Friend or Foe? What You Need to Know for life? H By Jessica T. Wei, MD, FACOG


ormones, hormones, hormones! What is a woman to do? Is estrogen my friend or my foe? And what can I do to balance my hormones so that estrogen remains my friend


What is Estrogen?


Estrogen is a sex steroid hormone derived from cholesterol, as all steroid molecules are. Estrogen is responsible for the growth and development of female sexual characteristics and reproduction, as well as supporting bone, brain, cardiovascular, skin, bladder, and vaginal health, among so many other important processes in the body. So, we need estrogen!


When we speak about estrogen we are often primarily refer- ring to a form of estrogen called estradiol, which is the predomi- nant estrogen produced by the ovaries prior to the time a woman experiences menopause. There are two other forms of estrogen: estrone, which is predominant after menopause; and estriol which is a much less potent hormone than estradiol, and present in higher levels during pregnancy.


Estrogens act differently in various areas of the body by either stimulating or inhibiting activity in those areas. This depends on what type of receptor is present in that tissue. There are two types of receptors: alpha and beta receptors. Alpha-receptor rich tis- sue is found in the breast, endometrium (lining of the uterus), and ovary, and generally when stimulated will promote cell-division and growth. Overstimulation can eventually lead to cancer. Beta- receptor rich tissue is found in the brain, bone, endothelium (blood vessels), intestinal mucosa, and prostate.


Understanding this concept of different estrogen receptors enables us to understand that the effects of estrogen throughout the body are varied, and we cannot uniformly say that estrogen is bad or good. What we can say is that excess estrogen out of balance can cause significant health issues such as:


• Heavy and painful periods • PMS


• Infertility • PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) • Fibroids


• Endometriosis • Bone loss • Cognitive issues • Cardiovascular disease


• Hormonally-related cancers such as breast, uterine, and ovarian cancer.


28 Natural Nutmeg - October 2017


What Causes Excess Estrogen Imbalance in the Body? Basically, excess estrogen imbalance (also described as “estrogen dominance” relative to levels of progesterone) arises from four causes:


• Increased exposure to the body • Increased production by the body


• Decreased balancing effects from progesterone within the body


• Decreased elimination from the body Let’s look at each of these more closely, and understand that


each is dependent on the others to create imbalance or balance. In other words, imbalance is created from multiple causes and condi- tions.


Increased Exposure of Estrogen The most obvious source of increased exposure is taking syn- thetic estrogen or bioidentical estrogen in the form of oral contra- ceptive pills or hormone replacement. Although taking synthetic hormone (estrogens and progestins) can provide a convenient form of birth control and some symptomatic relief from issues such as heavy, painful periods and hot flashes, they also have significant negative effects for many women. These negative effects of syn- thetic estrogen intake can include:


• Increased risk for depression and mood changes


• Depletion of vitamins and minerals (specifically vitamins B2, B6, B12, C, and E, as well as magnesium, selenium, and zinc) • Increased risk of developing blood clots


• Metabolic changes including weight gain, insulin resistance, and adverse changes in cholesterol and triglyceride levels Another common source is the food which we eat, primar-


ily conventional meat and dairy. Since the 1950’s, the FDA has approved the use of natural and synthetic estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and growth hormone to allow for faster weight gain and production of meat and dairy.


We also have exposure to excessive amounts of xenoestrogens,


toxins which have estrogenic effects in the body. These xenoestro- gens are endocrine (hormone) disrupting chemicals (EDC’s), which often bind more strongly to the estrogen receptor than estrogen itself leading to overstimulation of the receptor or blocking of the normal signaling by that hormone. EDC’s can also interfere with the detoxification and elimination of hormones by the liver. Some common EDC’s which have estrogenic effects are:


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