Progesterone is the hormone that regulates menstruation, supports pregnancy, tempers the highly stimulatory effects of estrogen and helps an embryo develop by providing a source of corticosteroids. Natural progesterone is a steroid hormone derived from cholesterol and is vital as a precursor hormone in the body’s production of corticosteroids and glucocorticoids – steroids that help us deal with stress and physical cellular/tissue repair. Progesterone is normally produced by the corpus luteum in the ovaries and in the brains of humans and animals. At about 8 to 10 weeks of pregnancy, the placenta in pregnant females takes over progesterone production from the ovaries. Progesterone is the pivotal hormone of pregnancy.
Women in their childbearing years experience cyclical progesterone surges. In the beginning (follicular phase) of a menstrual cycle, women have low progesterone levels equivalent to that in men, children, and post menopausal women (less than 2 ng/ml of blood). The small amount of progesterone present in males does not have a feminizing effect on them. Progesterone calms mood in both sexes.
When a woman releases an egg for fertilization (ovulation), her progesterone level spikes (greater than 5 ng/ml of blood). If the egg (ovum) is fertilized, the corpus luteum (yellow body) in the ovary secretes progesterone to maintain the pregnancy until the placenta is large enough to take over production. Progesterone levels increase to 400 ng/ml of blood, and taper off during the last month of pregnancy to 200 ng/ml. After birth occurs and milk production (lactation) begins, women experience “baby blues” because the progesterone levels decrease abruptly.
Progesterone is a neurosteroid in the brain that affects functioning of the nerve synapses and the protective myelin sheath of nerves. Researchers are investigating the effects of progesterone on memory, cognition, and multiple sclerosis. Animal studies suggest progesterone may protect females from brain injury.
Progesterone reduces spasms in smooth muscles. It is an anti-inflammatory and decreases immune response. Progesterone adjusts the body’s use of zinc, copper, fat, estrogen, collagen, and blood clotting factors. It is one of the hormones that regulate the uterus, gall bladder, thyroid, bones, teeth, skin, ligaments, tendons, and joints.
Women take progesterone to prevent excessive menstrual bleeding and to assist with in-vitro fertilization. A woman with a very short cervix who is prone to miscarriage can take progesterone to help maintain her pregnancies, because it has been proven to reduce pre-term births and the time babies spend in neonatal intensive care units.
As previously stated, simple endometrial hyperplasia is an estrogen induced overgrowth of the cells lining the wall of the uterus. This is most usually due to natural progesterone deficiency, hence the excessive build up of the endometrial lining.
