Progesterone for Men and Women: Why the Uterus Was Never the Point

Progesterone gets filed under women's health, and inside that, under uterine health. Nico Misleh, MSN, FNP-C argues that both filings are too narrow and that a provider prescribing progesterone only for endometrial protection is working with roughly a quarter of the picture.The mechanism he builds the episode on is allopregnanolone. Progesterone converts through 5-alpha reductase into a neurosteroid that acts as a positive allosteric modulator at GABA-A receptors. GABA is the brake of the brain. When progesterone falls, that braking capacity falls with it, which is why anxiety, irritability, and fractured sleep tend to arrive in the same patient. He also separates progesterone from progestins, since medroxyprogesterone acetate is testosterone-derived, cannot convert to allopregnanolone, and binds androgen, glucocorticoid, and mineralocorticoid receptors, which is where its side effect profile comes from.Then he turns to men. Men make progesterone. Nico covers neuroprotection, sleep through that same pathway, cortisol buffering, and prostate tissue, along with the presentations where he reaches for it most: anxiety, traumatic brain injury, PTSD, and BPH. Male dosing is not female dosing, and he is candid that his own hesitation kept him from using it for years.If you have men with optimized testosterone and thyroid who still sleep badly and still feel wired, this is the variable worth adding to the picture.Progesterone is taught in depth across the advanced female and adjunct hormone modules of the HRT University Master Course.The HRT University® Master Course is jointly accredited through Pinnacle Conference, LLC (ACCME, ACPE, ANCC). Earn 30 CE hours, including 12 hours of pharmacology.Master Course: https://hrtuniversity.com/hrtcourse/More episodes: https://hrtuniversity.com/hrtu-podcast/Nico's clinical email: https://nicomislehnp.kit.com/8050eeea5fProvider community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1179376819949373/