Androgen Excess Syndrome and Natural Progesterone

Androgen-excess syndrome has several major features:

• seborrhea (a form of skin inflammation which has no known cause)
• acne
• hirsutism
• obesity
• hair loss (alopecia)
• velvety, light-brown-to-black, markings usually on the neck, under the arms or in the groin, associated with high insulin levels (acanthosis nigricans).

Circulating androgens arrive at the receptors, enter the cell, and are metabolised to the final, most potent androgens - testosterone which, in turn, is converted by an enzyme called 5 alpha reductase into another form of testosterone called dihydrotestosterone or DHT - the androgen hormone that triggers hair loss in androgenetic alopecia.

This altered androgen metabolism (conversion from weak to potent androgens) is the most common cause of hirsutism and it appears to be the result of an increased conversion in the skin of testosterone to DHT.

Whether a woman is hirsute often is difficult to judge because hair growth varies among individual women and across ethnic groups. What is considered hirsutism in one culture may be considered typical in another. For example, women from the Mediterranean and the Indian subcontinent have more facial and body hair than do women from East Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and northern Europe.

Dark-haired darkly pigmented whites of either sex tend to be more hirsute than blond or fair-skinned people.

Consideration needs to be given to the increased risks conveyed by long-term androgen excess which include:

• infertility
• cardiovascular disease
• hypertension
• osteoporosis
• uterine cancer
• pituitary adenoma

To some degree, estrogen reduces the effect of androgens in women. Estrogens increase liver manufacture of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). Androgens decrease it. Thus lack of estrogens can effectively increase available blood androgens. We see this at menopause when a woman’s estrogen levels decline, coinciding with excessive hair sprouting up on her face … and perhaps less and less of it growing on her head!

You can help your body oppose androgen dominance in a number of ways.

Progesterone is the one hormone in a woman’s body that modulates other hormones helping to restore balance. It’s certainly proving to be a major player in the successful treatment of PCOS. Progesterone supplementation might, therefore, be a good starting point.

Progesterone supplementation can have a positive effect on acne that tends to be a by-product of increased androgen production (PCOS). Seborrhea (flaky, itchy skin) clears rapidly with topical progesterone cream, while keratoses (keratinized epithelial cells) are reported to soften and disappear when cream is applied directly to them.

I would certainly suggest women pay particular attention to diet and nutrition, avoid all refined carbohydrates and sugars, introduce a premium phytoestrogen-vitamin-mineral formulation, incorporate a essential fatty acid supplement, get plenty of exercise, drink lots of filtered water, reduce weight (if need be), learn to manage your stress levels, and rest up.

And source yourself a healthcare professional who’s familiar with salivary hormone profiles and prescribing human-identical hormone replacement therapy.

In light, love & laughter,

Catherine P. Rollins
CEO, Making Plans Pty Ltd
www.natural-progesterone-advisory-network.com
www.coachingwithpassion.com