A growing body of evidence indicates that progesterone is a powerful bone-building hormone and that progesterone replacement therapy could be the next major advance in the battle against osteoporosis. Bone density was measured before and after treatment. Another noteworthy finding in Lee's study was that estrogen did not enhance the bone-building effect of progesterone. In other words, women who received both estrogen and progesterone had no better results than women who received progesterone alone. If Lee's observations are correct, then osteoporosis can be effectively reversed by progesterone alone, regardless of whether or not estrogen is used.
Progestins are synthetic compounds that bear some similarities to natural progesterone.
However, progestins can also produce a number of side effects, including mental depression, weight gain, nausea, insomnia, abnormal vaginal bleeding, breast tenderness, and various types of skin rashes. Natural progesterone, on the other hand, is almost entirely free of adverse side effects. The reason progesterone is applied to the skin is that oral absorption may not be satisfactory. This hormone has been the subject of a great deal of publicity lately. There is also some evidence that DHEA supplementation is of value in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.