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<title>Progesterone, Pregnenolone & DHEA - Three Youth-Associated Hormones — GigaChad</title>
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<h1>Progesterone, Pregnenolone & DHEA - Three Youth-Associated Hormones</h1>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="/"><img class="epic" src="/icons/chads/chad.png"></a>
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<p class="nav"><span class="nav-left">Listed under <a href="/ray-peat.html">Ray Peat</a>.</span><span class="nav-right"><a href="/theme.html">Theme</a></span></p>
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<p>From the <a href="https://raypeat.com/articles/articles/three-hormones.shtml" target="_blank">original article</a> in 2006. Author: <a href="https://raypeat.com/" target="_blank">Ray Peat</a>.</p>
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<h2>Progesterone information</h2>
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<p>Raymond Peat, MA, PhD (Univ. of
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Oregon)</p>
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<p>Endocrine Physiologist, specializing
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in hormonal changes in stress and aging </p>
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<p>Sixty
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years ago, progesterone was found to be the main hormone produced by
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the ovaries. Since it was necessary for fertility and for maintaining
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a healthy pregnancy, it was called the "pro-gestational hormone,"
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and its name sometimes leads people to think that it isn't needed when
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you don't want to get pregnant. In fact, it is the most protective
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hormone the body produces, and the large amounts that are produced during
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pregnancy result from the developing baby's need for protection from
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the stressful environment. Normally, the brain contains a very
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high concentration of progesterone, reflecting its protective function
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for that most important organ. The thymus gland, the key organ
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of our immune system, is also profoundly dependent on progesterone.
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</p>
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<p>In
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experiments, progesterone was found to be the basic hormone of adaptation
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and of resistance to stress. The adrenal glands use it to produce
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their anti-stress hormones, and when there is enough progesterone, they
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don't have to produce the potentially harmful cortisone. In a
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progesterone deficiency, we produce too much cortisone, and excessive
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cortisone causes osteoporosis, aging of the skin, damage to brain cells,
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and the accumulation of fat, especially on the back and abdomen.
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</p>
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<p>Experiments
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have shown that progesterone relieves anxiety, improves memory, protects
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brain cells, and even prevents epileptic seizures. It promotes
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respiration, and has been used to correct emphysema. In the circulatory
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system, it prevents bulging veins by increasing the tone of blood vessels,
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and improves the efficiency of the heart. It reverses many of
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the signs of aging in the skin, and promotes healthy bone growth.
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It can relieve many types of arthritis, and helps a variety of immunological
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problems. </p>
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<p>If
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progesterone is taken dissolved in vitamin E, it is absorbed very efficiently,
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and distributed quickly to all of the tissues. If a woman has
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ovaries, progesterone helps them to produce both progesterone and estrogen
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as needed, and also helps to restore normal functioning of the thyroid
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and other glands. If her ovaries have been removed, progesterone
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should be taken consistently to replace the lost supply. A progesterone
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deficiency has often been associated with increased susceptibility to
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cancer, and progesterone has been used to treat some types of cancer.
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</p>
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<p>It
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is important to emphasize that progesterone is not just the hormone
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of pregnancy. To use it only "to protect the uterus"
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would be like telling a man he doesn't need testosterone if he doesn't
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plan to father children, except that progesterone is of far greater
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and more basic significance than testosterone. While men do naturally
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produce progesterone, and can sometimes benefit from using it, it is
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not a male hormone. Some people get that impression, because some
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physicians recommend combining estrogen with either testosterone or
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progesterone, to protect against some of estrogen's side effects, but
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progesterone is the body's natural complement to estrogen. Used
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alone, progesterone often makes it unnecessary to use estrogen for hot
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flashes or insomnia, or other symptoms of menopause.
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</p>
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<p>When
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dissolved in vitamin E, progesterone begins entering the blood stream
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almost as soon as it contacts any membrane, such as the lips, tongue,
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gums, or palate, but when it is swallowed, it continues to be absorbed
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as part of the digestive process. When taken with food, its absorption
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occurs at the same rate as the digestion and absorption of the food.
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</p>
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<h2>Pregnenolone</h2>
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<p>Pregnenolone,
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which is the raw material for producing many of the hormones of stress
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and adaptation, was known as early as 1934, but for several years it
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was considered to be an "inert" substance. A reason
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for this belief is that it was first tested on healthy young animals.
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Since these animals were already producing large amounts of pregnenolone
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(in the brain, adrenal glands, and gonads), additional pregnenolone
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had no effect. </p>
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<p>In
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the 1940s, pregnenolone was tested in people who were sick or under
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stress, and it was found to have a wide range of beneficial actions,
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but the drug industry never had much interest in it. Its very
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generality made it seem unlike a drug, and its natural occurrence made
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it impossible to patent. Thus, many synthetic variants, each with
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a more specialized action and some serious side effects, came to be
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patented and promoted for use in treating specific conditions.
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The drug companies created an atmosphere in which many people felt that
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each disease should have a drug, and each drug, a disease. The
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side effects of some of those synthetic hormones were so awful that
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many people came to fear them. For example, synthetic varieties
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of "cortisone" can destroy immunity, and can cause osteoporosis,
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diabetes, and rapid aging, with loss of pigment in the skin and hair,
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and extreme thinning of the skin. </p>
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<p>Natural
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pregnenolone is present in young people of both sexes at a very high
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concentration, and one reason for the large amount produced in youth
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is that it is one of our basic defenses against the harmful side effects
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that an imbalance of even our natural hormones can produce. In
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excess, natural cortisone or estrogen can be dangerous, but when there
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is an abundance of pregnenolone, their side effects are prevented or
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minimized. </p>
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<p>In
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a healthy young person or animal, taking even a large dose of pregnenolone
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has no hormone-like or drug-like action at all. It is unique in
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this way. But if the animal or person is under stress, and producing
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more cortisone than usual, taking pregnenolone causes the cortisone
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to come down to the normal level. After the age of 40 or 45, it
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seems that everyone lives in a state of continuous "stress,"
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just as a normal part of aging. This coincides with the body's
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decreased ability to produce an abundance of pregnenolone.
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</p>
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<p>When
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aging rats are given a supplement of pregnenolone, it immediately improves
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their memory and general performance. Human studies, as early
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as the 1940s, have also demonstrated improved performance of ordinary
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tasks. It is now known that pregnenolone is one of the major hormones
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in the brain. It is produced by certain brain cells, as well as
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being absorbed into the brain from the blood. It protects brain
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cells from injury caused by fatigue, and an adequate amount has a calming
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effect on the emotions, which is part of the reason that it protects
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us from the stress response that leads to an excessive production of
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cortisone. People feel a mood of resilience and an ability to
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confront challenges. </p>
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<p>Many
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people have noticed that pregnenolone has a "face-lifting"
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action. This effect seems to be produced by improved circulation
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to the skin, and by an actual contraction of some muscle-like cells
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in the skin. A similar effect can improve joint mobility in arthritis,
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tissue elasticity in the lungs, and even eyesight. Many studies
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have shown it to be protective of "fibrous tissues" in general,
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and in this connection it was proven to prevent the tumors that can
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be caused by estrogen. </p>
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<p>Pregnenolone
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is largely converted into two other "youth-associated" protective
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hormones, progesterone and DHEA. At the age of 30, both men and
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women produce roughly 30 to 50 mg. of pregnenolone daily. When
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taken orally, even in the powdered form, it is absorbed fairly well.
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One dose of approximately 300 mg (the size of an aspirin tablet) keeps
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acting for about a week, as absorption continues along the intestine,
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and as it is "recycled" in the body. Part of this long
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lasting effect is because it improves the body's ability to produce
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its own pregnenolone. It tends to improve function of the thyroid
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and other glands, and this "normalizing" effect on the other
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glands helps to account for its wide range of beneficial effects.
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</p>
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<h2>DHEA: Another youth-associated hormone</h2>
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<p>Raymond Peat, MA, PhD (Univ. of
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Oregon)</p>
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<p>Endocrine Physiologist
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</p>
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<p>DHEA
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(dehydroepiandrosterone) has a technical-sounding name because it has
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never been identified with a single dominant function, in spite of its
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abundance in the body. Many researchers still think of it as a
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substance produced by the adrenal glands, but experiments show that
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animals without adrenals are able to produce it in normal amounts.
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Much of it is formed in the brain (from pregnenolone), but it is probably
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produced in other organs, including the skin. The brain contains
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a much higher concentration of DHEA than the blood does.</p>
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<p>In
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old age, we produce only about 5% as much as we do in youth. This
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is about the same decrease that occurs with progesterone and pregnenolone.
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The other hormones (for example, cortisone) do not decrease so much;
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as a result, our balance shifts continually during aging toward dominance
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by hormones such as cortisone, which use up more and more body substance,
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without rebuilding it. Protection against the toxic actions of
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these specialized hormones is a major function of DHEA and the other
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youth-associated hormones.</p>
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<p>For
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example, starvation, aging, and stress cause the skin to become thin
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and fragile. An excess of cortisone--whether it is from medical
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treatment, or from stress, aging, or malnutrition--does the same thing.
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Material from the skin is dissolved to provide nutrition for the more
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essential organs. Other organs, such as the muscles and bones,
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dissolve more slowly, but just as destructively, under the continued
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influence of cortisone. DHEA blocks these destructive effects
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of cortisone, and actively restores the normal growth and repair processes
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to those organs, strengthening the skin and bones and other organs.
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Stimulation of bone-growth by DHEA has been demonstrated in vitro (in
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laboratory tests), and it has been used to relieve many symptoms caused
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by osteoporosis and arthritis, even when applied topically in an oily
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solution.</p>
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<p>Estrogen
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is known to produce a great variety of immunological defects, and DHEA,
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apparently by its balancing and restorative actions, is able to correct
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some of those immunological defects, including some "autoimmune"
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diseases.</p>
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<p>It
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is established that DHEA protects against cancer, but it isn't yet understood
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how it does this. It appears to protect against the toxic cancer-producing
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effects of excess estrogen, but its anti-cancer properties probably
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involve many other functions.</p>
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<p>Diabetes
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can be produced experimentally by certain poisons which kill the insulin-producing
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cells in the pancreas. Rabbits were experimentally made diabetic,
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and when treated with DHEA their diabetes was cured. It was found
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that the insulin-producing cells had regenerated. Many people
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with diabetes have used brewer's yeast and DHEA to improve their sugar
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metabolism. In diabetes, very little sugar enters the cells, so
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fatigue is a problem. DHEA stimulates cells to absorb sugar and
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to burn it, so it increases our general energy level and helps to prevent
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obesity.</p>
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<p>Young
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people produce about 12 to 15 milligrams of DHEA per day, and that amount
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decreases by about 2 mg. per day for every decade after the age of 30.
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This is one of the reasons that young people eat more without getting
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fat, and tolerate cold weather better: DHEA, like the thyroid
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hormone, increases our heat production and ability to burn calories.
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At the age of 50, about 4 mg. of DHEA per day will usually restore the
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level of DHEA in the blood to a youthful level. It is important
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to avoid taking more than needed, since some people (especially if they
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are deficient in progesterone, pregnenolone, or thyroid) can turn the
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excess into estrogen or testosterone, and large amounts of those sex
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hormones can disturb the function of the thymus gland and the liver.</p>
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<p>People
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who have taken an excess of DHEA have been found to have abnormally
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high estrogen levels, and this can cause the liver to enlarge, and the
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thymus to shrink.</p>
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<p>One
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study has found that the only hormone abnormality in a groupt of Alzheimers
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patients' brains was an excess of DHEA. In cell culture, DHEA
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can cause changes in glial cells resembling those seen in the aging
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brain. These observations suggest that DHEA should be used with
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caution. Supplements of pregnenolone and thyroid seem to be the
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safest way to optimize DHEA production. </p>
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<hr>
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<p class="C">Library of GigaChad | <a href="/" target="_blank">GigaChad</a></p>
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