Autoimmune Disorders and Natural Progesterone
Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Hashimoto’s & Graves Disease
Can progesterone help alleviate autoimmune disorders like Hashimoto’s disease, Grave’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis or Lupus? Autoimmune disorders are those disease states in which your own antibodies attack some gland or tissue in your body. The development of an autoimmune disease may be influenced by the genes a person inherits together with the way the person’s immune system responds to certain triggers or environmental influences.
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Multiple sclerosis is a disease in which the immune system targets nerve tissues of the central nervous system. Most commonly, damage to the central nervous system occurs intermittently, allowing a person to lead a fairly normal life. At the other extreme, the symptoms may become constant, resulting in a progressive disease with possible blindness, paralysis, and premature death.
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Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus most commonly experience profound fatigue, rashes, and joint pains. In severe cases, the immune system may attack and damage several organs such as the kidney, brain, or lung.
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Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and Grave’s disease result from immune system destruction or stimulation of thyroid tissue. Symptoms of low (hypo-) or overactive (hyper-) thyroid function are nonspecific and can develop slowly or suddenly; these include fatigue, nervousness, cold or heat intolerance, weakness, changes in hair texture or amount, and weight gain or loss.
Estrogens
The onset of autoimmune disorders occurs most often in middle-aged women - the time of life when estrogen dominance becomes common. Recent studies have shown that women who use HRT containing estrogen (estradiol) are more likely to get lupus. Birth control pills also cause autoimmune diseases by causing the body to form antibodies to its own hormones.
According to Dr Wright, estriol can reduce the risk of and help alleviate auto-immune diseases. UCLA researchers demonstrated that women with MS responded dramatically to large doses of estriol because it stimulated an estrogen receptor known as "estrogen receptor alpha". Estriol stimulates "estrogen receptor alpha" in just the way needed to decrease the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.
It’s well known that autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis (MS) often go into remission during pregnancy (when our body manufactures high levels of progesterone and estriol), only to return in force after child-birth. Correcting estrogen dominance by blocking estradiol estrogen action using estriol in conjunction with progesterone can lead to a gradual improvement.
Cortisol ~ Thyroid
Cortisol, secreted by the cortex of the adrenal glands, suppresses autoimmune reactions. But when the adrenal glands release too little cortisol, the virulence of antigen / antibody reactions is enhanced. Autoimmune attacks on normal body proteins will then proceed swiftly.
Adrenal cortical suppression is especially common in patients with hypo-thyroidism and thyroid hormone resistance. Adrenal function returns to normal in the hypothyroid or thyroid hormone resistance patient after she begins taking enough of the proper form of thyroid hormone. Her increased cortisol level may then slow down or halt autoimmune destruction of her thyroid gland.
DHEA
DHEA is a mild androgen (or male hormone) produced by the adrenal glands, and used by the body to make other powerful hormones including the sex hormones testosterone and estrogen. Researchers have been investigating DHEA’s effect on lupus since the 1980s. Studies in humans, so far, have focused on women, who make up 90 percent of those with lupus.
Researchers aren’t sure of the mechanism by which DHEA affects lupus. But they do have clues. They know that DHEA levels are low in women with lupus, and that DHEA increases testosterone and estrogen levels, along with other hormones. Because DHEA has been shown to increase estrogen and testosterone levels, there’s concern it could contribute to existing hormonally influenced cancers, such as breast, ovarian and uterine cancers in women and prostate cancer in men.
Vitamin D
Deficiencies of vitamin D have been found to contribute to various cancers and autoimmune diseases, particularly conditions of type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and psoriasis. Recent studies indicate that there’s a critical need for testing blood levels of vitamin D.
Researchers have known for a long time that people in parts of the world that get less sunlight (and therefore have less vitamin D) are more likely than others to get multiple sclerosis. Now they understand that during fetal development and very early childhood, certain proteins that are activated by vitamin D directly interact with a certain gene. Lack of vitamin D causes this gene to act in a way that increases the chances of developing multiple sclerosis.
The majority of people with MS have some degree of vitamin D deficiency. People who live in northern regions commonly have a vitamin D deficiency for 4 to 6 months of the year. Interestingly, relapses tend to happen more in the spring when vitamin D levels reach their lowest, as stores have been depleted.
Progesterone
It has long been know that progesterone is produced in the central nervous system and that it plays a role in helping nerves communicate with each other. This is why progesterone, like other hormones such as estrogen and testosterone, is related to neurotransmitters, that is, substances that carry messages from nerve to nerve and help run the vast communication network within the body.
Researchers found that progesterone is produced in yet another site in the nervous system, in special cells called Schwann cells. These are found in the peripheral nervous system, the collection of nerves that branch off from the central nervous system. In the peripheral nervous system, progesterone may play a previously undetected role in the maintenance of nerves. Progesterone promotes the formation of the myelin sheath, the fatty substance that surrounds and protects nerve fibers. The myelin sheath is to nerves what plastic insulation is to electrical wires.
In multiple sclerosis, a disease of the central nervous sytem, the loss of myelin results in a breakdown of the nerve signaling system throughout the body. Progesterone is the main precursor to corticosteroids and in progesterone-deficient women, restoration of normal progesterone levels may enhance corticosteroid production, thus suppressing the autoimmune attack.
Bottom Line: If you’re suffering from an autoimmune disease, you don’t have to wait for all the academic research answers to come in. Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) at physiological doses is relatively safe, and, if nothing else has worked for you, it’s an option you and your physician should consider exploring.
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References
- Medeiros PB, Febrônio MV, Bonfá E, Borba EF, Takiuti AD, Silva CA. Menstrual and hormonal alterations in juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus. 2009 Jan;18(1):38-43.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19074167 - Yates MA, Li Y, Chlebeck P, Proctor T, Vandenbark AA, Offner H. Progesterone treatment reduces disease severity and increases IL-10 in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. J Neuroimmunol. 2010 Mar 30;220(1-2):136-9. Epub 2010 Feb 11.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20153059 - Arnalich F, Benito-Urbina S, Gonzalez-Gancedo P, Iglesias E, de Miguel E, Gijon-Baños J. Inadequate production of progesterone in women with systemic lupus erythematosus. Br J Rheumatol. 1992 Apr;31(4):247-51.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1555040?dopt=Abstract - Shabanova SS, Ananieva LP, Alekberova ZS, Guzov II. Ovarian function and disease activity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2008 May-Jun;26(3):436-41.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18578965 - Cutolo M, Capellino S, Straub RH. Oestrogens in rheumatic diseases: friend or foe? Rheumatology (Oxford). 2008 Jun;47 Suppl 3:iii2-5. Review.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18504280 - Cutolo M, Sulli A, Capellino S, Villaggio B, Montagna P, Seriolo B, Straub RH. Sex hormones influence on the immune system: basic and clinical aspects in autoimmunity. Lupus. 2004;13(9):635-8. Review.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15485092 - Garay L, Deniselle MC, Meyer M, Costa JJ, Lima A, Roig P, De nicola AF. Protective effects of progesterone administration on axonal pathology in mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Brain Res. 2009 Aug 4;1283:177-85. Epub 2009 Jun 2.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19497309 - Garay L, Deniselle MC, Lima A, Roig P, De Nicola AF. Effects of progesterone in the spinal cord of a mouse model of multiple sclerosis. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2007 Nov-Dec;107(3-5):228-37. Epub 2007 Jun 22.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17692515 - Yu HJ, Fei J, Chen XS, Cai QY, Liu HL, Liu GD, Yao ZX. Progesterone attenuates neurological behavioral deficits of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis through remyelination with nucleus-sublocalized Olig1 protein. Neurosci Lett. 2010 May 26;476(1):42-5. Epub 2010 Apr 8.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20381586 - Szodoray P, Nakken B, Gaal J, Jonsson R, Szegedi A, Zold E, Szegedi G, Brun JG, Gesztelyi R, Zeher M, Bodolay E. The complex role of vitamin D in autoimmune diseases. Scand J Immunol. 2008 Sep;68(3):261-9. Epub 2008 May 29.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18510590 - Cutolo M, Straub RH. Insights into endocrine-immunological disturbances in autoimmunity and their impact on treatment. Arthritis Res Ther. 2009;11(2):218. Epub 2009 Apr 6.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19435479 - Hazeldine J, Arlt W, Lord JM. Dehydroepiandrosterone as a regulator of immune cell function. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2010 May 31;120(2-3):127-36. Epub 2010 Jan 12.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20060904 - Nordmark G, Bengtsson C, Larsson A, Karlsson FA, Sturfelt G, Rönnblom L. Effects of dehydroepiandrosterone supplement on health-related quality of life in glucocorticoid treated female patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Autoimmunity. 2005 Nov;38(7):531-40.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16373258 - Melillo, Mark. 1994. Estrogen use may predispose women to lupus. Medical Tribune, November 17.
A Guide to Using Bioidentical Progesterone to Facilitate Fertility and Support Pregnancy
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A 60 Day User Guide
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edward o neill | Feb 11, 2010 | Reply
very interesting and informative .
Mats | Jul 15, 2010 | Reply
Interesting, but a lot of statements get a “citation needed” tag. Could you please cite your sources?
Catherine Rollins | Jul 15, 2010 | Reply
References/citations have now been added.