Obesity can safely be called one of the most urgent problems of the modern world. The crazy rhythm of life, the indomitable desire to do everything and achieve as much as possible makes people completely forget about such important and simple things as healthy sleep, rest and food.
Quick snacks, the use of fast food and processed foods, as well as a sedentary lifestyle lead to the fact that a huge percentage of the world's population suffers from obesity today. And excess weight, in turn, leads to the development of a whole range of health problems. How do hormone levels change with obesity in the female body – read on estet-portal.com.
Reproductive hormones in obesity: why their concentrations change
Obesity and endocrine disorders are almost inseparable concepts. Obesity is associated with a number of different anomalies in the endocrine balance, but the degree of excess body weight directly affects the severity of endocrine pathology.
The levels of female sex hormones also change with obesity. This condition is associated, first of all, with the increased production of estrogen in the body of a woman. The reproductive function in such patients is not always disturbed, but the risk of developing cardiovascular and metabolic pathologies is significantly increased.
Hormones in obesity:
- reproductive hormones in obesity: androgen concentration;
- how does the concentration of estrogen, the main female hormone, change in obesity;
- why does sex steroid binding globulin decrease in obesity.
Reproductive hormones in obesity: androgen concentration
The change in the concentrations of female reproductive hormones in obesity is called functional hyperandrogenism. When obesity is combined with menstrual irregularities, a significantly increased level of the main androgens in the body of a woman is determined. With obesity, not only the rate of androgen metabolism in the female body increases, but also the rate of their production, which directly correlates with body mass index. The rate of androgen production changes differently with different types of fat distribution in the body: with visceral obesity, testosterone production is significantly higher than with the gynoid type of subcutaneous fat distribution.
How does the concentration of estrogen, the main female hormone, change in obesity
Estrogen, as the most important hormone in a woman's body, also tends to increase in obesity. This condition is associated with an increase in peripheral conversion of androgens. An important role in the development of hyperestrogenism is played by a decrease in the level of sex steroid-binding globulin and a change in estrogen metabolism, which leads to an increase in the concentration of its biologically active fractions.
The ratio of estrone to estradiol in the body of a woman with obesity changes towards the first. It is for this reason that the normal functioning of the feedback mechanism in the body of patients with obesity is disrupted.
Why does sex steroid binding globulin decrease in obesity
Not only the concentration of hormones in the blood during obesity changes in the body of a woman. Sex steroid binding globulin (PSG) – it is a glycoprotein, the concentration of which is inversely proportional to the body weight of a woman: the higher it is, the lower the level of PSSH.
An important role in changes in its concentration is played by the distribution of fat in the body. PSSH in obese women with a central type of fat distribution will be lower than in women with peripheral obesity. PSSH concentration is regulated by a complex of hormones:
- stimulating factors – growth hormone, estrogens and iodothyronines;
- inhibitors – insulin and androgens.
Insulin, which directly inhibits the synthesis of glycoprotein in liver cells, is of key importance in reducing the concentration of PSSH in obesity.
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