A
yet another investigative and well researched article that many of our
numerous readers will find very helpful, doctors discuss the effects of
hormonal imbalance.
Illustrative photo
For seven years, Mrs Obioma Nwachukwu has been married without a
child. She suffers irregular menstruation. Often, when she is in her
period, it is with unbearable pain. It is so sharp to the extent that
she sometimes needs drugs for a relief. Recently, her last menstruation
landed her in the hospital .
She said, “The pain was so unbearable that my husband rushed me
to the hospital. I was asked some questions and the answers I gave made
the doctor refer me to the laboratory for hormonal profiling. Before
now, I had no knowledge of what hormones were or what they do and that
they can even affect my health. I learnt that if one’s hormones are not
balanced, it could lead infertility. I am currently undergoing
treatment, I am hoping to take in while on medication, I feel different,
I am positive.
“I dread being on my period, it drains me. When it comes, I am
afraid it may never stop, I bleed and bleed and bleed, I can use one
pack of pad in three days, I soil my bedsheet every night, on many
occasions I have got myself stained and embarrassed because of this, I
don’t sleep much. Its so annoying,” another sufferer, Modupe Akintoye (not real name), lamented.
“I am aware of my condition, my hormones seem to have a mind
of their own. I am on medication, I am hoping that the medication would
work for me, I am honestly very tired, I can’t wait to start living a
normal life.”
These cases and many others out there show the importance of
hormones and how they function in the body. Hormones are special
messengers in the body that are created in the endocrine glands; they
are secreted directly into the blood which carries them to the organs
and tissues of the body to exert their functions.
According to Dr Agumah Nnabuife, a microbiologist at the Ebonyi State University, “hormones
are biochemicals secreted by glands and transported by the circulatory
system to parts of the body where they carry out physiological
functions. They are directly responsible for various forms of behaviours
exerted by multi-cellular organisms.”
There are many types of hormones. They act on various aspects of
our bodily functions and processes. They control simple bodily
functions like hunger, thirst to complex ones like reproduction,
development and growth, metabolism of food items, sexual function,
maintenance of body temperature, cognitive function and even your mood
and emotions.
They are of different types and they play a major role in the
body’s health and wellbeing. The key to managing and protecting our
health is to understand the various roles that they play.
Different glands secrete hormones in the body. They include
pituitary gland, pineal gland, thymus, thyroid, adrenal gland, pancreas,
testes and ovaries. Nnabuife explained that these glands make up the
endocrine gland.
“The pituitary gland is considered as the master control
gland, it controls other glands, secretes the insulin which regulates
the glucose metabolism. It also controls hormones that trigger growth.
The pituitary gland(posterior) secretes oxytocin which is responsible
for the release of breast milk in females, it also secretes prolactin
which is responsible for the production of milk by the mammary gland in
females.
"The pineal gland also called the thalamus is the gland that
secretes serotonin derivatives of melatonin which affects sleep. The
testes which is only found in males is responsible for the testosterone
(development of sexual features in males and libido) and sperm. The
ovary which is only found in the females secretes the estrogen which is
responsible for the formation of female sexual characteristics. The
thyroid gland secretes thyroxine, which increases metabolism.”
Hormones play a very important role in the life of a woman;
virtually everything is blamed on hormones, from loss of hair to bad
skin to change in voice. Hormones affect the mood, fertility, sexual
desire and ovulation in a woman. They are important chemical messengers
that affect the many aspects of our overall health.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, a Cardiothoracic Surgeon said, “hormones are
like musical instruments in an orchestra. Each plays its own part in
creating a prefect concert, until the day one is out of tune and throws
off the entire melody.”
The work hormones do may seem subtle and little, but when it falls
out of balance, the effects it could create may impact negatively on how
a women’s reproductive system functions.
Reasons for hormonal imbalance
Hormonal imbalance is a global concern, naturally, women are more
likely to feel and face the effects of hormonal imbalance as they grow
old, their bodies undergo different changes, they notice some hormonal
changes. These changes present themselves during puberty, on the onset
of menstruation. That is when they are about to start their menstrual
cycle as women, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and even menopause.
During all these stages of their lives, different hormones step in
and take responsible for these changes. The problem begins when these
hormones that are responsible for these changes start to misbehave, then
there is an imbalance somewhere.
There are multiple reasons responsible for imbalance of hormones,
but the most common of them all is the lack of accurate balance between
the progesterone and estrogen level in the body. Any change or variation
in the balance between the progesterone and estrogen can affect a
woman’s health, causing symptoms like depression, extreme weakness, hair
loss, irregular menstrual cycle, abnormal bleeding, menstrual cramps,
weight gain, infertility, anxiety, fatigue, insomnia, low libido,
changes in appetite, digestive issues, PMS symptoms and facial hair
growth.
According to Dr. Chinwe Okafor, “The symptoms could be endless, little wonder women blame all their problems on their hormones.”
Aside from the imbalance between the progesterone and the estrogen,
other causes include poor nutrition, lifestyle, stress, exercise, using
hormone replacement therapy and birth control pills. “The strangest
thing about hormones is that it depends on nutrition, exercise, your
lifestyle, amount of exercise for the hormones to function properly.
"So, invariably the amount of hormones a woman produces may
vary from month to month. She definitely needs to keep herself in a
perfect healthy condition. Birth control pills, drug use, stress,
frequent use of coffee change the proteins in the brain and this not
allow the body to ovulate properly.”
Women of all ages may experience hormonal imbalances during their
premenstrual cycle with symptoms becoming evident in their late 20s and
throughout their 40s.
“Every month, the female body produces the estrogen and the
progesterone, sometimes it could be that the level of estrogen is high
compared to the progesterone, this condition is referred to as estrogen
dominance, other times it could be that the progesterone is high and the
estrogen is low.
"There is another hormone called androgen which is converted to
estrogen, this hormone influences and regulates the functions of most
organs like the kidney, liver,reproductive system and whether it is
imbalanced, that is, high or low can have a drastic effect on a woman’s
health.
“Since most women suffering hormonal imbalance are estrogen
dominant, they find out that their breasts seem bigger, tender or
sometimes hurt. They also battle with irregular periods, painful periods
with large clots of blood present and sometimes, they miss their
periods.
"There may be hair loss also, frequent headache, memory
problems, skin problems, the presence of fibroids, endometriosis, and
growth of cysts, they become angry and suffer mood swings, they may be
depressed too.
“When the level of progesterone is higher than normal, the
symptoms to look out for are excessive sleepiness, vaginal dryness,
scanty bleeding. When the progesterone level becomes low, it could
result to weight gain, water retention, and low blood sugar.
“Hormonal imbalance of androgen could result to lower sex
drive, tiredness and feeling sick, excessive acne, excessive hair growth
on the face and arms, putting on weight around the stomach, thigh and
hips,” Dr Okafor said.
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