The Facts About Female Hormones

激素是由您的内分泌系统产生的专门化学物质，可帮助控制身体的每个功能，包括生长，代谢和繁殖。

In women, female hormones are key components of reproduction,性和整体健康和幸福。

由于女性荷尔蒙在女性的身体中扮演着如此重要的角色，因此女性有时会感觉好像她们的荷尔蒙正在控制它们。

But if you have a good understanding of the role female hormones play, you will be better equipped to recognize abnormal hormonal imbalances and deal with the natural decline in female hormones that occurs with age.

Here’s a quick rundown — your ovaries, the organs that release an egg during ovulation, produce female hormones; the two main hormones are estrogen and progesterone.

The levels of both estrogen and progesterone drop off pretty dramatically after a woman stops ovulating at menopause, but the decline in estrogen is what’s responsible for most classic更年期症状。

Estrogen: The Hormone Behind Your Period

Estrogen is the female hormone that fluctuates over the course of a woman’s menstrual cycle. A gradual rise in the level of estrogen in the first two weeks of the menstrual cycle — called the follicular phase of the cycle — is what causes women to build up a uterine lining each month in preparation for pregnancy, and a drop in estrogen (and progesterone) is what causes women to have a menstrual period each month.

Estrogen is also an important factor in maintaining women's bone and cardiovascular health.

女孩开始在青春期产生雌激素，雌激素的产量随着女性的年龄而下降，直到她做得不足以使子宫衬里增厚并具有月经期。除了月经结束，有些迹象很低雌激素水平are hot flashes andvaginal dryness。

一些妇女在更年期或雌激素下降的另一个原因（例如手术去除卵巢）时，接受雌激素替代疗法（HRT）。HRT可以减少雌激素水平较低的症状，并有助于女性与年龄相关的骨质流失缓慢，但是与患有HRT相关的健康风险，例如增加癌症的风险。向您的医生询问HRT在特定情况下的风险和好处。

孕激素：怀孕至关重要

During a woman's childbearing years, progesterone levels rise during the second half of her menstrual cycle, after the monthly egg is released from her ovary. If she becomes pregnant, the progesterone level continues to rise, and helps keep the uterine lining thick for the developing baby. If she does not become pregnant,孕酮水平fall, signaling the body to shed the uterine lining during menstruation.

If you have not had your uterus surgically removed (子宫切除术），您有HRT，您的医生可能会建议您除了雌激素外服用孕激素，以防止子宫内衬太厚，以降低子宫内膜癌的风险。

孕酮虽然对繁殖至关重要，但有时在月经期之前的最后两周为女性产生烦人的症状。这些症状包括bloating, breast tenderness, and粉刺。有时，身体症状和情绪变化的结合在月经前一周定期发生；这通常称为经前综合症，或PMS。PMScan often be managed by lifestyle changes — like exercising and eating a healthy diet — and over-the-counter medications, such as Motrin, Advil, or Midol Cramp (ibuprofen) and Aleve (萘普生）。

睾丸激素：不仅适合男人

另一种激素，睾丸激素，女性的生产量很低，但通常被认为是雄性激素。睾丸激素水平升高可能会引起病毒性症状 - 这意味着可能发生某些男性身体特征，例如异常，男性头发生长模式。

If your睾丸激素水平异常高，可能是健康状况的标志：

• Polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS)
• 卵巢肿瘤
• 肾上腺上的肿瘤
• Congenital adrenocortical hyperplasia

太少的睾丸激素也会引起症状。有证据表明，老年妇女和已去除卵巢的妇女的睾丸激素水平下降可能与性欲下降有关。一项研究表明，接受睾丸激素疗法的女性性功能改善了性功能，但关于其安全性和有效性仍然存在一些疑问。

您是HCG阳性吗？

The hormone known as人绒毛膜促性腺激素, or hCG, is produced by the placenta of pregnant women. In fact, hCG is the hormone that is detected by a怀孕测试确认怀孕。在怀孕初期，HCG有助于维持黄体，这是卵巢释放后产生孕激素的一部分。HCG的水平增加直到妇女怀孕约10周，然后在整个怀孕的其余部分中慢慢下降。HCG通常仅由孕妇产生，但也可能是由具有某些健康状况的人（例如生殖细胞肿瘤和滋养细胞疾病）产生的，这种疾病是一种罕见的疾病，其中肿瘤在细胞中生长，否则会在胎盘中生长。

If you have concerns about your hormone levels, talk with your doctor. In some cases, your doctor may recommend a simpleblood testto determine if your hormones are out of whack. Or she may refer you to an endocrinologist, a doctor who specializes in diagnosing and managing disorders that involve your hormones.