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Natural estrogen supplements

Hormones are glandular chemical secretions generally formed by an organ or part of the body and carried in the bloodstream to another organ or part of the body to stimulate or retard a specific physiological activity or process. Steroidal hormones are a distinctive type of hormone which encompasses a large group of chemical compounds that are widely distributed throughout the body and involved in many important structural and functional physiological roles. Estrogens are a group of female hormones essential for the reproductive process and for the development of the uterus, breasts, and other physical changes associated with puberty. Estrogens have an effect on various tissues throughout a woman's body, not only those involved in the reproductive process, such as the uterus, breasts, and external genitalia, but also tissues in the central nervous system, bones, the liver, skin, and the urinary tract. The ovaries produce most of the estrogens in a woman's body. Estrogens include any of various natural or synthetic substances possessing the biological activity of estrus-producing hormones. Typically formed in the ovary, placenta, testis, adrenal cortex and by some plants, estrogens are generally responsible for stimulating the development and maintenance of the female secondary sex characteristics. Menopause is defined as the permanent cessation of menses due to loss of ovarian follicular function and the near complete termination of estrogen production. The midlife transition of menopause is characterized by a decrease in estrogen that provokes both short-term and long-term symptoms with the vasomotor, urogenital, cardiovascular, skeletal and centra nervous systems. Decreased production of estrogen, whether from normal onset of menopause or surgically induced menopause through the removal of the ovaries, is also associated with impaired cognitive function, particularly memory and attention loss, and neurodegeneration. Thus, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or specifically estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) is used to treat women with estrogen deficiency to alleviate the deleterious physical and physiological symptoms associated with menopause. HRT is considered a medical therapy for prolonging the average life span of postmenopausal women and providing a better quality of life. Naturally estrogens have broad therapeutic utility, including: relief of menopausal symptoms, treatment of acne, treatment of dysmenorrhea and dysfunctional uterine bleeding, treatment of osteoporosis, treatment of hirsutism, treatment of prostatic cancer, treatment of hot flashes and prevention of cardiovascular disease. Natural estrogens (estradiol, estrone, estrone sulfate, esters of estradiol, estriol) are bio-available to only a very small extent when administered orally. This proportion is individually variable, such that general dose recommendations are not possible. The estrogen dose in the HRT must very often be matched individually. The quick elimination of substances from the blood is also problematical in nature.

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