Pregnenolone

Pregnenolone is a steroid hormone synthesized from cholesterol mainly by the adrenal glands and in small part by our nervous system.

What does it do?
There is speculation as to the main role of pregnenolone in the body. Most researchers are now in agreement that the primary role of pregnenolone is as the precursor (the building block) of our other hormones including the estrogens, progesterone, testosterone and DHEA.

DHEA is considered the “daughter” hormone of pregnenolone. Indeed pregneolone is considered by some to be the “mother of all steroid hormones.”

It has been suggested by human and animal studies that pregnenolone may assist:
-Memory enhancement
-Feelings of well being
-Intelligence by increasing ability to acquire knowledge
-Reduction of physical and mental effects of stress
-Mood improvement
-Energy improvement
-Reduction of PMS and menopausal symptoms
-Better sleep and deeper sleep
-Reduction of wrinkles through skin hydration
-As an anti-inflammatory, and with benefits for rheumatoid arthritis

Pregnenolone supplementation
As do our other hormones, pregnenolone levels decline with age. In our seventies, many produce up to 60% less pregnenolone than we did in our thirties. Many physicians and scientists believe that replacement of pregnenolone to those levels of our thirties can help with the symptoms regularly attributed to aging.

Another aspect of pregnenolone that researchers find intriguing is that pregnenolone levels may regulate the levels of our other hormones. In other words, supplementation of pregnenolone may positively impact decreased levels of our other hormones and restore them to more optimal levels.

There is a negative. If increasing pregnenolone levels increases the body’s own ability to make hormones, such as DHEA, then concurrent supplementation can theoretically raise other hormone levels too high. This is yet another reason why self-administering any hormone is not advisable and should be done only after levels are drawn and analyzed by an age management specialist.

Pregnenolone Research

Menopause and Peri-Menopause Blog

Question from Radio Show Caller
Caller: I entered menopause or peri-menopause just a few years ago, I found some things that worked for me, and now they are no longer working even though I am on bio-identical hormones. I started having the nights sweats, the fatigue, moodiness and things like that. I have tried several estrogens and several different things. So far, no luck, meaning I am experiencing those symptoms still, and I have occasional periods. What do I do?

Dr. Darrow: You need to get your hormone levels checked. If you have occasional periods then you are still peri-menopausal, which is the most difficult phase, because at that stage your ovaries are erratically putting out different amounts of hormones, it is very tough at that stage to really get someone on track.

Progesterone is probably the most important thing that you can have in your system because it is a relaxant, it modulates the amount of estrogen so you don’t get it too high, like those months that you are flaring with estrogen and probably moody and feeling a little bit out of whack and retaining fluids, etc.

The way I like people to take Progesterone is by pill just before they go to sleep, I give it to men and women. For women, it is the most relaxing of all the hormones, it also helps build bone. I don’t know if you had a bone densitometry taken recently but it is something that is very important, if you need one you can always call our clinic because that tells the tale right there if you have enough estrogen, testosterone and progesterone because those hormones build up the bone structure, it is most important to maintain the bones, because if the bones are demineralizing, there is a risk of fracture.

You need to have your hormone levels checked. You also need to have very adequate levels of testosterone, not the levels that a man has, but the upper levels that a strong young women has and if you are peri-menopausal, I am not sure how old you are.

Caller: I am 54

Dr. Darrow: Then your Testosterone level has probably dropped down to nothing, it does for most women, and that, in it of itself, once supplemented, can bring you back into alignment. It is also good for the libido and quality of life and the ability to accomplish things.

Testosterone For Women Studies and News

Testosterone and Libido in Post Menopausal Women
Researchers writing in the medical journal Gynecological Endocrinology say that there is emerging evidence that androgens are significant independent determinants affecting libido and satisfaction, as well as mood, energy and other components of women’s health.

Testosterone in postmenopausal women
An article in the medical journal Current Opinion in Obstetrics & Gynecology says that testosterone therapy is a promising option for treating women with HSDD (very low libido or desire)

Testosterone enhances libido and decreases depression
Researchers reporting in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences say Testosterone enhances libido and decreases depression.

Schutter, et al. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci.2005; 17: 372-377. Depression Administration of Testosterone Increases Functional Connectivity in a Cortico-Cortical Depression Circuit.

From the abstract: “Increasing evidence suggests that the steroid hormone testosterone (T) enhances libido and decreases depression. Even a single administration of T (0.5 mg sublingually) in healthy young women is sufficient to enhance physiological sexual responsiveness….” Read the abstract

Testosterone For Libido Loss In Women
September 19, 2005’s Washington Post reported “a position statement from the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) and published in its journal, Menopause,” that testosterone therapy may aid many post-menopausal women dealing with loss of libido. You can read the Washington Post article here.

Study: An overview of testosterone deficiency and supplementation in women.
Davis SR, Androgen treatment in women. MJA 1999;170:545-549.

The researchers state: “Women reporting loss of libido may find physicians insufficiently empathetic, and a biological cause for sexual dysfunction in women is rarely sought. However, it is gradually becoming more accepted that androgen deficiency in women may underpin a variety of symptoms and pathophysiological conditions and that, in selected women, androgen replacement therapy is of clinical benefit.”

“Testosterone insufficiency in women: fact or fiction?”
Guay, A, Davis SR. Testosterone insufficiency in women: fact or fiction? World Journal of Urology 2002;20(2):106-10.

The researchers state: “Androgen deficiency is a true medical condition in both pre- and post-menopausal women. The most important recommendation is to listen to the patient and consider androgen deficiency when the symptoms are present, even if they seem non-specific…Treatment with androgens has to be monitored carefully because of the possible harmful effects of excessive levels of testosterone.”

Bone Loss and Testosterone in Women with Anorexia Nervosa
A study is being recruited, Anne Klibanski, M.D., Principal Investigator, by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) to determine among other things if low dose testosterone will be a benefit in preventing bone loss in women with Anorexia Nervosa.

From the abstract: “Women with Anorexia Nervosa have been found to have low bone density. The study will determine whether administration of low doses of a natural hormone, testosterone and/or risedronate, a medication to help prevent bone breakdown will improve or prevent bone loss in this condition.”

Testosterone Beneficial for Libido and Cholesterol
Researchers reviewing the current medical literature on the role of Testosterone in enhancing libido in post-menopausal women say; “The available evidence is that adding testosterone to estrogen therapy, with or without progestin, appears to be effective in improving sexual function in postmenopausal women and is associated with a reduction in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.”

The findings appear in The Cochrane Library, read the abstract and summary of this article .

HRT, Testosterone and Post Menopausal Women – Problems of Sexual Dysfunction
Researchers writing in the medical journal Maturitas say that HRT along with testosterone supplementation helps postmenopausal women who complain of problems related to intimacy.

Women, Testosterone and Cardiovascular Disease
Researchers writing in the medical journal Coronary Artery Disease say that their study “could suggest that the development of cardiovascular disease after menopause is due not only to estrogen decline but also to androgen decline.”

The Use of Testosterone with Estrogen and Progestogen and Its Effect on Breast Cell Proliferation

Researchers writing in the medical journal Menopause say “Addition of testosterone may counteract breast cell proliferation as induced by estrogen/progestogen therapy in postmenopausal women.”