Reproductive Years

The two female hormones, estrogen and progesterone, regulate the menstrual cycle and play an important part in having a successful pregnancy during a woman’s reproductive years. The following are different types of estrogen and their function in a woman’s body:

Estrogen (in the body):

• Estrone is produced by the ovaries in quantities of 100 to 200 micrograms per day when a woman isn’t pregnant. During pregnancy, estrone is produced in smaller amounts. After menopause, estrone is still produced by the adrenal steroid, mostly in body fat and muscle cells. Obese women produce more estrone after menopause than thin pre-menopausal women. Obese women can still experience of hot flashes.
• Estradiol is also produced by the ovaries in the same amounts as estrone during a non-pregnancy state. Estradiol is excreted in the smallest amount during pregnancy.
• Estriol is created by the placenta during pregnancy and is the major source of estrogen with production in milligram quantities. Because the fetus participates in estriol formation, estriol is an important indicator of a fetus’s well-being.

Menopausal Years

During perimenopause, the years right before menopause, a woman’s ovaries shrink and levels of estrogen and progesterone fluctuate as the ovaries try to keep up hormone production. Perimenopause causes unpleasant symptoms including irregular menstrual cycles, night sweats, mood swings, weight gain, and hot flashes among other symptoms. Menopause occurs when a woman’s menstrual period stops and the ovaries produce much less estrogen and progesterone. For years, health care providers prescribed hormone-based (estrogen alone or estrogen plus progestin) therapies to relieve menopausal symptoms until recently when clinical trials revealed the treatment posed serious health risks. Here is an overview of these outside sources of estrogen along with another potentially toxic form of estrogen:

Estrogen (outside of the body):

• Phytoestrogens refer to plant compounds and botanical products that have estrogen-like activity. Plants rich in phytoestrogens include soy and red clover that are used to relieve some symptoms of menopause. However, it is uncertain if the relief comes from actual estrogens or from compounds in the plant. The effect of phytoestrogens is considerably weaker than one’s own natural estrogen production. According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, much still needs to be learned about these plant products and their function in the body.
• Xenoestrogens refer to other environmental compounds (usually petrochemicals) that have a very potent estrogen-like activity and can be considered very toxic. Petrochemicals are anything containing petroleum fuels. Many machines and buildings run on petroleum oil and thousands of products, including plastics, microchips, medicines, clothing, foods, soaps, pesticides, and even perfumes contain it. These products improve the quality of our lives but in return they pollute our air, water, soil, and our bodies. Overexposure to products with high levels of estrogen result in development and reproduction abnormalities.
• Synthetic estrogens are those produced by pharmaceutical companies and have their molecular structure altered so they can be patented.  Like the xenoestrogens, they tend to be more potent than the body’s own estrogens and more toxic. For many decades conventional medicine prescribed these synthetic estrogens to relieve menopausal like symptoms. This treatment was called hormone replacement therapy (HRT), but the preferred term now is menopausal hormone therapy (MHT). This treatment was thought to ward off heart disease, osteoporosis, and cancer. However, in 2002, findings from a large study called the Women’s Health Initiative found that taking menopausal hormone therapy increased the risk for serious health conditions.

Sources: John R. Lee. M.D., and Virginia Hopkins, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause: The Breakthrough Book On Natural Progesterone (1996), Time Warner Books Inc., pgs. 34-40, 50-52; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and the National Center For Complementary And Alternative Medicine (NCCAM).