Vitamin Supplements

The variation in hormones levels over the cycle causes far-reaching effects throughout the body. For instance, hormones can affect the way that women’s bodies process drugs. Sometimes women with epilepsy will have a seizure just before or during the first days of their period, something called catamenial epilepsy. This is not just variation in the condition across a cycle as used to be thought, but also a reflection of the fact that many anti-epileptic drugs are metabolized through an enzyme pathway called CYP 3A4. The activity of this system is accelerated by progesterone in the second half of the cycle, so that drugs are cleared more quickly from the body and may be temporarily less effective in preventing fits. Much the same thing happens with the asthma medication methylpredinsolone, which is metabolized differently at different times of the cycle. Many women with asthma may need to alter their medication in line with their cycles. Another example of a drug hormone interaction is the anti-coagulant drug warfarin, which competes for the same blood- binding proteins as oestrogen. This means anti-coagulation may be more marked in the first half of the cycle when oestrogen diminishes warfarin’s ability to bind, so freeing more of it to work.

Women report many other conditions which seem to fluctuate across their cycles, particularly autoimmune diseases, which affect far more women than men. For instance, rheumatoid arthritis and MS symptoms both appear to be worse at the beginning of a period. This is because ovarian hormones modulate autoimmune illness. Hormones are clearly not the whole story here, because those women who have specific hormone problems affecting their ovaries don’t have a higher than normal incidence of these illnesses. Also, while rheumatoid arthritis and MS tend to get better in hormone-awash pregnancy, lupus (another autoimmune disease) gets worse. What’s going on here? Autoimmune diseases occur because the immune system becomes unable to distinguish what is you from what is foreign in you. It then starts attacking you, instead of the foreign invaders it is supposed to deal with. One suggestion — of many — as to why autoimmune diseases are more common in women, is that female sex hormones influence the development of the thymus gland. This is an important site for the production of those bits of the immune system that tell self from non-self.

Whatever the reason for the disparity in autoimmune disease between the sexes, there is definitely a difference between the day- to-day working of men’s and women’s immune systems. Testosterone dampens the immune system and oestrogen boosts it. Viral infections are less severe in women than in men; parasitic infections are more common in male animals than female ones and so on. Variations in oestrogen across the cycle are likely to be the reason why women report a greater rate of infection of cold sores, for example, just before a period.

Something else that is modulated by hormones is pain. Oestrogen influences the size of the ‘field’ of nerves activated in response to a painful stimulus. Oestrogen stimulates release of the body’s own opioid painkillers. Pain is least noticeable, then, when progesterone as an anaesthetic is at its highest level in the second half of your cycle. This may be an important piece of scheduling knowledge if you are set on having a Brazilian. Does it mean that women are more sensitive to pain than men? No. Whatever our cultural beliefs about tough men, there is no variation between the genders, but a huge individual variation both in response to pain and to pain relief. You see this most dramatically after surgery when patients are able to set levels of pain relief for themselves using what are called patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pumps. There is a fourfold variation in the ‘right’ level of pain relief, and there is no correlation with gender, race, age, weight or type of operation.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Menstrual Cycle and Disease, Vital Medication and Hormones levels

• The Hormone of Energy Balance — Adiponectin
• Protein — and the Amazing Amino Acids part 4
• Delicious Minerals Supplements (Calcium and Magnesium)
• Essential Fatty Acids, the Golden Drops continue...
• Amino Acid Procedure - How You Can Take Advantage
• Essential Fatty Acids, the Golden Drops
• Why Carbohydrates Are Necessary
• Your Mineral Essentials Magnesium Manganese & Molybdenum
• Calcium Deficiency Test; Online Vitamin, Mineral and Supplement Guide
• Staying Young, Energetic, and Sexy