Turner Syndrome and Natural Progesterone

What is Turner Syndrome?

Humans are usually born with 46 chromosomes, which are arranged in 23 pairs. One of these pairs determines whether a baby is male or female, and these are known as the sex chromosomes. Boys are born with the sex chromosomes XY, and girls are born with two X chromosomes (XX).

Occasionally, however, a girl is born with only one X chromosome and this is known as Turner Syndrome. The second X chromosome is usually missing in Turner Syndrome. Occasionally it may be present, but abnormal in some way. About 1 in 2,500 girls has Turner Syndrome. Even though these girls only have one normal X chromosome, they are 100 percent female.

Turner Syndrome is named after Dr. Henry Turner, who first described it in 1938. Often a girl with Turner Syndrome is not diagnosed until early childhood, because she is not growing as well as expected. Some girls are diagnosed as teenagers when they are taken to the doctor because their periods or puberty seem to be late in starting.

Some of the most common features are listed below. Most girls with Turner Syndrome would have some, but not all, of these things:

• Short stature (not as tall as other girls).
• Widening of the neck ("webbed neck").
• Ovaries that do not function and infertility.
• An underactive thyroid gland.
• A broad chest with widely spaced nipples.
• A heart murmur, sometimes associated with narrowing of the aorta (the main blood vessel that comes out of the heart).

Turner Syndrome and fertility

Girls with Turner Syndrome are almost always infertile, because their ovaries are unable to produce eggs. A very small proportion of young women with Turner Syndrome may have a short time during their life when they are fertile.

Although girls with Turner Syndrome have nonfunctioning ovaries, they do have a normal womb and vagina, and will be able to have an entirely normal sex life. Some women with Turner Syndrome have had successful pregnancies using donated eggs and in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

Hormone therapy

There is, at the moment, no way to prevent Turner Syndrome from happening or cure it once it occurs. Many of the features of Turner Syndrome can be medically monitored and treated.

According to research, girls with Turner Syndrome that are nearing the age of 13 may be given a low dose of estrogen for two years. During this time her growth rate may double. Since estrogen, when taken alone, can cause abnormalities of the uterus, progesterone is then included in the therapy. This estrogen and progesterone treatment will go on for the rest of her life from the age of about 15.

For those interested in learning more, I did manage to locate a paper on sex determination and differentiation that examines how mutations in genes cause important clinical syndromes such as Mixed Gonadal Dysgenesis.

Benefits of natural progesterone

Whether a woman has an intact uterus or not, our body still needs progesterone. One of progesterone’s key functions is its broad range of core biologic effects on metabolic health. Furthermore, progesterone is a precursor (or building block) of other hormones that include estrone, estriol, estradiol, testosterone, and all the important adrenal cortical hormones.

Progesterone benefits include:

• Maintains the secretory endometrium
• Protects against fibrocystic breasts
• Helps use fat for energy
• It is a natural diuretic
• Natural anti-depressant / mood enhancer
• Facilitates thyroid hormone action
• Normalises blood clotting
• Restores sex drive
• Normalises blood sugar levels
• Normalises zinc and copper levels
• Restores proper cell oxygen levels
• Prevents endometrial (uterine) cancer
• Helps prevent breast cancer
• Simulates osteoblast for bone building
• Restores normal vascular tone
• Necessary for the survival of the embryo
• Precursor of corticosteroids and other hormones
• Modulates other hormones helping to restore balance
• Promotes sleep
• May help improve libido
• Contributes to reducing anxiety and panic attacks
• Reduces estrogen dominance symptoms

Medical conditions associated with Turner Syndrome that include osteoporosis, high blood pressure, hypothyroidism (Hashimoto’s), fluid retention, and depression have all been known to respond favorably to progesterone supplementation.