Excessive levels of estrogen can be dangerous to a woman’s health and, believe it or not, a man’s too! Over and over these days we hear doctors and then the media tell us we need to check our hormone levels.  Most of the time we think we will discover what hormones we are missing, but here’s the great exception:  at The Renewal Point, we are observing an epidemic in men and women who have excess estradiol levels. Estrogen imbalances, while usually considered a female problem, can be responsible for increasing the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer in both sexes.

A current study in the Journal of American Medical Associates (JAMA), found that men with the highest estradiol levels were 133% more likely to die from heart disease. In another recent study, Dr. Morgenthaler, a Harvard urologist, found that men with low testosterone levels and high estrogen levels had a 40% higher rate of prostate cancer than men with normal levels.

“Why?” you wonder…Well, Aging men can develop too much aromatase enzyme. This aromatase enzyme converts testosterone to estrogen.  Aromatase is found to be most prevalent in the skin and fat tissues just under the skin. We find this condition especially in men who use testosterone patches and gels, because these are applied directly to the skin (as opposed to testosterone injections which bypass the skin).

Females in the perimenopausal ages will commonly have high Estradiol and Estrone levels; a condition called Estrogen Dominance, which steals their health by causing weight problems, irritability, sleep disorders, and breast cancer.  We find this condition also in women who are overweight or have PMS or polycystic ovaries.

Excess Estrogen Can Cause:

In Males:
  • Erectile dysfunction
  • Moody/grumpy
  • Over-sensitivity
  • Benign prostatic hypertrophy
  • Breast/hip enlargement
  • Prostate cancer
In Females:
  • Weight gain
  • Irritability
  • Insomnia
  • Breast tenderness
  • Breast cancer
  • Fibrocystic breast
In Both Sexes:
  • Early death
  • Atherosclerosis
  • Cancer
  • Stroke
  • Hypertension
  • Diabetes
  • Heart disease
  • High Cholesterol

At The Renewal Point, we specialize in bio-identical hormone balancing. Simple blood tests can be run to determine estrogen levels and other possible hormonal issues. The good news is that if there are hormonal imbalances, together, we can correct them.

At The Renewal Point, our goal is to help you maintain the highest quality of life for as long as possible, by monitoring safe and effective hormone levels that give you optimal results.

References:

  1. Lord RS, Bongiovanni B, Bralley JA: Estrogen metabolism and the diet-cancer connection: Rationale for assessing the ratio of urinary hydroxylated estrogen metabolites. Altern Med Rev 7:112-129, 2002.
  2. Kabat GC, O’leary ES, Gammon MD, et al: Estrogen metabolism and breast cancer. Epidemiology 17:80-88, 2006.