The Role of Hormones In Women's Health

Female hormones play a key role in a woman's overall health, it's not just about fertility.

What's The Role Of Female Hormones?

Hormones are internal chemical messengers which play a crucial role in our bodies by acting on our DNA to direct the various cells in our body to produce specific proteins.

Hormones are produced by endocrine glands which are distributed throughout the body and include the control hypothalamus and pituitary glands together with the endocrine glands producing response hormones including thyroid and parathyroid glands, gonads (ovaries or testes) and adrenal glands, to name a few. Hormones produced by these endocrine glands travel in the bloodstream to their target cells in tissues and organs disturbed throughout the body. A single hormone has far-reaching effects throughout the body. For example, there are receptors for the female hormone oestrogen not only in the female reproductive tract but also in the bone, gut, cardiovascular system and brain. In this way, a particular hormone can have far-reaching effects on many biological systems in the body.

Furthermore, hormones interact which each other, forming a complex network. For example, the production of all hormones is regulated through a series of feedback loops. In many cases, this feedback loop is via the major control centre for hormone regulation: the hypothalamus-pituitary axis in the brain. There are also interactions between the response hormones themselves such as cortisol (stress response hormone) and thyroid hormones.

What Do Hormones Have To Do With Women's Health?

Although the complexity of the hormone networks is fascinating, what has this got to do with health in practical terms?

The World Health Organisation defines health as not just an absence of disease, but rather a positive physical, mental, and social well-being.

As there are receptors for hormones throughout the body, they play a vital role in optimising all aspects of health and performance (1). Furthermore, the pattern of hormone production changes throughout a woman's life, so this impacts health not just today, but how our health evolves over our entire life.

How Hormones Change As Women Age

From the age, a woman reaches puberty to around her mid-30s hormone levels are stable and fluctuate naturally each month in line with the menstrual cycle.  Periods will be regular in women with a healthy hormone balance unless a woman is on some form of the contraceptive pill.

As a woman enters her early to mid-40s her ovaries will start to become less responsive, resulting in the start of perimenopause where oestrogen and progesterone levels fluctuate more, and periods become less regular.

Oestrogen and progesterone levels gradually decline during perimenopause and FSH and LH levels increase. These changes cause a hormone imbalance resulting in menopause symptoms such as irregular periods, mood changes, hot flashes and loss of libido.

The transition from menopause to post-menopause occurs after a woman has not had a period for at least 12 months. Oestrogen, progesterone, and testosterone drop to very low levels. Declining oestrogen levels can lead to longer-term health issues such as cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis.

Conclusion

Female hormones influence all aspects of women's health, not just reproduction and fertility, so it's important to understand how your hormones play a role in overall health. By understanding the role of hormones within the body you can make the right lifestyle choices to support a healthy endocrine system. Hi-Wi is the leading supplier of Female Hormones powder, and we can offer raw powders of Estrone (E1), Estradiol (E2), and Estriol (E3). As we promised, all of our Female Hormones powders are provided with high quality.