Estrogen - Menopause

Everything You Need To Know About Estrogen And How It Affects The Menopause

In women, Estrogen is perhaps one of the most important hormones that they have. It controls breast development as well as controlling our menstrual cycle and it also is responsible for our libido too. So, when you go through the menopause, Estrogen does have a huge impact on the body and that is when many menopausal symptoms kick in.

All about Estrogen

Estrogen is a hormone which is found in every single woman and the level of Estrogen that we have affects us in quite a lot of ways. How much of a libido we have, how big our breasts develop, how regular our periods are, Estrogen controls it all and every woman has a different Estrogen level.

Generally Estrogen levels increase during puberty and that is when we tend to develop the most. The levels then stay the same for around 25 years and then they start to decrease. The levels continue to decrease until we hit the menopause and that is when they constantly stay the same again. The body does try to fight this process by adding two new hormones into the mixture, but it does not make much of a difference and the decreased levels of Estrogen tend to cause various menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes and mood swings.

Estrogen also controls our bone structure and it has a particularly important effect on our blood vessels too. What many people do not realise, is that Estrogen is in fact not just one hormone, but three. They consist of Estrone, Estradiol and Estriol. Each is produced in a different part of the body and they are all equally as important.

• Estrone

This type of Estrogen is produced by fatty tissues and it is generally more important after the menopause. It is also a little less strong than Estradiol.

• Estradiol

This is possibly the most important type of Estrogen hormone within the body. It is produced within the ovaries and it is responsible for the menstrual cycle. Due to this, it is the strongest Estrogen hormone in the body.

• Estriol

This type of Estrogen hormone is only really present during pregnancy and it is created by the foetus, the mother and the placenta.

Overall there is more than one type of Estrogen, though each is equally as important in their own way. Estrogen does play a huge part in the menopause and it contributes towards a lot of health problems and symptoms too.

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