Women, Hormones, and Herbs

When female-specific health problems crop up, they’re often a hormonal problem. Hormone imbalances are very common and cause a host of problems like acne and premature aging in women, to more complicated and serious problems such as extreme menstrual pain, and very heavy menstrual blood flows too. Many times hormonal imbalances can actually cause problems such as infertility, or the inability to carry pregnancies to term as well.

It’s a common misconception that women don’t start having hormonal problems until they’re reaching menopause, but this is not always the case. Many women have hormonal problems all throughout their lives. Teen girls, of course, are known to have hormone swings because their bodies are growing and adapting to puberty. However, hormonal problems can continue past the teen years into in young adulthood. In fact, some women have hormonal related problems all throughout their lives without actually knowing it.

Pre menstrual symptoms are so common it has been given a medical term–Pre Menstrual Syndrome (PMS). Other things can be caused by hormone problems as well though. Some problems seem simple on the surface such as allergies, depression and fatigue, but in actuality are caused or contributed to by a hormonal imbalance.

Some women get frequent headaches, become dizzy easily, or can’t think coherently. A worst-case scenario is Endometriosis or frequent urinary tract infections, and uterine fibroids.

For some time, doctors have prescribed synthetic hormones to help women with many of these problems. These prescriptions were more commonly prescribed for women entering menopause, but it’s not uncommon for doctors to prescribe birth control pills for instance, which adjust a woman’s hormone levels in her body, to help relieve very painful or heavy menstruation periods.

Statistics show that in the past two years breast cancer rates have gone down. The decreasing rates coincide with a decrease of the use of synthetic hormones, and some in the medical community theorize that synthetic hormones may have caused breast cancer. While it may be some time before we know for sure, there is hope for women with hormonal imbalance problems. Many herbs and natural remedies can help balance the body’s hormones. Additionally, there are lifestyle changes that can help as well.

Note: Some statements in this article may not be approved by the FDA. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as professional medical advice.