Abstract

Hertoghe T.

Progesterone therapy in men: crucial for men over 40 ?

A4M Las Vegas 12-2006

If progesterone is best known as a major hormone in women, it appears to be important for men too.

Progesterone is mainly secreted by the adrenal glands in men.

It is a relatively abundant hormone in men.  Progesterone’s serum level exceeds that of major hormones such as dihydrotestosterone, estradiol, aldosterone, triiodothyronine, calcitonin and melatonin. Men have as much progesterone in their blood as women during three quarters of their lifetime. The serum level of progesterone in men is as high as that of young adult women in the follicular phase.

Based on the latest data, it can be assumed that progesterone’s plays a strategic role: avoiding excesses in men of the dominant female hormone, estradiol, and of the most potent male hormone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It is a crucial hormone for endocrine balance.  Fundamental mechanisms used by progesterone to accomplish this task: a speeding up of the conversion of estradiol to the much less potent estrogen estrone and a competitive blocking of the conversion of testosterone to DHT.

The production and levels of progesterone progressively decline with age, slowly installing in men a progesterone deficiency syndrome. The progesterone deficiency syndrome in men is dominated by the consequences of excesses in estradiol and DHT.  Worth mentioning are the gynoid aspect of the body with gynecomastia, benign prostate hypertrophy and excessive stimulation of (ortho)sympatic nervous system, attributable to hyperestrogenemia.  Possible other signs and symptoms are hirsutism with male pattern baldness in men and possibly some degree of excessive genital sensitivity, consequences of excessive levels of dihydrotestosterone in comparison with testosterone.

New light is presented here on some medical enigmas that may be partially or totally due to progesterone deficiency: progressive feminization of the male body with age, male pattern baldness, benign prostate hypertrophy, prostate cancer, men/female libido/sexual sensitivity imbalance with age.  For example, the discrepancy between men and women in sexual interest and sensitivity at age 40 may not only be due to the sharp decline of testosterone, the hormone of desire, in women at that age. It possibly and partially could be due to an increase in libido, caused by hyperestrogenemia, associated to an increasingly rising genital sensitivity and need to ejaculate of men at that age, consequence of an increased DHT to testosterone ratio.  Both hyperestrogenemia and high DHT/testosterone ratio may themselves be consequences of progesterone deficiency and thus trigger partner frustration and quarrels.

Progesterone treatment in men can best be corrected by either the oral intake of micronized progesterone or of a transdermal progesterone liposomal gel. Some improvement in the diet is a plus point. The intake of foods that reduce progesterone production such as sugar, sweets, bread, pastas, soft drinks and alcohol, should be minimized or simply avoided.  These drinks or foods reduce the endocrine secretions of the adrenal cortex that produces progesterone. In addition, foods that tend to increase the levels of estradiol such as caffeinated beverages and alcohol should too become a rare part of the diet.  On the other hand, the intake of foods that increase the adrenal’s production of progesterone such as food rich in protein or healthy saturated fat, deserve to be recommended.

for references please read the author’s articles on the subject in the Journal of European Anti-Aging Medicine, October 2006 & March 2007 issues

Back