Progesterone is perhaps the most important hormone in a woman, along with her precious oestrogen. Its roles are so numerous and important that it truly ranks at the top of the list of essentials for women's survival and life preservation.
Immediately after ovulation in a normal female cycle, the ovaries produce progesterone. In particular, it is secreted by the corpus luteum, i.e. the progenitor follicle of the particular cycle, which «broke» to release an egg, as it should normally do, with the help of maximum estrogen levels. The role of the progesterone that is then secreted is to prepare the inner lining of the uterus, the endometrium, to receive the implantation, to develop the blood vessels of the endometrium further, and to stimulate the endometrial glands to secrete components that nourish the incipient embryo so that pregnancy can progress smoothly. Its role is therefore very important, because without it a woman cannot become pregnant.
In the early stages of pregnancy progesterone is still produced by the corpus luteum and is essential for supporting the pregnancy and the proper establishment of the placenta. With the establishment of full placental function on 8η up to 12η week of pregnancy, the production of progesterone is made by the placenta. During pregnancy, progesterone has multiple roles, such as developing the mass gland, preventing premature lactation and strengthening the pelvic floor muscles, preparing them for delivery. Progesterone levels in the pregnant woman's body increase steadily throughout pregnancy until the onset of labour and the birth of the newborn.
If the egg is not fertilised, the corpus luteum dissolves, progesterone production drops and a new menstrual cycle begins.
Without progesterone, a pregnancy cannot be sustained. Until almost the end of the first trimester of each pregnancy, the progesterone necessary for the smooth progress of the pregnancy is provided by the mother, from the corpus luteum mentioned above. After the 11th week of pregnancy, the placenta, which has now formed and is, among other things, the organ that produces hormones during pregnancy, takes over its production. The lack of this knowledge in the past has led to millions of spontaneous miscarriages in the first trimester of pregnancy due to a lack of progesterone in the mother. Fortunately, now that we know this, we are restoring the progesterone lacking in the mother, usually and mostly by the 10th to 11th week of pregnancy, thus helping to ensure a smooth pregnancy outcome.
If progesterone is absent or its levels are too low, it results in irregular and heavy menstruation. A drop in progesterone levels during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage or premature delivery. Women at high risk of preterm birth are given progesterone therapy to reduce the risk.
The role and action of progesterone in pregnancy is complex. Progesterone, as a muscle-relaxing hormone, causes symptoms of gastrointestinal intolerance, such as indigestion and constipation. In addition, through the mediation of the hormone rilaxin, progesterone helps to soften cartilage, joints and ligaments, and is thus responsible for pains in the hips and pubic symphysis. Even teeth and gums are affected by the effect of progesterone, as is the skin, which develops acne during pregnancy.
Progesterone, perfectly balances female estrogen.
In a normal 28-day female cycle, no progesterone is produced in the first 14 days. After the 14th day of the cycle, when ovulation occurs, progesterone levels increase continuously, reaching their peak 7 days later, on the 21st day of the cycle. If fertilisation has not taken place, progesterone levels drop until the 28th day and the following day, a new cycle begins, with the appearance of the woman's period.
When a woman's period comes earlier than 28 days, which is optimal and desirable, it means that her body is not producing enough progesterone. If you do not have a period at all, it is an indicator of a possible pregnancy, until confirmed by a blood test. However, even when the period is slow to come (sparse menstruation) or does not come for long periods of time (amenorrhea), it means that the woman probably has a progesterone deficiency. Period disorders in women in general are an indicator of progesterone deficiency.
All women, throughout their lives, after the age of 25 and much more so after the age of 35, produce less and less progesterone. Progesterone deficiency after the age of 40 is high and few women continue to produce at 45 the amounts of progesterone they produced at 25. At premenopause, most women no longer have progesterone.
In this phase, premenopause, a 30-35% woman may have some naughty progesterone secretions, as naughty as the supposed menstrual cycles that occur to them.
Exogenous administration of Progesterone
The usefulness of exogenous progesterone administration, therapeutically, has been studied in all these successive stages of a woman's physiology and its effectiveness has been documented in some, while in some situations it is administered empirically. Its necessity in supporting implantation of embryos in artificial insemination cycles is clear, due to drug manipulations preceding ovarian stimulation and due to ovulation, during which the progesterone-producing cells are removed from the ovary. In the case of miscarriage 1th trimester, we know that a number of patients have low progesterone levels. The question is do low progesterone levels cause miscarriage or does the induced miscarriage cause the low progesterone levels? This is a question that is not always easy to answer. In an effort to prevent miscarriages, many doctors administer progesterone exogenously, in the early pregnancy, to many patients. This, too, however, is not an ideal active approach. Studies show that progesterone supplements do not prevent miscarriage in the general population of pregnant women, even when there is a pattern of threatened miscarriage. In the case of threatened preterm delivery, however, there is clear evidence demonstrating the usefulness of progesterone supplementation in preventing preterm delivery, and tocolytic therapy using progesterone preparations is now common practice for the prevention of preterm delivery in singleton pregnancies. In twin pregnancy, the results of studies are not as encouraging and this seems to be attributed to the different mechanism that causes preterm delivery in singleton pregnancy from that in multiple pregnancy.
Progesterone and Menopause
At menopause, all women are now completely deficient in progesterone.
