Hormones
We can define Hormones as chemical messages that are spread directly into our blood and are produced by our endocrine glands.
These hormones help our body regulate its functions like hunger, growth, sleep, and many others. For example, our growth hormones help our body regulate its growth and development. Our sex hormones are vital for sexual development.
Let us study the Sex Hormones for both genders in detail.
Sex Hormones
Sex Hormones are essential in the reproduction and sexual development of an organism.
Our adrenal glands and gonads primarily create these hormones in our bodies. The sex hormones play a big part in our:
Reproduction and sexual development
Puberty
Inflammatory responses
Promoting hair growth
Regulating cholesterol levels
Body fat distribution
Sex Hormones in our body change and fluctuate based on different factors happening in our body at the same time. These different factors that affect our sex hormone levels are:
Age
Menstruation
Menopause
Menstruation
Stress
Medications
Common functions performed by Sex Hormones for both the sexes:
Development of secondary characteristics in human beings
Reaching Puberty
Promoting Hair Growth
Body Fat and Muscle Mass Distribution
Cholesterol Level Regulation
Female Sex Hormones
In women, sex hormones originate from two different areas in their bodies, the Ovaries and Adrenal Glands.
These hormones are vital for several essential functions in a woman's body.
Estrogen (scientifically known as Oestrogen) and Progesterone are the two main female hormones. Besides this, a minimal amount of Testosterone is also secreted in a woman's body.
When combined with estrogen, testosterone helps in the growth and repair of the female reproductive tissues. Before going to the topic of female hormones and their functions, let’s enumerate the types of hormones in females.
Estrogen: Estrogen is the primary sex hormone in women. It is responsible for the functioning of the female reproductive system and creating secondary characteristics in women.
There are three types of estrogen: estradiol, estrone, and estriol.
These are the secondary characteristics in women that Estrogen helps in developing:
Growth of Ovaries: It is responsible for the growth of egg follicles and regulating menstrual cycles.
Repairing and Maintaining the Vagina: It maintains the thickness of the vaginal wall and the lubrication of the vagina.
Developing and Maintaining the Uterus: It develops and maintains the mucous membrane lining of the uterus and regulates the flow of the mucous secretions in the uterus.
Developing Physical Characteristics: It is also responsible for developing characteristics like hips, breasts, and pubic hair.
Progesterone: Progesterone is the hormone secreted by an endocrine gland named corpus luteum. It is responsible for the preparation of the endometrium during pregnancy.
This hormone makes a woman's uterus lining thick or contracted based on if it wants to accept the fertilized egg or not. This helps the body and prepares it for pregnancy.
Keeping this in mind, these are the functions performed by Progesterone:
This hormone is responsible for creating endometrium during pregnancy.
Thickens the uterus lining to accept the egg.
Contracts the muscles to reject the egg.
What Does Low Estrogen Cause?
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Low Estrogen Levels can cause various symptoms in a woman’s body. These symptoms are:
Increased urinary tract infections (UTIs), caused due to thin uterus lining
Irregular periods (amenorrhea)
Mood swings
Breast tenderness
Insomnia
Fatigue/headaches/depression/lack of focus, etc.
What causes estrogen to increase- hormonal contraceptives, medicines, phenothiazines, etc.
Male Sex Hormone
Testosterone is the main hormone in males and is responsible for the development of secondary characteristics and reproductive tissues in men.
These are the functions performed by Testosterone:
Development of secondary characteristics in men: Testosterone is the hormone responsible for the development of secondary sexual characteristics in males.
Regulating the sperm count: Besides being the hormone responsible for the development of secondary sexual characteristics in males, testosterone also regulates the sperm count.
Testosterone also creates a sex drive in men: As we males reach puberty, they start developing a longing for sex, which also a function of testosterone.
Muscle Cells and Distribution: As testosterone increases, muscles also begin to develop.
RBC Production: It regulates the production of Red Blood Cells.
Fun Facts
“Women aren’t actually “hormonal” during periods”. Due to the secretion of other hormones when the egg is waiting to be fertilized and then a sudden drop, periods are actually the time when women are lowest in their hormones.
FAQs on Sex Hormones and Reproductive Functions
What are Sex Hormones?
Hormones that are secreted by ovaries in women and testis in men are known as Sex Hormones. In men, the primary sex hormone is testosterone, and in women, there is a primary sex hormone called estrogen (also called oestrogen) and one other important hormone called Progesterone.
These hormones are essential for different functions that happen in the human body including the development of male and female secondary sexual characteristics. These characteristics range from increased muscles and bone mass and growth of body hair to development of breast, maturation of endometrium and regulation of the menstrual cycle.
What characteristics are developed in men and women due to their Sex Hormones?
Sex Hormones are secreted in human beings for performing vital functions related to sexual growth and maintenance in their bodies.
There are common functions that sex hormones have, but let us talk about these hormones and their roles for the two different sexes separately.
In men, sex hormones play a huge role in the production of sperm, and secondary characteristics like facial hair, pubic hair, phallus length and muscular growth.
In women, sex hormones are responsible for ovum production and ovulation for fertility, and the development of secondary characteristics like breast development, and pubic axillary hair growth.
What is the difference between Estrogen and Progesterone?
The differences between Estrogen and Progesterone are:
Estrogen is a female hormone secreted by ovaries before ovulation and Progesterone is a female hormone secreted by ovaries after ovulation.
Estrogen has a minor part to play during pregnancy by enlarging the breaths and the uterus. Progesterone thickens or contracts the uterus lining to accept or reject the egg and plays an important part in the pregnancy.
Grafian Follicles produce Estrogen, Corpus Luteum produces Progesterone.
Apart from these differences, an important thing to note is that a combination of both estrogen and progesterone is vital for a healthy menstruation cycle and pregnancy.
How do Sex Hormones initiate reproductive function?
Sexual hormones, just like all the other hormones in the body, are released according to the need of how much in quantity they are needed by it. These hormones are released directly into the blood.
Each hormone is targeted to be secreted and functioned for a particular organ, this tells us about the highly specific nature of all the hormones in our body, this includes sexual hormones too.
Thus, hormones perform their specific functions and cause reproductive changes and secondary characteristic developments.
