To me, estrogen is one of, if not, the most interesting hormone within the female body. Given its ability to practically control the livelihood of every single woman on the planet, and its capacity to adapt to almost all circumstances a human being can be put under, it does make me wonder how such an intricate creature can be created. But, unfortunately, no matter how detailed our body is, our environment is damaging it.

Since the Industrial Revolution, we have seen millions of bodily changes across the human race, each highlighting the issues of their own diet, aerobiology, and endocrinological disruptions. For example, correlation studies show that there is a positive relationship between latitude and IBD, depression, melanoma, arthritis and multiple sclerosis. Essentially, this means that the further away from the equator you live, the more likely you are to be diagnosed with these conditions. Now, whether this is due to different symptomatology, environmental conditions, or welfare, is completely up to you to decide, but there is no doubt that this relationship exists.

Taking similar correlations, we can assume that the western society’s women have a deep epidemic with their estrogen levels. For example, symptoms of excess estrogen are easy fat mass formulation, ‘brain fog’, PMS, PCOS, mood disorders, and difficulty sleeping, all of which are almost personified within a reproductive aged American woman.

But, to properly understand why this exists, from a biological standpoint anyway, we need to go back to the very beginning of life.

As many may know, the placenta, a temporary organ that develops in the uterus during pregnancy, is not only a critical factor in the development of the baby’s brain and body, but also in their endocrine system. For example, exposure to high amounts of exogenous estrogen during pregnancy can cause fetal brain damage, and hyperandrogegism, one of the culprits in PCOS proliferation and hypothyroidism. Not only this, but the mother’s diet also has a big effect on such condition curation. For instance, a diet high in unsaturated fats, especially highly estrogenic vegetable oils, can have a huge impact on this vital developmental stage of a child. 

Moving onto early childhood, we seem to have such a deep obsession with cheap, fast-fashion clothing that we cover our babies head-to-toe in them. While it is claimed that clothing made with 100% sustainable materials is morally permissible, we seem to completely disregard the endocrine disrupting chamber it formulates. In other words, recycled clothing, the most common type that people wear, allows PFAS from recycled plastic to enter through their pours, and directly into the bloodstream, binding to hormone receptors and altering production and synthesis.

But it doesn’t stop there. As we age, young women tend to hold negative views on their own self, especially physically, with most claiming they’d like to lose body fat, even if they are within their perfect BMI range. As a result of this, and other constant neurological, nutritional, and emotional stress, their estrogen increases, promoting the production of prolactin and decreasing progesterone, which then leads to decreased metabolism of vital biologically active molecules, such as dopamine, magnesium ATP, DMSO, and vitamin A and E.

Further down the line, women tend to engage with sexual partners without the intention of pregnancy. To stop this consequence from occurring, many engage in a birth control method, with many taking to the birth control pill, which itself is classified as an exogenous estrogen pill. Essentially, this tablet tricks your body into thinking it is pregnant by simulating pregnancy hormones during ovulation and pre-menstruation, resulting in immense levels of estrogen flooding the female body. What’s worse, is that this is not just prescribed as a birth control method, but also as a way to prevent hormonal imbalances like PCOS, zero proper scientific evidence backing this theory exists. In fact, there is more suggesting that it causes more harm to PCOS patients than good, but it is difficult to make money off of solving a condition.

However, it doesn’t stop there. Go even further into our lifetime, and women hit menopause, which is characterised by a hormonal imbalance within a woman’s progesterone production and synthesis. I understand that some women who are currently going through menopause may disagree with me, either because of experience or because their doctors have said otherwise. But the first hormone to decrease during pre-menopause is progesterone. As a result, a woman in unable to go through ovulation and due to most of a woman’s estrogen being produced within the uterus follicles, the inability to ovulate causes estrogen to stop being released. This is one of the reasons that progesterone therapy is so successful for PCOS and infertile women. However, the one thing that should not be done, is to forcefully put estrogen into the body without the ability of progesterone to clean up its mess. Simply put, estrogen stimulates the growth of uterine lining, while progesterone stabilises this effect by shedding the lining. But, if you do not have the ability to shed the lining, you run the risk of hyperplasia and endometrial cancer, and numerous acute side effects.

To give an example, we have a man called John. John loves to gamble all day everyday. Any time there is a football match, he is gambling, while he is at work, he is thinking of gambling and there is always a bet he is looking forward to making. Suddenly, literally overnight, gambling becomes illegal. From our current understanding of addiction, what do we expect to happen to John? We may expect to see mood swings, emotional vulnerability, insomnia, change of habits, and neurochemical changes.

Now, what are the most common symptoms of the menopause? You see where I am heading with this. There is no addiction is history that we would medicate with more of the addiction, apart from estrogen. Now by no means is it a simple as the way I have put it, but the same logic applies. Through constant endocrine disruption and influx of external estrogen, a woman’s body has become addicted to its effects. But, as soon as they go through pre-menopause, their progesterone levels tank almost instantly, indirectly leaving them estrogen-less.

The intricate dance of hormones within our bodies in extremely difficult to navigate. But, estrogen stands out, not just for its biological roles, but for the immense impact it has on our lives from cradle to grave. As we’ve journeyed through the stages of a woman’s life, from fetal development to the challenges of menopause, it’s that this hormone is a challenge in the modern world.

Our environment, lifestyle, and medical malpractice weave a complex web around this molecule, influencing health in ways we still do not fully comprehend. The story of estrogen in women’s lives is not one of simplicity, but of reduction, finding ways to allow our body to conduct its incredible adaptability without too many extraneous variables getting in the way. Moving forward, it becomes paramount to approach women’s hormonal health with an etiological point of view, not a palliative one, as symptomatic treatment is only a bandage on a gunshot.