Estrogen
What Is The Relationship?
Estrogen is a hormone that is essential for the normal growth and development of the breast and tissues important for reproduction. It is important for childbearing and helps regulate a woman's menstrual cycles. It also helps maintain healthy bones and the heart. However, lifetime exposure to estrogen is also associated with increasing a woman's risk for breast cancer. Understanding how estrogen works in the body may help women to make more informed decisions about their bodies and their health.
What is estrogen?
Estrogen is a hormone that is a chemical messenger in the body. It is important for normal sexual development and is essential for the normal functioning of the female organs needed for childbearing such as the ovaries and uterus. Estrogen helps control a woman's menstrual cycle. It is important for the normal development of the breast. It also helps maintain healthy bones and the heart. All of these are estrogen target tissues-organs or tissues that estrogen can influence. During the childbearing years from puberty to menopause, organs called the ovaries produce estrogen. After menopause, when the ovaries no longer make estrogen, body fat is the primary source for estrogen made by the body.
