By Reina Bayoud | Staff Writer
For the longest time, women’s moodiness and behaviors have been judged by society, with people normalizing sayings such as “her hormones must be all over the place!”, and “is it that time of the month?”. However, people fail to understand that women’s hormones play a much bigger role than just affecting a woman’s mood. Hormones are produced by endocrine glands, which are special organs that produce various kinds of hormones, to regulate various body functions including growth and development, metabolism, and sexual functions and fertility, among other functions. However, the disruption of balance of hormones may have a drastic effect on women’s bodies, such as irritability and anxiety, blurred vision, and tachycardia, or high heart rate.
So, what are the most important hormones we should be aware of?
- Estrogen
This well-known hormone is commonly mistaken as a “female hormone”, but it is actually present in men as well. In females, estrogen mainly regulates the menstrual cycle and is responsible for the maintenance of pregnancies. Not only that, but it also plays an important role in maintaining bone strength for both men and women!
- Progesterone
This hormone also plays a crucial role in the menstrual cycle and pregnancy. Before menstruation, immediately after ovulation, progesterone levels spike. This spike in progesterone prepares the body for pregnancy, creating a suitable environment for the possible embryo to implant itself in the uterus. If pregnancy does not take place, progesterone levels drop, resulting in menstruation, during which the uterus sheds its lining that was previously prepared by progesterone.
- T3 and T4
Triiodothyronine and thyroxine, respectively, are hormones released by the thyroid gland found in the throat. These hormones regulate metabolism, determining how the body will spend its energy.They also play a role in skin, hair and nail growth, as well as internal body temperature. These functions are especially important in women, where T3 and T4 cooperate with the other hormones in order to stimulate uterine growth before menstruation, in addition to placental and ovarian growth and maturation.
- Follicle Stimulating Hormone
FSH is another hormone that is found in men and women but is mostly studied in women. FSH is a critical hormone in the body as it is one of the dictating factors of infertility. This hormone regulates the menstrual cycle and egg production in the ovaries. A decline in FSH levels means that there is a poor ovarian function, hence irregularities in egg production.
- Cortisol
This hormone is the main culprit behind the “moody and stressed out” mood associated with periods. When women are stressed out, cortisol levels increase, which makes their bodies even more stressed out. Heart rate and blood pressure increase, which makes the woman more irritated. Moreover, cortisol and estrogen have a complex relationship, leading to an even more complex relationship between periods and stress.
This article just scratches the surface of how hormones function. There is significant crosstalk between them, making this intricate network inside our bodies susceptible to external factors. In women especially, hormones play an essential role in major aspects of their bodies and significantly affect their mood. Therefore, next time a woman is irritated, insecure, or not feeling well, keep in mind that hormones in her body are in a very delicate balance that is regulated by her body, and any imbalance in this system is not her fault.