Female Hormones: What do they do for me?
Your body produces two prominent hormones: estrogen and progesterone. Both hormones are manufactured in your ovaries and play important roles in a your reproductive system.
Estrogen is the hormone responsible for the healthy development of your female sexual characteristics such as your breasts, vagina, your menstrual cycle, body shape, and hair growth under the arms and around the pubic region. It also regulates the release of the ovarian eggs and works with progesterone to stop the ovulation cycle during when you get pregnant. Particularly for women, this hormone is necessary in the proper development of the bone and the metabolic processes.
Progesterone, on the other hand is the other hormone that regulates your menstruation. It supports pregnancy and tempers the highly stimulatory effects of estrogen. Progesterone also helps in the development of the embryo produced by your ovaries by providing a source of corticosteroids.
Progesterone improves your bone density and has beneficial influence on your cardiovascular system and cholesterol. Progesterone also increases the metabolic rate of your digestive system. It has anti-inflammatory actions and regulates the your body’s immune response.
These two hormones, along with testosterone and DHEA work together to maintain your health. Along with the unisex follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), all of these hormones play specific functions in your reproductive system.
Testosterone
Another hormone produced by your ovaries is testosterone. Although not considered a female hormone, the your body manufactures this hormone in small amounts to work with both progesterone and estrogen in regulating your
testosterone performs other vitally important functions for a woman.
reproductive system.
Normally, testosterone is the hormone associated with males and it is considered the most potent among the male hormones. In the female body, however, this hormone plays a major role in reproduction. For one it is the steroid hormone that influences a woman’s sex drive. Testosterone levels in women are at their highest when the woman reaches the age of 20. This is also considered the best biological age for a woman to get pregnant since women in this age group have the best chance of healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery.
However, testosterone performs other vitally important functions for a woman.
The androgen deficient (low testosterone) female was defined as having:
Diminished sense of well-being;
gloomy moods;
reduced motivation;
persistent and unexplained fatigue;
sexual changes (including reduced libido, receptivity and pleasure);
potential bone loss;
sleep distrubances;
body shape changes (wider hips and waist);
decreased muscle strength and
changes in memory and brain function.
There are volumes of medical literature demonstrating that women with surgically-induced menopause, caused by hysterectomy, who suffer from low sexual desire respond positively to treatment with testosterone.
Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) is the medical term given to women who experience loss of sexual desire, lack of arousal and low libido.
A study published in 1999 in the USA found that 43% of women aged between 18 and 59 years of age experienced some degree of sexual dysfunction. Of these women 22% considered their loss of libido to be their most significant symptom affecting their lives. This loss can have significant psychological ramifications and can adversely affect social and personal relationships.
Click here to read about the symptoms of low testosterone in women
