Controversy Regarding Menopause

This paper would not be complete without mentioning the controversy in literature regarding what happens during menopause.

Most conventional doctors still tell women that menopause and all the menopause and pre-menopause symptoms are the result of a drop in estrogen production. In their view the solution is estrogen supplementation, or HRT, usually with synthetic hormones. In contrast, many alternative practitioners believe that women have too much estrogen, leading to a condition known as “estrogen dominance.” The late healthcare pioneer Dr. John Lee broke new ground when he claimed that estrogen dominance was the real cause of menopause and pre-menopause symptoms, especially in younger women. In his view the obvious solution was to rebalance the ratio of estrogen to progesterone through progesterone supplementation.

John R. Lee, M.D. was an international authority and pioneer in the use of natural progesterone cream and natural hormone balance. He was a sought-after speaker, as well as a best-selling author and the editor-in-chief of a widely read newsletter. John R. Lee, M.D. was internationally acknowledged as a pioneer and expert in the study and use of the hormone progesterone, and on the subject of hormone replacement therapy for women. He used transdermal progesterone extensively in his clinical practice for nearly a decade, doing research which showed that it can reverse osteoporosis. Dr. Lee, who passed away in 2003, also famously coined the term “estrogen dominance,” meaning a relative lack of progesterone compared to estrogen, which causes a list of symptoms familiar to millions of women.