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Women's Hormone 101 (Part 2)
The Endocrine Interplay What needs to be understood is that, for example, if a woman's thyroid or adrenal glands are depleted or functioning inadequately--a fairly common occurrence in our stressful culture--she will likely experience problems with her sexual reproductive organs. The connection between these organs and the thyroid, the adrenals and other endocrine glands is that they are all governed by endocrine hormones. This is an important interrelationship, which is why what disrupts one gland can disrupt another, causing a kind of domino effect or vicious cycle. The immune system and the thymus are involved, too, because immune response is inhibited by abnormal hormone levels. The endocrine system is responsible for homeostasis, the body's ability to maintain stable internal conditions, including body temperature, regardless of changing external conditions. Balance is crucial to all life processes. The body functions within very specific margins, and being forced to function outside of those margins can cause a whole series of negative events, even death. The endocrine system also controls the processes of reproduction, metabolism, growth and development. The Endocrine System and the Female Cycle The endocrine system regulates the body's major continuous and prolonged processes, including reproduction; growth and development; cellular metabolism and energy; blood balance of nutrients, electrolytes and water; and the mobilization of body defenses against stressors (things that cause wear and tear on the body's physical and mental resources). It is made up of eight different glands located strategically throughout the body: Besides these major organs, the system includes pockets of hormone-producing cells in tissues in the small intestine, heart, kidneys and stomach. The endocrine system develops and begins producing hormones by the end of the second trimester of fetal development. In the order of endocrine command, the hypothalamus is the body's CEO, orchestrating the events of the rest of the endocrine system. The hypothalamus controls autonomic reflexes (such as the activity of the heart and smooth muscles), and it houses the body's "thermostat" and biological clock, which maintains the body's rhythm of 24-hour sleep-wake cycles. The somewhat mysterious pineal gland also has a role in biological timekeeping, being an organ sensitive to retinal response to light. The pineal gland, believed to coordinate fertility hormones, produces melatonin, the hormone known for its sleep-triggering ability. The hypothalamus also initiates part of the adrenal stress response, causing the pituitary to secrete the hormone that travels to the adrenal glands to stimulate secretion of cortisol, DHEA and aldosterone. The hypothalamus also initiates the female cycle by producing gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which signals the pituitary to secrete follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). FSH stimulates the ovaries to secrete estrogen, the sex hormone that stimulates development of breast, uterine and ovarian tissue (and in synthetic HRT forms is associated with excessive cell growth that leads to cancer). When estrogen reaches a certain level, it signals the hypothalamus to trigger the pituitary to secrete luteinizing hormone (LH). Estrogen levels then fall, while the level of LH rises and peaks (around day 14 of a 28-day cycle), stimulating ovulation, the release of an egg from its ovarian follicle. After ovulation, the follicle (now called the corpus luteum) is filled with cholesterol, which is converted first to pregnenolone and then to progesterone. This newly-made progesterone is used in part for the building up of the uterine lining. If after about 13 to 15 days the egg is not fertilized, the uterine lining is sloughed off (in menstruation) when both estrogen and progesterone levels drop. Both estrogen and progesterone are necessary in the female cycle, and their balance is key for full health. Many women in our culture have an imbalance of these hormones, especially, insufficient levels of progesterone to counter excessive estrogen -- an imbalance further exacerbated by chronic stress. Progesterone is a hormone important to a number of body functions. During times of stress or conditions of chronic adrenal hyper-stimulation, progesterone is capable of being converted into the stress hormone cortisol. When one goes through chronic or severe long-term stress, the hypothalamus at first triggers an overproduction of the adrenal hormones (especially cortisol and DHEA). This eventually leads to adrenal insufficiency, a state in which the exhausted adrenals cannot respond adequately. Click Here to Read Part 3 of Women's Hormones 101
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