Obituary—John Lee, MD

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  Jan, 2004  by Helene B. Leonetti

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John Roland Lee, MD is an American icon. He changed the face of women's medicine, and he changed me--forever.

I first met John in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, 1995 during one of his lectures. Just a short five weeks earlier, I was sent his two self-published books, Optimal Health Guidelines and Natural Progesterone: The Multiple Roles of a Remarkable Hormone. My once lobotomized belief in conventional hormone wisdom was at once dashed, and I saw the light. "Estrogen dominance," a term coined by John, was to become my mantra.

During the question-and-answer session of his talk, upon being called on, I went up to this man, grabbed the microphone, and proceeded to inform the 350 women present that I was a conventionally-trained gynecologist and how reading the work of John Lee changed how I practiced. And I advised that they listen to him, as his biochemical acumen transcended any party line teaching I had ever had.

Two weeks later I received a letter from John, thanking me for my kind words and beginning a collegial and loving-mentor relationship that would change my life forever.

Intrigued by his concept of bone health from natural transdermal progesterone, I embarked upon my first clinical trial, this to eventually be published August 1999 in the journal, Obstetrics and Gynecology. This study demonstrated an 83% improvement in hot flashes, and only a 19% improvement on placebo in our 107 patients.

John, ever my advisor and friend, encouraged me to forge onward. The next study, a pilot using 56 women and demonstrating an anti-proliferative effect on the endometrium when progesterone cream is combined with estrogen, was published January 2003 in the journal, Fertility and Sterility.

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Our last work, comparing Prempro and Premarin with transdermal progesterone cream was recently submitted for publication. This important study of 26 women demonstrated equal protection on the uterine lining between the two six month regimens. These last two studies used endometrial biopsies with histological evidence. And both studies were awarded third prize by the prestigious American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

John Lee's last wish for me was to provide evidence of bone protection with natural progesterone cream by using the 'little old ladies,' 70 years old and beyond. Our protocol will include a baseline Dexa scan, strict guidelines precluding the use of corticosteroids, sex hormones, thyroid replacement, and antiresorptives.

Then we will randomly administer transdermal pro-gesterone or placebo and repeat the Dexa scan in 12 and possibly 24 months.

The day of John's death I was in Fresno, California, to lecture with him in a two-day conference. His sudden passing brought shock and sorrow to our hearts, but we carried on with the conference knowing he would have wanted us to do so.

As I accompanied his family, friends and colleagues at his memorial service in Graton, California, November 1, I was struck by the humility and generosity of this beautiful man. His passing leaves a giant hole in our hearts as we face the stark reality that his cheerful, giving voice will no longer greet us as we call for guidance.

This verse accompanying his death announcement by Shri Shankaracharya says it all: There are pure souls who have attained peace and greatness. They bring good to mankind, like the coming of spring. They themselves have crossed the ocean of this world. Without any selfish motive, they help others to cross. It is the very nature of these great souls to work, of their own accord, to cure the troubles of others; fierce as the moon, of its own accord, cools the earth when it is scorched by the fierce rays of the sun.

John R. Lee--we love and honor you. I commit to pick up the torch you so lovingly and courageously lit for us--and carry on your precious work.

Helene B. Leonetti, MD

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

COPYRIGHT 2004 The Townsend Letter Group
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