Female hormones, hormonal imbalance
The Effects of Hormones in Women
Many women, when faced with the difficulty of hormonal imbalance, will shy away from the conversation, often due to a lack of understanding or simply embarrassment. This sort of attitude is understandable, considering that female hormones control nearly every function in a woman’s body, including the female menstrual cycle, which is in its self a bit of a taboo subject for women. But whatever the attitude toward the hormone effects in women, the fact remains that hormones are responsible for wellbeing, and when hormonal imbalance is present, severe consequences can result. The more understanding a woman has about hormonal imbalance, and the role that the bodies important hormones play, the more likely she will be to notice symptoms of hormone imbalance, and receive appropriate treatment to minimize its effects.
By simple definition, a hormone is a chemical communicator produced by glands in the body, whose production is controlled by the brain, and whose function is to carry messages throughout the body, from one organ to another. In short, hormones keep the body in sync with its self, helping it to remain balanced and function optimally. Hormones are specialized messages, sent to specific organs, to control specific functions in the body. In this way, a hormone fits perfectly into a receptor perfectly, like a lock inside a key, one key, for one lock.
Each of the body’s glands secretes hormones. For example, the adrenal glands secrete cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine, DHEA, and aldosterone. Specifically in women, the ovaries secrete the most important hormones in the body like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. Estrogen and progesterone are typicall...
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...is, topical estriol may be the most effective and safest estrogen to use.
An important article in the 1966 Journal of the American Medical Association by H.M. Lemmon, M.D., reported a study showing that higher levels of estriol in the body correlate with remission of breast cancer. Dr. Lemmon demonstrated that women with breast cancer had reduced urinary excretion of estriol. He also observed that women without breast cancer have naturally higher estriol levels, compared with estrone and estradiol levels, than women with breast cancer. Vegetarians and Asian women have high levels of estriol, and these women are at much lower calculated risk of breast cancer than are other women. Estriol's anti-cancer effect is probably related to its anti-estrone properties it blocks the stimulatory effect of estrone by occupying the estrogen receptor sites on the breast cells.
In conclusion the menstrual cycle can be impacted by the daily environment in human females. Analysis has shown that the menstrual cycle impacts females’ everyday day life such as in the work place and also devouring of caffeine drinking and smoking
The location of the pituitary gland is in the sella turcica of the sphenoid bone and attaches to the hypothalamus(Marieb & Hoehn 441). The Hypothalamus is included in the function of the pituitary gland as it sends chemical stimulus to it(Marieb & Hoehn 442).Part of the pituitary is called the “ master endocrine gland” due to the fact that is produces many hormones that affect the whole body(Shannon 175).This part of the pituitary gland is called the anterior pituitary(Marieb & Hoehn 601). There are six hormones that the anterior pituitary secretes normally. These Hormones are growth hormones,thyroid stimulating hormones,adrenocorticotropic hormones,luteinizing hormones,follicle stimulating hormones and prolactin hormones( Shannon 175).The Hormone prolactin is one that in normal function stimulates the act of lactation for new mothers to feed their baby(Shannon 175).
“High levels of hormones can cause problems in the human body, but can hormones we ingest really alter our hormone level...
..., t. t. (n.d.). Menopausal Hormone Replacement Therapy Use and Cancer - National Cancer Institute. Comprehensive Cancer Information - National Cancer Institute. Retrieved September 19, 2011, from http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/menopausal-hormones/print
The hormones produced from the endocrine system come from a wide range of different places. Among those responsible for hormone production are the glands and a few organs as well. The glands that are involved are the pituitary, thyroid, thymus, parathyroid, and adrenal. The organs, which also play a vital part, are the pancreas, gonads, kidneys, heart, and parts of the digestive tract. All these different glands or organs work together in the production of certain hormones. Those produced in one location will almost always have an effect on many other areas of the body, not just the surrounding tissues.
Polycystic Ovaries Syndrome can cause a number of symptoms. Its can cause everything from obesity to missed periods. It also causes women to have more of the male hormone in their bodies, which cause male hair growth. Not all of PCOS patients have excessive hair growth some may have other skin conditions, like acne. PCOS is the one of the most notorious cause if missed menstrual cycles and “infertility due to the lack of ovulation”. (Thatcher, 12)
First, the pituitary gland in the brain produces the hormone follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). FSH stimulates the ovaries to produce estrogen, which thickens the uterine lining and begins to develop an egg in the ovary. About 14 days later, the pituitary gland produces another hormone called luteinizing hormone (LH). LH causes the egg to come out of a sac in the ovary (ovulation). The empty sac on the ovary called the corpus luteum is stimulated by another hormone from the pituitary gland called luteotropin. The corpus luteum begins to produce the estrogen and progesterone hormone. The progesterone hormone prepares the lining of the uterus to have the fertilized egg (egg combined with sperm) attach to the lining of the uterus and begin to develop into a fetus. If the egg is not fertilized, the corpus luteum stops producing estrogen and progesterone, it disappears, the lining of the uterus sloughs off and a menstrual period begins. Then the menstrual cycle starts all over again and will continue monthly unless pregnancy occurs or menopause
With advancements in medical science, it has now become possible to overcome any shortcomings, limitations or inconveniences concerning human health. Thanks to unconventional medical procedures, altering one’s innate characteristics, viz., gender, genetic makeup, physical appearances, etc., is not impossible anymore. One of the most significant advances of medical sciences is in the field of Hormonal Replacement Therapy (HRT). HRT is used to replace or replenish any hormone that the body is deficient in, or is not able to synthesize anymore. While the most common use of HRT is the replacement of the estrogen hormone in postmenopausal women, it has found use in many other clinical applications. Some of these include thyroid hormone replacement therapy in patients suffering from hypothyroidism and androgen replacement therapies in treating male hypogonadal disorders. HRT is a very vast and expansive subject. Through this paper, an attempt is made to discuss some hormonal replacement therapies, their uses and side effects.
...ars to be the most promising agent in primary prevention of breast cancer. It changed the way prevention is perceived by biomedicalizing it. Prevention is seen as equivalent to risk reduction. Also, it is the only United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) approved drug for reducing breast cancer risk in high-risk women. Promising as it may seem, the scope of primary prevention has been restricted to women at high risk of developing breast cancer because of inherent limitations of these strategies. Knowledge is power, “The lack of knowledge in the realm of breast cancer prevention makes for greater investment in chemoprevention”. Owing to failure of etiologic studies in breast cancer research to identify primary prevention strategies suitable for the general population, reducing mortality through early detection of breast cancer still remains the mainstay.
As you can see in the diagram, there are several areas in the body that contain parts of the endocrine system. The endocrine system is made up of glands that are responsible for many of the functions of other organs and tissues. These glands produce hormones (chemical messengers created by the body) that regulate the body’s growth and sexual development. The hormone is released into the bloodstream and can affect one or several organs in the
It is said that the cause of PCOS is not known exactly, however, researchers and clinicians believe that PCOS tends to occur in women whose ovaries produce more male hormones than female hormones. In fact the outward signs and symptoms can be that of too much facial and body hair, weight gain, and darkening and/or thi...
This includes the release of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) from anterior pituitary gland which in turn stimulates ovary to secrete estrogen and progesterone hormone (Nelson, 2014). According to Mtawali et. al (1997), the changes of hormone will lead to changes in the female reproductive organ such as ovaries, uterus and cervix . Additionally, Mtawali et al. (1997) state the menstrual cycle can be divided into phases based on the changes that occur simultaneously in the ovary (involving the follicular and luteal phase) and the uterus (involving the proliferative, secretory and menstrual phase) as shown in figure 2. Based on figure 1, Mtawali et. al (1997) divide the menstrual into several phases, starting with follicular phase and proliferative phase, followed by luteal phase and secretory phase, menstrual phase (if there is no fertilization) and pregnancy (if fertilization
The thyroid gland is part of the endocrine system, and it is controlled by the pituitary which is known as the “master gland” of the endocrine system. The pituitary controls the thyroid by producing Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) which stimulates the production of thyroid hormones. . The thyroid gland secretes two main hormones: Thyroxine (T4) and Tri-Iodothyronine (T3). These hormones increase metabolic rate, heat production, oxygen consumption, appetite, growth hormone secretion, alertness and quicker reflexes. The thyroid gland is located in the anterior portion of the neck, beneath the Adam’s apple. It is divided in two lobes on either side of the windpipe: right lobe and left lobe. These lobes create what looks like a butterfly shape. The gland is essential to the contribution of maintaining the homeostasis of the body. It plays a role in monitoring the body’s expenditure of energy and running the body’s metabolism.
Each gland of the endocrine system is responsible for the releasing of different hormones, and those hormones trigger different activities in different places of the body. Hypothalamus, pineal body, anterior and posterior pituitary glands, adrenal gland, and thyroid gland are the main glands of the endocrine system while there are some other associated glands, as well. The endocrine system is known to be as the chemical information system. Some of the main functions of this system have to do with growth and development, metabolism, tissue function, sexual function, mood swings,
...culatory system. Pituitary gland is a growth hormone that helps in mertabolism and develops reproductive organs. The thyroid controls metabolsim on the rate that the body breaks down food. Adrenal gland secretes many hormones including adrenaline which prepares the body to react in a stressful situation. The pancreas produces digestive enzymes and insulin. Ovaries produce ova and estrogen. Testes produce sperm cells and testosterone. To stay healthy you should get a regular medical check-up, eat a well-balanced diet, sleep at least 8 hours, and decrease stress in your life. Some problems are growth disorders, diabetes, and obesity. Puberty begins at different times for girls then boys. Girls start around ages 9-13 and boys are ages 10-15.