The booklet by D. Gary Young, Pregnenolone: A Radical New
Approach to Health, Longevity, and Emotional Well-Being,elicited cheers
when it was announced; within two hours, the booklet was sold out.
(Available through Essential Science Publishing: 800 336-6308).
The booklet contains a compilation of exciting research on this little-know
hormone precursor, pregnenolone. Here are some of the highlights:
Pregnenolone is made from cholesterol in the body. In turn, it can be
synthesized into a number of hormones - estrogen, progesterone,
testosterone, DHEA, aldosterone, cortisol, etc. It is, in fact, the master
hormone from which all the steroid hormones are derived.
But why have most people not heard about pregnenolone and its amazing
benefits? One reason has to do with drug companies and profits.
Pregnenolone research in the early 1940s was very promising and showed
that pregnenolone is effective in relieving arthritis pain, reducing PMS
and menopausal symptoms, fighting stress and fatigue, improving memory, and
lifting mood. But just as this research was being printed in medical
journals, the discovery of synthetic cortisone was announced.
Cortisone Produces Side-Effects
Cortisone showed powerful and immediate effectiveness against arthritis.
Drug companies could patent their laboratory version of cortisone and then
make a huge profit. Pregnenolone, however, is a natural substance and is
not patentable. Because synthetic cortisone was so fast-acting and offered
great profit potential, pregnenolone research was basically abandoned.
It was not discovered until later that cortisone had terrifying side
effects (immune system suppression and osteoporosis being the two most
devastating). Yet pregnenolone has been shown to be virtually free of side
effects. A man in one pregnenolone study did develop a temporary rash;
while in another study on memory, a participant reported the "side effect"
of decreased symptoms of arthritis!
The beneficial effects of pregnenolone on arthritis and other bone, joint,
and muscle diseases are well documented. In two studies on ankylosing
spondylitis-an inflamitory disease of the joints that causes back pain and
stiffening-patients showed marked improvement when treated with
pregnenolone.1
Neurobiologist Dr. Eugene Roberts studied the arthritis research from the
1940s and 1950s and said,
"Treatment with PREG (pregnenolone) can be maintained indefinitely without apparent
harmful effects and is much less expensive than with ACTH or cortisone or
with other anti-inflammatory steroids."2
Lack of Cholesterol Hurts Pregnenolone Levels
Now, scientists and researchers are again looking at the value of
pregnenolone. The research that D. Gary Young found establishes how
pregnenolone declines in the body more than 60 percent between the ages of
35 and 75. Along with this natural bodily decline, our bodies have had to
deal with a decrease in the building block of pregnenolone - cholesterol.
"Low cholesterol" or "no cholesterol" has been pounded into the heads of
health-conscious consumers. While the cholesterol link to heart disease is
under question today, cholesterol-lowering drugs are causing hormone
imbalance. Without cholesterol, there is no pregnenolone, which means the
body cannot create the hormones it needs.
The lack of cholesterol (and thus pregnenolone) in our diets may be the
cause of many cases of depression. Dr. William Regelson writes that,
"A recent study conducted by the National Institutes of Mental Health
showed that people with clinical depression have lower than normal amounts
of pregnenolone in their cerebral spinal fluid (the fluid that bathes the
brain)."3
Spinal cord injuries may be minimized with pregnenolone according to a
number of rat studies. Dr. Eugene Roberts would like to see a pregnenolone
cream placed in first aid kits for use on the spine following earthquakes
or accidents. 4
Pregnenolone is Help For Menopause
Menopause is a dreaded ordeal for the millions of women who choose not to
use estrogen replacement therapy because of a four to eight tines higher
chance of uterine cancer. The pharmaceutical companies developed 'hormone
replacement therapy," which combines synthetic progesterone with conjugated
equine estrogen. The majority of female consumers of this therapy are
probably unaware that the estrogen they are taking is not natural to the
human body and comes from a pregnant mare's urine (PMU). Dr. John R. Lee
notes that 52 percent of the estrogens in this concoction are the horse
estrogens equilin and equilenin, which are not natural to humans.
5
Raindrop Technique and Pregnenolone Combined
Synthetic estrogens and progesterones "plug" the body's receptor sites.
"All of your prescription drugs are based on petrochemicals and these
chemicals plug receptor sites, creating even a greater imbalance, which
suppresses and compromises immune function," states D. Gary Young He
explained the value of the Raindrop Technique where certain oils are
dropped along the spine:
"Along the spine happens to be one of the largest accumulations of receptor
nerve sites, and that's why Raindrop Technique works so specifically. When
the oils get in there and can start stimulating nerve transmission --
that's very, very important. When you combine the oils with pregnenolone,
then the oils carry the pregnenolone into the cell structure to start that
cell's rejuvenation. It is win, win, win, and balance, balance, balance."
Doesn't it make more sense to use a natural substance in hormone
replacement therapy? The best thing about pregnenolone is that is it is
completely natural. The human body, the true "master chemist," transforms
pregnenolone into the hormones the body is lacking. Whether its estrogen,
progesterone or testosterone, using pregnenolone, the wisdom of the body
makes what is needed most.
For Men, Too
Men are also susceptible to the age-related loss of pregnenolone in the
body. They needn't fear that pregnenolone might be turned into a female
hormone. Research on memory by Rahmawhati Sih, Ph.D., showed that after
older men and women were given pregnenolone, the memory tests given three
hours later showed gender variation. The women rated higher in verbal
recall, while men improved in visual spatial tasks that required
three-dimensional thinking. Dr. William Regelson reviewed this research in
his book, The Superhormone Promise: Nature's Antidote to Aging and wrote
that Dr. Sih's "results suggest that pregnenolone is being broken down
differently in men and women; that is, it appears to have a
testosterone-like effect in men and an estrogen-like effect in
women."6
What's even better, is that pregnenolone does not function like synthetic
hormones, which can cause debilitating side effects. Instead, it has
hormone-balancing effects throughout the body as well as other powerful
anti-inflammatory effects.
A rising tide of clinical research is just beginning to show the powerful
therapeutic benefits of natural pregnenolone. Benefits that can reverse
decline, balance hormones, and increase longevity. All in a completely
natural substance that is non-toxic and virtually without side effects!
You can rest assured that pregnenolone is well tolerated and its safety has
been well documented. William Regelson, M. D., and Carol Colman stated in
their book, The Super-Hormone Promise: Nature's Antidote to
Aging, Pocket Books, 1996, "We know that pregnenolone is safe, well
tolerated, and causes no know side effects..."
*Reprinted from Essential Edge Magazine, Fall,
2000
1Sahelian, Ray, M.D. Pregnenolone:
Nature's Feel Good Hormone. (Garden City Park, New York: Avery Publishing
Group, 1997), 57.
2Roberts, E. (1995) "Pregnenolone-From Selye to Alzheimer and a
Model of the Pregnenolone Sulfate Binding Binding Site on the
GABAA Receptor," Biochemical Pharmacology 49:1 (1995):
1-16.
3 Regelson, William, M.D., and Carol Colman, The
Super-Hormone Promise: Nature's Antidote to Aging. (New York: Pocket
Books, 1996), 79.
4Young, D. Gary, Pregnenolone: A Radical New Approach
to Health, Longevity, and Emotional Well-Being. (Salem, Utah: Essential
Science Publishing, 2000), 21.
5Lee, John R., M.D. "Natural" vs. "Synthetic" Hormones, A
Question of Semantics.
(3 July 1998).
6Regelson, 77.
