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Progesterone to the rescue… again

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Back in 2002, Progesterone was a hot topic in the news. Dr. John Lee’s books (What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause… also his similarly named books on Premenopause and Breast Cancer) were on an “end aisle” in every major book store in the country and each highlighted the benefits of natural progesterone. That information and Arbonne’s Balancing Creams (USP Natural Progesterone) turned my life around and gave me my health back. Wahooo!!!

Now, progesterone is again making news. Monday, March 15th, 2010, in the Life Section (D) of USA Today, the Cover Story by Rita Rubin reveals progesterone is showing promise in the treatment of brain-injured patients. The article highlights the case of Marc Baskett, a patient who suffered serious injury in a traffic incident in 2004. While not back to 100% physically, his speech gives no indication he was once in a deep coma. His brain is functioning fully, thanks to immediate treatment with progesterone. Progesterone is best known as a female hormone… but truth be told, both men and women have progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone just in differing amounts. The article quotes Arthur Kellerman, chairman of emergency medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, as stating that it “might be more accurate to call progesterone a “protection hormone” instead of a female hormone”.

The USA Today article also states that “A small study of progesterone in the treatment of traumatic brain-injured patients, including Baskett, was so promising the National Institutes of Health has financed a larger, nationwide study that is to start enrolling patients this week. Scientists are still trying to unravel how progesterone protects the brain, but laboratory and animal studies suggest that it is critical for normal development of the brain and reduces swelling from trauma.”

I find it noteworthy, that while scientists and drug companies have tried for over 30 years to find a medication to improve survival and function in brain injured patients, (Kellerman noted) “Every single clinical trial of a treatment for brain injury has failed. That is until the 100-patient pilot study of progesterone. The trial, designed mainly to test the hormone’s safety, uncovered no serious side effects… Even more striking, the study found patients given progesterone were 50% less likely to have died than those receiving a placebo. And among moderate brain-injury survivors, those who received progesterone were less disabled. Some, like Baskett, made a full recovery. ”

Progesterone is natural and relatively inexpensive to produce from either soy or yams. I understand that drug companies cannot patent what is natural and must therefore alter nature to come up with a formulation they can exclusively own, making it monetarily worth their while to produce. (Progestin is the prescription form of natural progesterone and the PDR does note side effects from its use.)

This study could yield the evidence necessary to raise hopes for the use of natural progesterone to standard practice for brain-injured patients.

Personally, I still can’t help but wonder “What if I knew then what I know now about the benefits of natural progesterone… could I have avoided a hysterectomy?” I now add to my “What if’s”… what if natural progesterone could help other brain issues… could it have helped my first husband who suffered and died from an inoperable brain tumor? Perhaps time will tell.

As an end note… if you seek more information about Arbonne’s Balancing Creams you can contact me or your Arbonne Independent Consultant. As an Arbonne Independent Consultant and Regional Vice President, it is my goal, my honor and privilege to provide excellent customer service to each of my clients and to those in my network of Consultants.


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