It usually happens around age 51. With menopause, your estrogen levels drop and you no longer ovulate. The decrease in estrogen may lead to symptoms like vaginal dryness, mood changes, night sweats and hot flashes. The primary estrogen in your body changes from estradiol (E2) to estrone (E1) during menopause.
Estrogen levels peak in the mid- to late 20s in women and then decline by 50% by 50 years of age and dramatically decrease further after menopause.
Aging is associated with a loss of sex hormones (androgens and estrogens), which in turn may be responsible for triggering muscle loss, muscle weakness, decreased functional performance, and decreased life span.
Hormonal changes
Estrogen - the hormone that controls a woman's monthly cycle - begins to drop around the milestone and then takes another nosedive at 35. This can cause weight gain and lower libido than you're used to. You may even enter early perimenopause, which can result in mood swings and anxiety.
WOMEN reach their peak happiness when they are 34 years old. At that age, they are most likely to feel content and confident, having achieved several of life's landmarks including creating a career, buying a home and having a permanent relationship.
A Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center study involving postmenopausal, overweight, and obese women who took 2,000 IUs of vitamin D daily for a year found that those whose vitamin D blood levels increased the most had the greatest reductions in blood estrogens, which are a known risk factor for breast cancer.
Causes of Low Estrogen Levels
Excessive exercise. Thyroid conditions. Pituitary gland dysfunction. Anorexia, bulimia, or other eating disorders.
Estrogen levels rise during the mid-follicular phase and then drop precipitously after ovulation. This is followed by a secondary rise in estrogen levels during the mid-luteal phase with a decrease at the end of the menstrual cycle.
For Caucasian women, it's typically around the late 30s. "This is when fine lines on the forehead and around the eyes, less-elastic skin, and brown spots and broken capillaries from accumulated sun damage crop up," says Yagoda. If you're a woman of color, the tipping point is more likely in your 40s.
Levels peak in a woman's 20s and decline slowly thereafter. By menopause, level is at half of its peak.
The International Menopause Society guidelines recommend that if menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) is prescribed, it be commenced before the age of 60, or within 10 years of menopause.
Estrogen affects the hypothalamus, which regulates body temperature. Low estrogen causes hot flashes and night sweats, two annoying symptoms of menopause and perimenopause.
Your body needs estrogen for your reproductive, cardiovascular and bone health. Too much estrogen, though, can cause irregular periods and may worsen conditions that affect your reproductive health. Your provider can help diagnose what's causing your high estrogen levels and recommend treatments that can help.
Too little estrogen can lead to a low sex drive. Too much of it can cause infertility and erectile dysfunction. Excessive estrogen can cause gynecomastia, or enlarged breasts.
Estrogen imbalance: Vitamin D deficiency may lead to lowered estrogen levels, which can cause depression, hot flashes, mood swings and more. Impaired immune system: Vitamin D deficiency may lead to an impaired immune system, putting women at an increased risk of infection and illness.
Menopause before the age of 40 is called premature menopause. A spontaneous (natural) early menopause affects approximately 5% of the population before the age of 45. Premature menopause, or premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), is defined as being menopause that happens before the age of 40.
Once we hit age 35 to 40, hormonal balance becomes elusive as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol, thyroid, insulin, and leptin may become out of whack. It's gradual for some and dramatic for others. But perimenopause and menopause need not be a tortuous slog through hormonal hell.