Dr. Mary Claire Haver

Let's review for our listeners.

Because we're basically replacing what the ovaries are no longer making.

So there's not really a reason to necessarily give somebody something that's synthetic, certainly ethanol estradiol, unless our goal is to help prevent abnormal bleeding or they need a contraceptive method.

Then estrogens are easy.

So progesterone is just the most underappreciated hormone.

And we talk about estrogen and testosterone all the time.

So you just see me perk up.

You will take it out of my cold, dead hands.

I know.

Well, so progesterone is very interesting.

So progesterone is-

one single hormone that is made.

There are not multiple types of progesterones made by the human body.

There is one.

It is progesterone and there is one progesterone receptor.

It's actually in the pathway to the production of testosterone and estrogen.

So what I think is so interesting about progesterone and people don't talk about is that this is a molecule that can actually be turned into multiple different really important hormones in our body.

And it becomes really relevant when we talk about how the progestins, the synthetic progesterone, how they work.

Because natural progesterone

has a very strong affinity only for the progesterone receptor.