By our medical correspondent
‘What happens to estrogen in menopause ‘at menopause the ovaries decrease the amount of estrogen they make; oculation ‘ceases, and progesterone levels drop markedly. (About half of all women stop menstruating by age 48; by age 52, 85% will have reached menopause), Fat cells and the ‘adrenal glands continue to produce estrogen, but their contribution is small. For ‘many women, the result is one or more ‘unpleasant symptoms of menopause; hot flashes, for instances, or a decline in vaginal lubrication (leading to difficulty in intercourse). Mood swings or depression may also occur, though the influence of hormone deficiencies on emotions is a matter ‘of debate. Some women have none of these symptoms, some find them tolerable or of short duration, and some find them so severe a to require medical advice.
Lack of estrogen may also increase a woman’s risk of heart attack (though of course by no means all postmenopausal women suffer from heart disease). Of greater concern is that all women do experience some loss of bone density at menopause. Particularly in women who have small frames and lower bone density, this ‘may lead to clinical osteoporosis a potentially crippling condition.
Will calcium alone prevent osteoporosis?
Although the way the body builds bone is not fully understood, there’s convincing. evidence that to build and maintain bone you need both estrogen (testosterone in men) and calcium, But other minerals (maganese and boron), as well as vitamin D, are also involved. Bone density in women increases until about age 30 to 35. Even before menopause, however, bones ‘begin to decalcify, and the process accelerates at menopause. Adequate calcium intake before 25 may thus be more important than taking calcium in later years, Nevertheless the experts recommend that post-menopausal women keep their calcium intake high (up to 1,500 milligrams daily, ‘equal to five glasses of milk) and that they rely on low fat milk products and other calcium rich foods, rather than supplements, as their main source of the mineral. (For more detailed information on calcium intake, smoking, and exercise as factors in ‘osteoporosis, see Wellness Letter, March 1987), many studies have shown that estrogben supplements early in menopause slow down menopausal bone loss and postpone clinical osteoporosis.
Does estrogen affect intelligence? It’s well known that women generally exhibit greater verbal and manual dexterity, while men are generally better at spatial perception, model making, and other such tasks, These differences arise in part from differences in the male and female brain, which in turn are influenced from early fetal stages by sex hormones, Psychological studies occasionally break into the headlines with claims that because estrogen levels fluctuate, so does a woman’s intellectual capacity. Indeed, it has been demonstrated that very high estrogen levels can improve verbal and motor performance. In a recent experiment, for example, women with high estrogen levels did better as a group at repeating tongue twisters than those with low levels. Yet a woman with low estrogen levels may nevertheless outperform a man, or a woman with a high estrogen level. Training, experience and motivation are stronger factors than sex hormones. The truth is that the differences between one person and another are more important than those between one gender and another. Brain function is a complex and mysterious subject, and hormones are just one factor that affects it.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 13, 1989
