What Is Estradiol?

Proper Estradiol Levels

The human body is the most complicated and intriguing machine that ever existed. It functions on series of permutations and combinations between chemicals and mechanical laws, so we have to be extremely careful not to disturb any of the things happening with our own bodies. Being careful not to have anything in excess or in less than needed amount is a wonderful idea, since too much or too less of any compound might create a myriad of health problems.

The human body is very sensitive and easily prone to any of the health hazards. Those days when human beings rarely fell ill are long gone. Nowadays, the chaotic lifestyles, the continuous competition and race for better careers, have forced us no to pay that much attention on our own health. And we are talking here especially with women, who need to be the most careful with their health because they are the ones taking care of all things: career, children, home and family. The body compounds women should be careful about are the hormones, because hormonal imbalance triggers many other serious diseases. One of these hormones requiring attention and observation is estradiol, basically a female hormone; however, it is also found in the male body.

Being a steroid hormone, and like the various other steroids, estradiol is also derived from cholesterol. Being a female hormone, it is essential that every woman should know the various roles of it. Estradiol is a major hormone that is vital for a woman’s reproductive system. Therefore, it should be clearly understood a woman needs to keep an observation over the estradiol levels in her body. In case “estradiol” is not enough or perhaps too much, serious problems of the reproductive system may occur and chances are that woman might not be able to conceive.

What Does Estradiol Do?

Estradiol also plays a tremendous role for the skeletal system of a human body. Humans who are deficient in this particular hormone have the tendency to grow abnormally tall. In conclusion, it is advisable this hormone to be in appropriate amounts. Any form of deficiency or excess quantity of estradiol in the liver can cause liver’s cholestatis. Estradiol is one of the three estrogen that are present in the human body, both men and women. A hormone like this can have both positive and negative effects. It is very necessary to take care that all these three hormones are in correct amounts in our bodies.

Try and get some help from a competent and expert medical professional who can help you in finding out the good benefits of estradiol and in the same time, determine if there are any negative qualities of hormonal nature in your body. A hormone with both positive and negative qualities such as estradiol can lead to cancers if dealt with its presence incorrectly. By keeping estradiol levels under observation and treating it when necessary, you will no longer be a helpless patient in front of the health hazards surrounding us. It is your responsibility to keep yourself and also your family healthy.

Progesterone And Its Role

What Is Progesterone

It doesn’t matter if you are postmenopausal, perimenopausal or just go through PMS every month; progesterone is the one responsible for all your disturbances. Going on a progesterone treatment is a must and also a simple, 100% natural treatment that will greatly improve the quality of your life. As a matter of fact, progesterone is the oldest hormone discovered by us and it naturally occurs in our bodies at all ages. The human body produces this highly fat soluble and essential hormone naturally, when it metabolizes the pregnenolone. Pregnenolone produces in both men and women: corticosterone, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone.

The matter here is of how much progesterone your body is producing to keep you hormonally balanced. As we grow old we tend to produce less and less progesterone. There are many reasons for that, one of them being menopause. A hormonal imbalance can damage our general health in many ways.

Progesterone Hormone

Progesterone is one of the essential hormones for survival. Its deficiency may lead to a cascade of health problems. For instance, progesterone needs to always be in perfect balance with estrogen. Without progesterone being present, “estrogen” can become a potentially dangerous hormone. Even women who have undergone a partial or full hysterectomy need their natural progesterone, because the body’s progesterone production will cease while the body will keep producing and secreting estrogen.

Proper Progesterone Hormone Levels

Progesterone levels are, as they shoul be, low in men, children and women who have gone through menopause. In younger women, progesterone levels always fluctuate during the menstrual period, being down before ovulation, and rising right after ovulation. Progesterone plays the most important role in preparing the tissue lining the uterus (endometrium), so the fertilized egg can implant and develop. In case pregnancy doesn’t occur, progesterone levels start to drop, the endometrium is shed through menstruation, and the menstrual cycle starts all over again. If pregnancy occurs, progesterone levels rise further. During the early pregnancy, progesterone maintains the uterine muscles stable and prevents them from contracting excessively. This happens so that the growing embryo is kept in place. As the fetus develops, it uses maternal progesterone as a precursor for steroid hormones that are essential for normal fetal development. Progesterone is also responsible for preventing the release of breast milk during pregnancy. After the birth, progesterone levels start dropping, allowing the release of milk from the breasts.

Progesterone acts also in some other ways for the reproductive system. Since it is an estrogen antagonist, it has a protective effect against certain uterine and breast cancers. Progesterone raises core body temperature, acts as a muscle relaxant, and plays a role in maintaining normal bone and thyroid function.

A serious reason of progesterone loss is environmental pollutants. There are around 2 billion tons of pesticides as well as billions of tons of industrial chemicals used annually all over the world. Scientific studies have proven this dramatic increase in the use of chemicals and pesticides is greatly responsible for a critical rise in the growing number of illnesses and diseases of our days. More than 51 chemicals have been identified as “hormone disruptors.”

Symptoms of estrogen dominance

What is Estrogen Dominance?

Estrogen Dominance is categorized as a disease that causes hormonal imbalance in both men and women. It is a much more dangerous disease when it occurs in women, because it can easily lead to infertility. When it comes to men, this hormonal imbalance is not that feared since it rarely induces serious diseases. The most it can cause is a fragile bone health and sometimes gynecomastia, the disease that causes unusually enlarged breast development among men and occurs due to Estrogen Dominance.

The hormones involved in Estrogen Dominance are the primary female hormones: estrogen and progesterone. The issue is in fact, an imbalance between these two that determines the overall health state of the woman, on every level: psychological, sexual, physical. Whenever the ratio between these two feminine hormones is in favor of estrogen, the estrogen dominance occurs in one of its two forms: the form when the estrogen level increases abnormally and the other one when the progesterone levels seriously drop.

Between the two forms of estrogen dominance, the one in which the progesterone levels drop first and estrogen levels start to increase gradually is the most common, especially in menopausal women. This is, in fact, the reason why women having normal estrogen levels and going through menopause can be diagnosed with estrogen dominance (the progesterone readings are so down and this diagnose is established).

What are the estrogen dominance’s symptoms?

There are many symptoms that might be the effects of estrogen dominance:

1. Fatigue
2. Mood swings that might go to anxiety and depression
3. Thyroid problems
4. Low libido
5. Vulnerability to breast cancer
6. Fat gain in the abdominal and lower body areas
7. A sensation of dry vagina
8. Hair thinning and even hair loss
9. Insomnia
10. Temporary infertility
11. Occurrence of other diseases such as: bone problems and even osteoporosis, uterine fibroids, PCOS or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

What are the causes of estrogen dominance?

There are many causes of estrogen dominance; however, you don’t need to worry about having the disease if you check your estrogen levels before or after the menstrual cycle. These are periods of time when the estrogen levels are naturally higher. Increased attention needs to be paid among women whose estrogen levels remain chronically increased.

The main causes of estrogen dominance are onset of menopause (since it often causes a severe dip in the progesterone levels.), fiber deficient diets (due to the fact that estrogen is secreted in the body’s toxin-removal chambers – the bowels – and the constipation caused by a fiber lacking diet leads to estrogen-carrying feces to be stored in the bowels from where they are often transferred into the bloodstream, raising estrogen levels) and going through hormonal replacement therapies, which lead to severe hormonal imbalances and may cause estrogen levels to rise sharply.

What are the environmental causes of estrogen dominance?

Toxins in the industrial waste and alcohol are external factors that might raise the estrogen levels in both men and women. Most of the men diagnosed with gynecomastia are usually alcoholics. SO be sure to check your estrogen levels.

Estrogen side effects

The most common estrogen side effects

Estrogens are naturally occurring bodily substances. They have a very important role in the human body, and they are produced by both men and women. However, they are much more important in women’s body, since they maintain the female reproductive system and determine the women’s sex characteristics (promoting the development of female reproductive system and breasts, preparing the uterus for pregnancy and causing the pelvis’s widening).

In a woman’s body, there are six different estrogenic compounds, but the most important and more present ones are estrone, estradiol, and estriol. When taken as a medicine, all of these estrogens produce equal major effects and side effects if the dosages are equal, taking their different potencies into account.

Why would you need estrogens therapy?

Well, there are lots of reasons and health problems that will require for a woman to start estrogen therapy. And these reasons and problems are: the prevention of menopause symptoms and postmenopausal osteoporosis, ovarian failure, breast cancer (in both women and men), abnormal bleeding of the uterus, advanced cancer of the prostate, female castration, vaginal irritation or Tumers syndrome. Also, estrogens are usually prescribed as a method of birth control.

Now that we have found out what estrogens are and how they can be used as therapy for many health problems, let’s have a look and see what problems these compounds may cause.

Results of different studies have shown that estrogens may increase the risk of endometrial cancer, especially in women who have overcame menopause. The results have shown an increase of 4.5 to 14 times in post-menopausal women taking estrogens for a long period of time. When prescribed to reduce menopausal symptoms, estrogen treatments have to be taken cyclical, just like birth control pills. When following an estrogen treatment, women have to see their doctor at least twice a year.

Also, post menopausal women taking estrogen treatments need to be aware of the risk of developing a gallbladder heath issue. In case you are taking estrogens and you are experiencing vaginal bleedings, immediately contact your doctor!

Studies on animals have shown that increased and prolonged administration of estrogen may encourage the apparition of certain cancers (breast, vagina, cervix, liver and kidney) in the animals under observation. However, there is proof estrogens can increase the risk of cancers in humans too. Women with certain family history of breast cancer and those already having breast nodules or abnormal mammograms should not start an estrogen therapy.

Women taking estrogens for a long period of time might later encounter health problems such as blood-clotting disorders, high blood pressure and liver cancer, glucose intolerance, unusual sun sensitivity, and increased levels of calcium in the bloodstream. Vaginal estrogen creams may cause bleeding of the uterus, breast tenderness, vaginal discharge and withdrawal bleeding.

Other common side effects of estrogens include enlargement or tenderness of the breasts, inflammation of ankles, loss of appetite, weight swings, water retention, nausea, abdominal cramps, and bloatedness. The estrogen patch can cause skin rash, irritation, and redness at the patch site.

Less common side effects are bleeding gums, breakthrough vaginal bleeding, vaginal spotting, changes in menstrual flow, painful menstruation. pre-menstrual syndrome, no menstrual period during and after estrogen use, enlargement of uterine fibroids, vaginal infection with Candida, a cystitis-like syndrome, mild diarrhea, jaundice or yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes, rash, loss of scalp hair, and development of new hairy areas.

Rare side effects include stroke, blood-clot formation, dribbling or sudden passage of urine, loss of coordination, chest pains, leg pains, difficulty breathing, slurred speech, and vision changes. Men who receive large estrogen doses as part of the treatment for prostate cancer are at a greater risk for heart attack, phlebitis, and blood clots in the lungs.

Estrogen Deficiency

The widely known term to describe women’s sexual hormones estrone, estradiol and estriol is estrogen, which has a tremendous role in defending and nourishing the body, also in influencing the cholesterol levels and osteal, cardiac, dermal, and neural health for the best. Estrogen also helps in manufacturing and secreting the other important hormones in the body.

It is important for a woman to maintain stable and constant estrogen levels through her entire life, but especially through menopause. A decrease or increase in estrogen levels may lead to very unpleasant menopause symptoms and even cause serious health problems. A woman can tell if she is going through an estrogen deficiency when hot flashes, irregular menstruation and vaginal dryness appear.

What is estrogen deficiency?

Estrogen deficiency means that a woman lacks estrogen in her body, and she is going through some serious adverse effects of this problem. During menopause, the normal hormonal fluctuation causes the levels of estrogen to become insufficient. However, there are other causes of estrogen deficiency, such as: chemo and radiation therapy, hysterectomy, not enough body fat and eating disorders, thyroid problems, too much physical exercise and pituitary illnesses.

What are the symptoms of estrogen deficiency?

Usually, estrogen deficiency appears in menopause since it’s often considered a direct result of it. Women can go through many symptoms including night sweats, unexplained fatigue, irregular menstrual periods, dizziness, rapid pulse rates, vaginal dryness, loss of memory, dry skin, loss of libido, headaches, weight gain, joint pain and joint inflammation, depression and mood swings. These menopausal syndromes are both physical and psychological and are usually experienced in the climacteric period due to estrogen deficiency. However, because these symptoms often come before menopause, they can also be a result of relative estrogen deficiency as well as fluctuating levels of ovarian hormones.

Which are the tests that diagnose estrogen deficiency?

The most common way in determining if a woman suffers from estrogen deficiency is the simple estrogen test. There are medical experts or doctors who test a particular form of estrogen, especially estradiol, but estrone and estriol can also be tested and measured. These tests for estrone and estriol are the least common when diagnosing estrogen deficiency in menopausal women.

Other less reliable tests are the saliva tests. These could also be carried to asses the occurrence of estrogen deficiency, but are less reliable due to the environmental factors (what the patient has been eating or drinking, the medication she has been using etc.) that could affect the results.

It is suggested that samples to be taken in the third day of menstrual cycle, when the estrogen levels don’t vary so much.

Are there any treatments for estrogen deficiency?

The good news here is that estrogen deficiency is not going to last forever. Following doctor’s advice, a woman has many options to cure this disturbing health problem: changes in diet and lifestyle, alternative medicine (there are phytoestrogenic and non-estrogenic herbs that help the body regulate estrogen secretion) or HRT (hormone replacement therapy).

Types of estrogen cream

Hormone estrogen cream therapy

Before popping another pill for your menopausal symptoms, stop for a moment to find out what other alternatives you might have, and see how estrogen creams are incredibly useful. Most women have already decided pills are not the solution and went with estrogen creams, which are more than moisturizers. Therefore, if you are sick of those prescribed menopause creams that sometimes do more damage than good, give estrogen creams a go and see how wonderful these might work.

There are many benefits estrogen creams have to offer. One of these benefits is how easily these products are to use. When using estrogen creams, all you have to worry about is applying the cream once or perhaps twice a day in order to relieve the menopausal symptoms. All the women struggling with night sweats and decreased energy levels can tell you that an estrogen cream is the best choice they ever made for their own health.

It is a fact that women go through many hormonal changes during menopause. Not only that psychological and emotional effects cause depression, also the body suffers many physiological changes. Estrogen is very important to maintain a normal functioning of a woman’s body. Aging or illness may cause its levels to drop. It can lead to night sweats, hot flushes etc.

There are many different types of estrogen creams available, depending on symptoms and doctor’s recommendations. Estrogen creams are widely use as a safe and effective method of HRT (Hormonal Replacement Therapy) since they are incredibly easy to apply, show amazing results and cause absolutely no side effects or other imbalances in the body.

The widely-known benefits of estrogen creams are:

You can use a specific cream that works with your symptoms, specifically.
They are very user-friendly and easy to apply.
They can be applied on neck, elbows, thighs and knees.
Menopause often causes a loss of certain fluids in the body.
Applying estrogen creams prevents that loss and maintains the skin moisturized.
These creams aren’t expensive at all.

However, if any sorts of side effects are observed, immediately talk to your doctor. There are many types of estrogen creams, and these are:

Natural estrogen creams – made from human or plant estrogen. These are commonly used nowadays, replacing earlier forms of estrogen treatments. They have absolutely no side effects and that’s why most women prefer them.
Prescribed estrogen creams:The estrogen creams that are available only with a prescription. These are chemical based creams and you can find out more about them from your physician.
Over the counter estrogen creams: The estrogen creams that are sold over the counter. You can discuss these creams with a pharmacist who can also help you find the right one with appropriate dose for your needs.
Conjugated estrogen creams: are often used to treat the vaginal changes that appear after menopause.
Phytoestrogen creams help against skin problems.

Choose the estrogen cream that best fits you but know that any alternative to chemical pills always works best. Not only you treat the problem, you also eliminate the risk of side effects appearance.

The importance of Estrogen in the body

What is estrogen?

Estrogen is the most important female sexual hormone that is comprised of a group of other compounds such as estradiol, estrone and estriol, each one of them being essential to the menstrual cycle. It exists in both males and females, but it can be found at greater amounts in mature women that are perfectly capable of reproduction.

Estrogen is produced mostly in the ovaries, by developing egg follicles. Also, it can be manufactured by the corpus luteum in the ovary and by the placenta. The liver, breasts and adrenal glands also slightly contribute to estrogen production.

What is the role of estrogen?

Estrogen is one of the most important compounds in a woman’s reproductive system and process. It is the hormone responsible with the menstrual cycle and uterus’s preparation for pregnancy (the thickening of the endometrium). The other hormones responsible for the estrogen production in healthy and ovulating women are LH (the luteinizing hormone) and FSH (the follicle stimulating hormone).

Furthermore, estrogen is essential in developing the secondary sex attributes that define differences between women and men, others than the ones of the reproductive systems. For example, in women, estrogen determines the development of breasts, the pelvis’s widening, and the raise of body fat in the essential areas such as thighs, buttock and hips. Also, estrogen makes the women’s skin smoother and causes them to have less – almost inexistent – facial hair.

How does the body produce estrogen?

As said before, estrogen breaks down into three distinct compounds: estriol, estrone and estradiol. During a woman’s reproductive life, which starts with the onset of menstruation and continues until menopause, the main type of estrogen produced is estradiol. This is produced from androgens, through enzymatic actions. Testosterone is another compound that contributes to the production of estradiol. The estrone type of estrogen is made from andostenedione.

Why is estrogen important for women’s health?

Estrogen not only relates to a woman’s reproductive system and cycle, it is also essential for a woman’s health. Even though it sometimes causes women to retain fluid, and can elevate a woman’s risk to develop breast cancer by an early exposure through early menses, estrogen has many health benefits. It contributes to increase HDL (high density lipoprotein considered the “good” cholesterol), and decrease the LDL (low density lipoprotein considered the “bad” cholesterol).

After and during menopause, women go throuh a massive decrease in estrogen production. This is the main cause of vaginal dryness, hot flashes, memory failures, unexplained fatigue, irritability and a decrease in bone density, which is probably one of the most devastating problems and may cause osteoporosis. Although estrogen replacement therapy has been discussed, with medical experts arguing about its safety and effectiveness, menopausal women need to see a doctor and discuss the safest and most effective method of coping with the estrogen decrease.