Explaining estrogen

Oh how very sophisticated women are. We don’t just produce estrogen; we produce three different types of estrogen:

- Estrone (E1) : Inactive estrogen predominant after menopause
- Estradiol (E2) : Active estrogen
- Estriol (E3) : Estrogen produced only during pregnancy

Medical folks use a shorthand system when referring to different types of estrogen to avoid confusion (and lengthy sentences). Throughout the book, we use the generic term estrogen to mean all the different types of estrogen, unless distinguishing among them is important for the discussion at hand.

Estrone (E1)
After menopause, estrone is the predominant type of estrogen streaming through your body. Before menopause your ovaries make estrone. After menopause your body fat takes over the job of making estrone. The more body fat you have, the more estrone you have. Estrone is mainly a stored form of estrogen. Prior to menopause, your ovaries can convert estrone to the active form of estrogen, estradiol. That conversion only happens in premenopausal ovaries.

Estradiol (E2)
You may hear doctors or nurses refer to estradiol by its scientific name, 17- beta estradiol, but most folks know it as “the good stuff.” Before menopause, estradiol is the predominant form of estrogen produced by your ovaries and used throughout your body. Estradiol actively helps out with hundreds of different physical and mental functions, including maintaining bone density and giving your brain feedback about levels of the sex hormones. After menopause, your ovaries stop producing estradiol, and that’s when you develop many of those annoying symptoms such as hot flashes, palpitations, changes in your skin, bone, hair, and blood vessels, headaches, and so on.

Your body can convert estrone to estradiol but only with fully functioning ovaries. Your ovaries are slowing down during perimenopause and menopause, and your body doesn’t get nearly as much estradiol after menopause as it used to during your reproductive years.

Estriol (E3)
The weakest of the three estrogens is estriol, which your placenta produces only if you’re pregnant. If you don’t have any estriol in your body, it’s okay; it just means you aren’t pregnant.

Read More......

Hormones Produced by Your Brain

Your brain produces the hormones that direct the production of sex hormones in your ovaries. You may say that the hormones produced by your brain act as senior management, directing operations in your ovaries. The hormones in your ovaries are the field managers, directing operations in the field, which is your entire body. The hormones produced by your brain include.

- Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) : When the brain senses that estrogen and progesterone levels have dropped, it shoots out some FSH to the ovaries to tell them to begin developing follicles (nutritious sacs that cover the eggs) and start producing estrogen.

- Luteinizing hormone (LH) : This hormone triggers ovulation. When LH surges, the follicle releases the egg. The abandoned follicle wrapping, the corpus luteum, secretes progesterone and estrogen.

Read More......

Menstrual Cycle and Hormone Connection

One of the major functions of sex hormones is to prepare the body to produce life. So visiting your sex hormones at the reproduction office to watch them do their jobs as a team is a good place to start the discussion. Then we take a closer look at each individual member of Team Hormone.

The average menstrual cycle is 28 days, but a cycle that lasts anywhere from 22 to 35 days is perfectly normal. For the purpose of this discussion, we use a 28-day cycle; you can adjust the numbers as necessary to fit your personal calendar. Figure 2-1 shows hormone levels throughout a menstrual cycle.

Day 1 of your cycle is the first day of your period. Your body begins flushing out the lining of your uterus, which isn’t needed because a fertilized egg requiring nourishment and support isn’t present in your uterus. Your ovaries are filled with little seeds (eggs) surrounded by support cells (stroma). During the first half of your cycle (Days 1 to 14), hormones produced in your brain — follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) — and hormones produced in your ovaries — estrogen — work together to develop and then release an egg.

During these first two weeks, your estradiol (estrogen) levels are on the rise, and your progesterone levels are very low. This particular hormone combination (high estrogen, low progesterone) is why you usually feel so good during this stretch of your cycle. You owe your energy, restful sleep, upbeat mood, sharp memory, and terrific concentration to your old friend, estrogen, which plays a role in many physical and mental systems — not just your reproductive
system.

As soon as the brain senses that estrogen levels are right, it produces a surge of luteinizing hormone (LH), which triggers the release of an egg — otherwise known as ovulation. Ovulation usually occurs between Day 12 and Day 16 of your cycle. After you’ve ovulated, estrogen levels drop, and progesterone production kicks in. Progesterone, which peaks around Day 20, is a hormone that gets the uterus ready for a baby. If the egg is fertilized, your progesterone levels stay high. If the egg isn’t fertilized, progesterone and estrogen levels drop and menstruation occurs.

Read More......

Menopause is not a disease

Menopause is not a disease, deficiency, or failure. Nor is it necessarily going to be problematic for you — every woman’s menopause is different. Menopause is a natural and necessary change in life. Just as infancy, toddlerhood, adolescence, and young adulthood had their challenges and their rewards, so will your menopausal years. Only this time around, you have the maturity, sophistication, and resources to learn about and deal with what’s going on.

You may see and hear medical terms such as estrogen deficiency, ovarian failure, and vaginal atrophy used to describe menopause and its symptoms. You might even come across them in this book. These terms aren’t meant to carry negative connotations. They’re meant to describe expected conditions. Viewing menopause as a natural change — not an organ failure — is an important first step to understanding what might be in store for you and how best to deal with any symptoms you experience.

Just as women aren’t put on earth for the simple purpose of bearing children, your ovaries aren’t there just to supply eggs. Your ovaries live a double life — one as the holder of the seeds of life (oocytes that later develop into eggs), and the other as a maintenance worker. Your ovaries are a critical source of hormones for your whole body. After menopause your ovaries don’t retire, they just change careers. No longer busy with developing follicles that carry eggs (which release lots of estrogen), the ovaries continue to produce hormones (though in much smaller amounts than before) to help maintain overall body functions.

Because the average life expectancy for people in the United States is about 80 years, the average woman spends a little more than half her life menstruating and being fertile. And while we live in a culture that puts a lot of emphasis on these years, the years following menopause can be — and should be — just as exciting and fruitful. It’s likely that you can expect to spend a significant portion of your life just being a woman.

In some circles, the administration of hormone therapy (HT) has long had the reputation of being a part of the fix-a-failure approach to menopause. But although we know that HT can help control symptoms such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness, it’s no longer being routinely recommended for the prevention of health issues such as heart disease and breast cancer. The more you know about your own body, about how natural hormones (the ones you make yourself) work, and about how replacement hormones (hormone therapy) work, the better prepared you’ll be to make healthcare decisions tailored just for you.

Read More......

Promoting Longevity

Not long ago, 50 was about as old as we could expect to get. Today, many of us will live well into our 70s, 80s, and 90s. The fact that most women stop being fertile in their 40s doesn’t mean that women are no longer productive after 40. In fact, with the whole reproduction thing out of the way, women have more time and opportunities to make new contributions to life on earth (or in space).

One of the keys to a long and happy life is good genes. Another key is taking good care of yourself and the genes you’re dealt. Regular checkups can address medical issues as they arise and help prevent others. Eat healthy foods (and portions), get some exercise, and live life to its fullest.

Everyone agrees that a healthy lifestyle is the best way to reduce troublesome perimenopausal symptoms, prevent disease, and promote a long and healthy life. It’s also the least risky strategy for dealing with perimenopause and menopause. Taking up this challenge requires self-assessment and a bit of determination. Shifting to a healthy lifestyle involves eliminating unhealthy habits, getting at least a half-hour of aerobic exercise five times a week, and maintaining a healthy, balanced diet that includes at least five servings of fruit and vegetables each week.

Read More......

Treating Menopause

At the end of the perimenopause road, your ovaries (and consequently, your hormone production) finally wind down. Your body gradually adjusts to the lower hormone levels typical of life after menopause. Most of the perimenopausal symptoms disappear, but now your concerns shift to health issues associated with prolonged, lowered levels of active estrogen.

Estrogen not only plays a role in reproduction, it also helps regulate a host of other functions throughout your body. Estrogen protects your bones and cardiovascular system, among other responsibilities. Those pesky perimenopausal symptoms may make life miserable, but they aren’t dangerous to your health. But the conditions associated with long periods of diminished estrogen levels are very troublesome.

They include

• Cardiovascular disease
• Heart disease
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Osteoporosis
• Stroke

So you and your doctor need to work on strategies to prevent these conditions. Some women choose hormone therapy (HT) to help prevent disease; others choose to take medications as individual problems arise. Whichever path or paths you choose, each strategy presents benefits and risks. Your choices depend on your medical history, your family history, and your healthcare preferences. And remember that both your experiences and medical technologies change daily, so re-evaluate your options from time to time.

Read More......

Transitioning to Menopause

When a group of women talk about their personal experiences of puberty, menstrual cycles, and pregnancy, the stories are all over the board. Some women don’t notice changes in their bodies; others recognize the moment ovulation or conception occurs. Some women have terrible problems with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) ; others have trouble-free cycles throughout their entire lives. Women’s experiences vary with perimenopause and menopause just as much as they vary with these other changes. In this section we cover what you might experience as you begin the transition into perimenopause.

Starting out

Most women’s ovaries begin a transformation sometime between the ages of 35 and 50. If your periods end before you reach 40, you experience what’s known as premature menopause. Perimenopause is sometimes called a climacteric period, which simply means that it’s a crucial period. Remember that your ovaries don’t just shut down one day; the transition is punctuated with production peaks and valleys that cause many annoying physical and mental symptoms. Perimenopause is a time of important physiological change — when egg production along with the production of estrogen and progesterone begins slowing down.

Identifying symptoms

We devote almost exclusively to the symptoms women may experience during perimenopause. Several other chapters explain the link between your hormones and these symptoms. Less than half of all women experience annoying symptoms such as hot flashes, heart palpitations, interrupted sleep, and mood swings during the transitional period prior to menopause. Most women who do experience these symptoms experience the symptoms while they’re still menstruating on a regular schedule.
Other women recognize that they’re perimenopausal because their periods, which used to be as regular as clockwork, are now irregular. Their periods may be late, they may skip a period, or their flow may be light one month and resemble a flood the next month. Unfortunately, no objective medical test exists to determine whether you’re officially perimenopausal.

Calling in the professionals

If you’re in your late 40s or 50s and you’re experiencing the symptoms listed on the Cheat Sheet and , you can probably assume that you’re perimenopausal. But don’t cancel that appointment with your medical advisor to get the symptoms checked out. (If you don’t have an appointment to cancel, make one and keep it.) Many symptoms of perimenopause are the same as some of the symptoms of thyroid problems, cardiovascular disease, depression, and other serious health issues. Your medical practitioner can help you deal with the undesirable symptoms of perimenopause and prevent serious health conditions that are more prevalent after menopause.

Seeing it through to the end

Because you never really know when perimenopause starts, accurately defining a timeframe is difficult. Some women experience symptoms for ten years before their periods stop. The fact is that most of the symptoms you hear about are caused by the fluctuating hormone levels of perimenopause as opposed to the sustained, low levels of hormones you experience during menopause. You’re officially menopausal one year after your last period. After that, many people use the term postmenopause to mark the rest of your life (though in this book, we just keep using menopause).

Read More......