Estriol for Multiple Sclerosis

Julian Whitaker, MD

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chameleon of a disease. Its symptoms mimic those of many other conditions (fatigue, weakness, numbness, bowel or bladder problems, and loss of balance, to name a few), and they vary wildly. Although many of the estimated 350,000 Americans with this autoimmune disorder have mild, transient symptoms, others end up in wheelchairs.

Knowing that women with MS have reductions in relapse rates during pregnancy, UCLA researchers ran a study in which they treated female MS patients with high doses of estriol*, a natural hormone produced during pregnancy. Over the six-month period these women were on estriol, immune/inflammatory markers improved, brain lesions decreased, and scores on cognitive tests increased. When estriol was discontinued, lesions recurred but regressed when treatment was restarted.

Estriol is a safe, natural hormone that deserves a therapeutic trial in the treatment of MS and perhaps other autoimmune disorders. The dose used in this study was 8 mg per day of oral estriol, balanced with 100 mg of natural progesterone. These hormones are available by prescription from compounding pharmacies.

*NOTE: In 2008, at the behest of a pharmaceutical company, the FDA banned the use of estriol. To read more about this heinous action and how the FDA is functioning as little more than a puppet of Big Pharma, click here.

Modified from Health & Healing with permission from Healthy Directions, LLC. Copyright 2006. Photocopying, reproduction, or quotation strictly prohibited without written permission from the publisher. To subscribe to Health & Healing, click here.