The Story of Hormones

The human body is created. A detailed set of specific components that depend on one another, the various parts of the body need ways to communicate with each other to insure the proper balance of activities and secretions for optimal functioning. The body communicates through one of it’s smallest components, the cell. Each tissue, brain, glands, sexual organs, and all other parts of the body depend on little messengers to tell them what to do based on what the body’s needs are at each moment. For instance, what your cells need when you are running a race differs from what they need when you are sleeping. These special little messengers are chemicals called hormones.

Hormones control most of the glands that make our bodies function. They are responsible for a multitude of bodily functions including sleep, appetite, sexual desire, mood and energy. The amount and ratios of hormones produced changes with each stage of human development and it is these changes that are responsible for what we see as part of the natural aging process.

The hormones that re responsible for the changes in a woman’s body as she nears menopause are known as the sex hormones. Sex hormones include the estrogens, progesterone and testosterone. Of these, the roles of estrogens and progesterone are most clear and these will be the focus of our discussion as they are the target of Hormone Replacement Therapy.

Biology

The chemicals known as hormones operate on a rather complicated feedback loop in which the amount of the hormone being secreted tells the body if it needs to make more or less. Many parts of the body are involved in the directions given to a hormone about how much of them should be around. The hypothalamus, a very small part of the brain, sends messages to the pituitary gland, also part of the brain. The chemicals released by the pituitary gland send messages to what we call target organs directing them in their minute-to-minute function. An example of a target organ is the uterus. This organ is responsible for housing and supporting your unborn child and it is also responsible for your monthly menstruation. The hormones of pregnancy, menstruation and menopause vary greatly and thus the behavior of the uterus differs during of these times of a woman’s life.

The amounts of hormones must be very tightly controlled at all times or disease and disability will result. Too much of the sex hormones can cause problems as can too little of the hormones. If any organ that is a part of the feedback loop, such as the ovaries, secretes too little or too many hormones, a woman’s body will respond with certain symptoms. Each one of these hormones can vary in the amount found in the body between women causing a wide variation in types and severity of symptoms. Problems with the amount of hormone in the body can be caused by disease states (such as thyroid disease or adrenal disease) but the most common cause of a change in the amount of hormones is aging.

The aging process causes a decrease in hormone levels in general. For women, decreases in sex hormones, particularly of estrogen and progesterone, occur once the childbearing years have ended and the woman approaches menopause. It is the decrease in sex hormones that causes the symptoms of menopause. The sexual organs and other parts of the body such as the brain and the digestive system may experience many symptoms due to decreased stimulation by the sex hormones. This is why the symptoms of menopause require precisely fine-tuned treatment for optimal resolution of symptoms and restoration of health.