The Complexity Of Female Hormones
Author: Michelle Bery

If you are born female, you will undoubtedly at one time or
another be accused of being "hormonal." Female hormones are
blamed for everything from irritability to depression, and while
they are certainly prevalent in our lives they hardly control
it. Just as in males, female hormones are present from birth.
But it is during puberty that the female hormones make their
presence known – in a big way!

The two major female hormones – estrogen and progesterone –
conduct the symphony of the processes exclusive to the female
body. With the onset of puberty during adolescence, the ovaries
begin to release eggs during monthly menstruation; they also
begin to release estrogen and subsequent changes begin to occur
in the female body including the development of breasts and hair
growth. The interplay of estrogen and progesterone will continue
to regulate the menstrual cycle of the female body all during
the reproductive years.

Later, when a woman becomes pregnant, the female hormones
support the pregnancy by shifting accordingly. The ovaries are
alerted to a pregnancy by the detection of HCG (Human Chorionic
Gonadotrophin), a new hormone released only during pregnancy –
and the hormone that is detected by home pregnancy tests.
Subsequently, the ovaries begin to produce higher levels of
estrogen and progesterone and continue to produce these levels
until the placenta is able to produce its own hormones to
support the pregnancy – usually around the fourth month of
pregnancy.

In a well-timed choreography that the female body has been
doing since the beginning of time, female hormones shift again
after childbirth. The result is the return of the womb to its
non-pregnant state, as well as the return to normal of the
various body functions that had changed to support pregnancy.
Instead, female hormones now allow the production of breast milk
with which to feed our newborn.

This delicate dance of female hormones continues until
menopause – generally reached anywhere from a woman's
mid-forties to mid-fifties. During menopause the ovaries stop
producing eggs for reproduction and stop producing estrogen –
all resulting in the permanent cessation of the menstrual cycle.


Female hormones are amazing – orchestrating the unique
abilities of a woman's body throughout her lifetime.


About The Author: For easy to understand, in depth information
about female hormones visit our ezGuide 2
http://hormones.ezguide2.com