Is Ovulation (and are normal Progesterone levels) Important for the Health of Women?
by Dr. Jerilynn C. Prior, Scientific Director, Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research. I believe that ovulation with a normal luteal phase length – and normal amounts of progesterone to counterbalance and complement estrogen – is of key importance for women’s bone, breast and heart health (1). The five previous issues in this series have discussed what ovulation is, how it is ignored or assumed in regular cycles and that we have little solid evidence about how frequently or not ovulation occurs among menstruating women in the whole population. The little epidemiology evidence we have suggests that 17% of the time women in the population, often despite regular cycles, do not ovulate. We also have talked about how you can assess your own cycles for ovulation by taking your first morning temperature and analyzing it. This “quantitative basal temperature” (2) is much more reliable than the old fashioned BBT methods, especially when coupled with a daily Menstrual Cycle Diary (3).
