All hormones cooperate in the health and well-being of a woman’s life, her body and also the state of her skin and hair. An assumption from which we started to better understand the often unknown protagonists of our destinies, our days and our moods. To deepen the interconnection between the hormones that influence our lives, we consulted the professor Rossella Button, gynecologist at the University of Pavia – Policlinico San Matteo.
“Only if they are in balance everything works at its best”, said the expert who allowed us to put the three friends (or sometimes enemies) of women under the lens, estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, the main hormones that affect the female body and its changes.
«Estrogen are the hormones of female reproduction, together with progesterone and androgens, all have ubiquitous effects, that is, they act on every part and function of the body. Progesterone affects muscles, nerves and circulation, estrogen affects all systems. If progesterone is the hormone of calm, estrogens are the hormones of female energy, which give inner strength, which allow us to fertility, motherhood and reproduction. When the follicle ovulates it produces the maximum amount of estrogen which works with progesterone, both of which prepare the uterus to accommodate pregnancy. Estrogen is also very important from an aesthetic point of view, causing all tissues to function well, stimulate the uterus for menstruation, the breast for lactation and the organs of reproduction in general. They are responsible for the brightness of the skin, the regularization of sebum production, the skin’s ability to retain water. Estrogens also regulate the strength of bones, so in menopause, when they are deficient, we need calcium, which we can take with our diet or through water.
«The progesterone it is a hormone produced in the fertile age of the woman by the follicle after ovulation in the so-called luteal phase, the one that precedes the cleavage of the corpus luteum when menstruation arrives. It is present in the body fourteen days a month, after ovulation, and is also the pregnancy hormone produced throughout gestation to protect it. It is a magical hormone. Essentially it plays a calming role, which has the function of relaxing all muscles, especially the muscles of the uterus and blood vessels, also helps nerve conduction and relaxes the brain. It is a real anti-stress, its presence or absence is reflected in the psychophysical balance of the woman. The other important function of progesterone is that it has a calorigenic effect, it generates heat. For this reason, when progesterone is present, in the second half of the cycle, the body temperature rises by half a degree, this is the proof that there has been ovulation. In women who do not have a regular cycle and after 40 years, being produced in an insufficient quantity, it may happen that we start to gain weight, because with less progesterone we burn fewer calories and also our basal metabolism, which is the one necessary to carry out the vital functions at rest, such as breathing, are less efficient. The phenomenon is much more frequent after the age of 40, due to the progesterone deficiency: fewer calories are burned and the more one goes on in the years the more the woman tends to have problems with the scale. Rebalancing progesterone production helps improve fitness. After the age of 50, then even estrogen decreases, fat begins to accumulate in the waistline and there is the so-called apple fat, the result of the decrease in progesterone and estrogen ».
“Male hormones, androgens, the main one being testosterone, in turn, play an important role in this balance. They allow us to have assertive strength within us and help us take initiative. Women usually have a receptive, welcoming nature, so a small dose, no more than a tenth of the testosterone that males have, is needed for our being a woman, to give us more strength, the one that favors sexuality. Androgens also affect muscle energy and regulate desire for the partner. Also from an aesthetic point of view, a small testosterone imbalance – when it exceeds one nanogram per ml – generates effects that are seen on the skin. This is why it is important to keep them at bay just as it is important to keep in shape the level of estrogens that counteract the male hormones. If androgens are higher, some pathologies can occur, for example polycystic ovary syndrome. It is a disease that affects women of childbearing age with an excess of male hormone and which, among other consequences, stimulates the appearance of pimples or can be the cause of brittle hair falling out ».
IF THE BALANCE IS MISSING
«In women who suffer from hormonal changes during their adult life or in menopause, unpleasant effects can be generated on the skin and hair, as well as on the rest of the body. Progesterone, which acts mainly on muscles and circulation, affects the production of sebum, and when it has irregular levels it can cause oily skin, premenstrual acne can worsen, up to inflammation and redness. Hair can also be affected by becoming duller, less luminous and even more greasy than usual, a phenomenon that in some cases degenerates into hyperseborrhea. In the transition stages of a woman, for example after the age of 40, when progesterone is not so efficient at counteracting the effects of estrogen, the skin tends to become more mixed, in some areas it is drier in others oily. It no longer renews itself in the classic 28 days, those of cell turnover, and its regeneration capacity slows down. This is why after 40 there is a more generalized effect of skin aging. With the onset of menopause over 50, then, not only the levels of female hormones change, that is progesterone and estrogen, but also those of men who sometimes take over. In this case the skin becomes even more oily and less shiny, while if they decrease they are the cause of dry and arid skin ».
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