In particular, the use of oestrogen by some of the women makes Dr Lee's claims concerning natural progesterone benefits over oestrogen replacement questionable. The use of natural progesterone in treating osteoporosis has not yet been validated in any significant clinical studies. Although women may wish to include the use of natural progesterone in the prevention and management of osteoporosis, it should not be substituted for other recommended treatments without first consulting with a medical practitioner. The unpleasant side effects sometimes associated with synthetic progesterone have resulted in some women wanting to discontinue its use as a component of HRT, using natural progesterone as an alternative. What must be remembered though, is the reason why synthetic progesterone is included in hormone replacement therapy.
Hyperplasia can lead to uterine cancer.
Therefore, the inclusion of adequate amounts of synthetic progesterone in a hormone replacement regime is extremely important. The danger in substituting natural progesterone for synthetic progesterone is that the former may be less potent than the latter. A woman taking natural progesterone may not obtain the right amount of progesterone to protect her endometrium. Some health practitioners have also questioned the practice of supplementing the body with a hormone that naturally decreases with age. The lack of any significant clinical studies into the long term use of natural progesterone also means that there may be adverse side effects of which we are presently unaware.