince them that this lifesaving medication is not going to poison them!”

New Understanding

With this new understanding of the need for optimal cortisol in your body and the simplicity of supplementation, can you see why I am so excited about this type of hormonal wisdom?

I’ll share more about the clinical improvements attributed to low doses of cortisol in my report next week, including its effect on personal energy, stimulation of the immune defenses, anti-arthritic and anti-pain actions. I’ll also share with you how to get some for you or your family members who need it.

To your best health,

Michael Cutler, M.D.

Easy Health Options

[1] Hench PS, Kendall EC, Slocumb CH & Polley HF: “The Effect of a Hormone of the Adrenal Cortex (17-hydroxy-11-dehydrocorticosterone: Compound E) and of Pituitary Adrenocorticotropic Hormone on Rheumatoid Arthritis; Preliminary Report,” Proceedings of the Staff Meetings of the Mayo Clinic, 24:8, April 13, 1949

[2] Jefferies, William McK: Safe Uses of Cortisol, Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, 2004

[3] Hertoghe, Thierry: The Hormone Handbook, International Medical Publications, U.K., 2006

[4] Jefferies, William McK: Safe Uses of Cortisol, Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, 2004