Tag: Ovaries

Estrogen Replacement Therapies its Pros and Cons

What is Estrogen replacement? For a guy, its one of those subjects that would least interest them to know. But for women, this is vital information that could be very vital for them.

Estrogen

For starters, oestrogen functions as the primary female sex hormone composed of a group of steroid compounds, named for their significance in the oestrus cycle. It may be existent in both men and women, but they are usually present at extensively higher levels in women of reproductive age. At such period, oestrogen support the development of secondary female sex features, such as breasts, and are also involved in the thickening of the endometrium and other aspects of regulating the menstrual series.

Sources of oestrogen include the ovaries, the corpus luteum, and the placenta. Smaller amounts of it are found in the liver, adrenal glands, and breasts. These secondary sources are known to be very beneficial to post-menopausal women.

Downfall of Estrogen

In the later part of a womans life, around the age of 50, her ovaries face the tide of menopause, a period when it finally ceases producing estrogens. For ladies who wish to avoid discomfort and the agony of health problems caused by diminished circulating estrogens, Estrogen Replacement Therapy (or ERT) is an option to choose. The treatment involves a sequence of drugs intended to synthetically boost hormone levels.

As the name suggests, ERT replaces hormones which the ovaries no longer produce, either through natural or surgical menopause, and provides relief from the horrible symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes and night sweats.

Types

There are certain substances that are used in the ERT: such as conjugated estrogens or conjugated equine estrogens under the brand name of Premarin; patch; estrogens made of singular estrogen compounds; drugs such as raloxifene and alendronate; herbal remedies such as Black Cohosh, known to help reduce menopausal symptoms; and other hormones involved such as progesterone or progestins,.

Pros and Cons

The ERT have its own share of pros and cons to the lifestyle of women. It really does change ladies lives in an overwhelmingly excellent way. But at the same time, one would have to weigh the consequences it provides before deciding to undertake such therapy.

However the consequences, advantages seem to outnumber them. The use of conjugated estrogens is usually known for significant drop in the occurrence of heart disease and osteoporosis, including a decrease of approximately 10% in the incidence of heart disease and stroke, over non-estrogen users.

The levels of PA-1 are discovered to plunge down by around 50% when an intake of Conjugated estrogens is done with or without the presence of progestins. PA-1 is said to be the vital inhibitor of fibrinolysis which multiplies in women after menopause and may risk a ladys life of cardiovascular disease.

If you really need it and if you have the right amount of money, why not undergo ERT? But always remember to weigh the pros and cons that ERT provides. It has a lot of incentives but the fact that it increases the risk of breast cancer; it is advisable for women whose ancestors had breast cancer in the past and those who previously had one, to stay away from ERT.

Estrogen as a Contributor in Signalling our Body Clock

As medical technology advances throughout the years, there has been much fuss in the medical field about estrogen.

Many studies and researches were conducted towards finding out the very nature of estrogen.

All of these undertakings agreed on one thing, estrogen is a primary component in the indication of the human body clock. It was found that it directly relates in the body cycle of a human being.

Estrogen, as defined in the modern medical dictionary- does not only pertain to a single compound but is rather made up of groups of steroid compounds.

While it is present in both male and female, it has higher concentrations in female, because it is the one responsible for the promoting of female secondary characteristics.

This includes breast development, and it is an important hormone that helps in promoting sexual vitality, relieving hot flashes, night sweats and other deficiency symptoms that go along with old age.

The female body produces three major types of this estrogen, these includes estriol, estradiol, and estrone.

Estriol is found to be the weakest among the three estrogens. Its high level of existence in the body denotes a less likely possibility of developing breast cancer.

As mentioned in the American Medical Journal Association dated in 1966, according to Dr. H.M. Lemmon, M.D. there is a higher concentration of this particular substance in the body of those women who does not have breast cancer.

It is very beneficial to the vagina, vulva and cervix. In cases where there is a related affliction to the mentioned parts, it is safest if the patient is going to use Estriol Estrogen preparation.

Estradiol is known to be the principal estrogen, it is helpful in carrying out reproductive functions and is produced in the ovaries. Because it is stronger than Estriol it is more effective symptomatic alternative than the latter.

Estrone on the other hand has the same function as the Estradiol, but it is considered to have a weaker effect.

The pituitary gland and the hypothalamus is the one responsible for producing these types of hormones, and acts as the lutienizing agent in controlling its production in the body.

As the menopausal stage occurs, it is usually characterized by a full year without menstrual period and the level of estrogen in the body gradually goes down. Decrease in egg production, low level of sexual desires, lower bone density and muscle firmness as well as skin integrity follows.

As the estrogen production starts to diminish in the menopausal period, this marks the transgression of the human cycle.

Lastly, this ultimately signals the descent of the human body clock as determined by the particular hormone-estrogen.