This study examines the effect of hormone and amino acid levels on mood changes in women at mid-life. The research nvolved both a clinical, trial of the application of hormones and amino acids to effect mood changes is women at mid-life, and a laboratory analysis of synthetic and natural progesterones. The clinical trial involved a detailed biochemical study of two women and a less intensive study of two other groups of women identified as Estrogen Dominant or Estrogen Deficient. Depending on whether the women were Estrogen Dominant or Estrogen Deficient, they responded well to natural progesterone or estrogen, respectively. Even when natural estrogen was given, it was never without natural progesterone.

The clinical study found that a deficiency of progesterone is clearly implicated as a primary factor in mid-life anxiety patterns. Changes in serum levels correlated with the qualitative input given on questionnaires and interviews. Mid-life anxiety was more extreme during the latter two weeks of the menstrual cycle. The data showed that there is often too much estrogen to be mediated by the body's available progesterone. When neuro-inhibitory amino acids were used in conjunction with pharmaceutical grade, natural progesterone. women thrived and reported greatly increased calmness, even during the normally difficult pre-menstrual phase.

Laboratory analysis of synthetic and plant derived progesterone revealed significant differences in their structures and revealed discrepancies between the published and actual structure of the synthetic progesterone, Provera." The primary distinction between natural progesterone and its synthetic counterpart turned out not to be in methylation, but rather in hydroxylation and the presence of acetate in the synthetic molecule. The laboratory analysis provides insight into why the two progesterones have different effects on women.

This pilot study has already had an important impact in the area of helping women solve the riddle of mid-life mood changes.