Estrogen Facts And Trivia To Know

Estrogen can both be a blessing and a curse, and there should be awareness of how it works in the female body where it can be in lacking or excessive amounts. The term refers to a group of hormones playing an important role in the growth and development of female sexual traits as well as the reproductive process, and these compounds include estradiol, estrone, and estriol. Here are some estrogen facts and trivia to discover.

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Estrogen plays an essential role in the onset and growth of female secondary sexual characteristics ranging from breasts to pubic hair to menstrual cycle regulation. During the menstrual cycle, these hormones produce an environment conducive to an early embryo’s fertilization, implantation, as well as nourishment.

Did you know that it can also affect your sun sensitivity? Being on estrogen can make skin more vulnerable to the sun as well as tanning beds, and this may result in burning or freckling more easily. Estrogen also directly and indirectly affects the cardiovascular system, such as helping prevent the development of atherosclerosis, or the buildup of plaque in the arteries.

Hormone disorders often involve appropriate estrogen therapy. Reasons for this treatment include delayed puberty, contraception, irregular menstrual periods, and menopausal symptoms. There are pitfalls that can result from hormone imbalance, such as estrogen dominance. These health issues include polycystic ovary disease, endometriosis, recurring ovarian cysts, and more, requiring vigilance and working with a qualified health practitioner if estrogen levels are suspected to be off in any way.

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Dr. Victoria Mondloch has more than two decades of experience specializing in women’s health, family medicine, and preventive health and wellness. Her independent practice enables her to take care of the patients with concerns regarding sending them for tests, referrals, and services that will best work for their needs. Learn more on this page.

Who Benefits From Hormone Therapy?

Hormone therapy, an approved treatment for relieving menopausal symptoms and prevention of conditions such as osteoporosis, can provide radically important benefits to specific groups of patients.

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Hormone therapy seeks to increase specific hormone levels in the body that have dropped with age and other circumstances. Therapy is generally provided as systemic products circulating throughout the bloodstream and other body parts (as oral tablet, path, gel, etc) or as non-systemic products affecting specific areas (as cream, ring, or tablet).

Menopausal women

Estrogen treatment is facilitated to control issues such as mood swings, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, weight gain, and night sweats experienced after menopause. The benefits can include improved sleep, sexual health, and overall quality of life.

Growth hormone deficiency patients

HGH injections offer positive results such as tighter and firmer skin, stronger nails, shorter recovery time, and enhanced immunity.

Hormone imbalance patients

An excess of estrogen, dubbed estrogen dominance, can lead to frightening symptoms and conditions from endometriosis and recurrent ovarian cysts to uterine fibroids and abnormal mammograms/pre-cancer of the breast. Hormone therapy can address the imbalance that can occur from puberty to peri-menopause.

These are just some groups that can benefit from hormone therapy, which recognizes that one’s levels of the female hormone dubbed the “elixir of life” and allows reproduction to take its course can go off-track at one point. Use of hormone therapy should be individualized, and to be continued or discontinued based on joint decision-making by the patient and her healthcare provider.

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Dr. Victoria J. Mondloch is a practicing physician based in Wisconsin and has years of experience specializing in women’s health, family medicine, and preventive health and wellness that serve as the pillar of her independent practice. Learn more about these areas of medicine on this page.