CAUTION - Repost - Fwd: Percutaneous administration of progesterone

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I don't have time to monitor the group so I'm sending some things quickly. Please don't repeat WP advice on RL. Anyone. Document any assertions and tell us the sources. If it;s just your opinion or observation then say so. Any talk about getting serum levels with WP levels of hormones is complete woo talk. See this and the article that Dr. Formby offered us which I posted to RL http://rhythmicliving.org/?page_id=87 Get a pen, read closely. Laurel When monitoring hormone levels while on transdermal replacement therpapy serum testing is not accurate. This is because once absorbed through the skin hormones bind to red blood cell membranes in the blood in order to minimise unfavorable interactions with the aqueous water and the fat loving hormones. Once your blood sample is taken it is centrifuged and the red blood cells along with the hormones are removed prior to analysis. This phenomenon was described by Z. Stanczyk (see references) for transdermal progesterone but it also seems to occur to a lesser extent for all other hormones. Serum tests show no increase in progestreone levels after weeks of applying progesterone cream whereas saliva tests show an increase only after a couple of hours! This is a significant problem monitoring levels if you are using transdermal hormone creams. To illustrate this problem further clinical trials performed by the American Academy of Anti-Aging on over 300 patients revealed that every patient whose hormone levels were deemed at optimal levels by serum blood tests had in actual fact excessive levels based on saliva tests. The doses used to achieve optimal serum levels were higher than standard physiological doses which was all that was required to achieve optimal levels by saliva tests. In every case the patients doses were reduced until saliva tests reflected optimal levels. In our own practice we see this same phenomena on a regular basis with those patients being monitored by serum blood tests – that is their current doses are too high!The facts are there has never been a single study correlating serum values for topically administered hormones to actual tissue levels or to long term effectiveness. Most mainstream physicians have accepted serum testing as the “gold standard” without any science which is based on some false assumptions. You should never use serum testing for judging effectiveness or hormone levels from topical application - Stanzyck’s article proves this for progesterone and clinical observation sees it occuring with most other hormones as well.http://www.custommedicine.com.au/hormone-analysis/----------------Percutaneous administration of progesterone: blood levels and endometrial protectionStanczyk, Z. PhD; son, J. MD; Roy, Subir MDAbstract There is controversy about the beneficial effects of topical progesterone creams used by postmenopausal women. A major concern is that serum progesterone levels achieved with progesterone creams are too low to have a secretory effect on the endometrium. However, antiproliferative effects on the endometrium have been demonstrated with progesterone creams when circulating levels of progesterone are low. Thus, effects of topical progesterone creams on the endometrium should not be based on serum progesterone levels, but on histologic examination of the endometrium. Despite the low serum progesterone levels achieved with the creams, salivary progesterone levels are very high, indicating that progesterone levels in serum do not necessarily reflect those in tissues. The mechanism by which the serum progesterone levels remain low is not known. However, one explanation is that after absorption through the skin, the lipophilic ingredients of creams, including progesterone, may have a preference for saturating the fatty layer below the dermis. Because there appears to be rapid uptake and release of steroids by red blood cells passing through capillaries, these cells may play an important role in transporting progesterone to salivary glands and other tissues. In contrast to progesterone creams, progesterone gels are water-soluble and appear to enter the microcirculation rapidly, thus giving rise to elevated serum progesterone levels with progesterone doses comparable to those used in creams.http://journals.lww.com/menopausejournal/Abstract/2005/12020/Percutaneous_administration_of_progesterone__blood.19.aspx