Estrogens: Are they safe to take?

Estrogens make a woman feminine. They create the soft contours of a woman’s breasts, hips and pelvis that prepare her for childbirth. Estrogens keep the skin smooth and free of wrinkles. They enhance sexual desire, keep the vaginal membranes moist, increase physical endurance, prevent osteoporosis and promote a happy and enthusiastic mood. However too much estrogen, or too high of an estrogen to progesterone ratio, can cause significant health risks including PMS, heavy menses, severe cramping, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, miscarriages, premature births, and even cancer.

The ovaries produce three different Estrogens: Estrone (E1), Estradiol (E2) and Estriol (E3). The two most concentrated and most potent estrogens are Estrone (E1) and Estradiol (E2). They are the hormones that shape a woman’s body and give a woman her womanly characteristics. They also stimulate cell growth of the uterine lining and breast tissue associated with preparation for pregnancy.
However, because they stimulate cell growth they can also stimulate cancer cell growth if not kept in balance with other hormones. Both Estrone and Estradiol are now classified as carcinogens. Estriol (E3), on the other hand, is known as the “safe estrogen.” It seems to be produced by the body to create balance and to protect a woman from getting cancer. Every woman over age 30 should be testing her hormone levels regularly to make sure her hormones are in balance so she can prevent breast, ovarian and uterine cancer.
You do not want your estrogen levels to be too high and you  do not want them to be too low either. A deficiency of estrogens will cause the thinning of your skin due to a decreased production of collagen, which will lead to wrinkles around the eyes and mouth. With decreased estrogens your breasts will shrink and sag, you’ll lose some of your feminine shape and your vaginal mucous membranes will become thin and dry. A deficiency of estrogens can also cause you to feel tired, irritable and depressed all day long. And last but not least, the declining hormones lead to vasomotor instability that cause the hot flashes, disrupted sleep, irritability and depression ultimately recognized when a woman reaches menopause.

Synthetic Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)

Drug manufacturers have been making synthetic estrogen drugs for more than 50 years to combat these changes. However, in July 2002, researchers at the National Institutes of Health abruptly halted the nation’s largest study on HRT, because the study found that the long-term use of synthetic estrogen and synthetic progesterone drugs increase a women’s risk of breast cancer by 26%, her risk of a heart attack by 29%, her risk of stroke by 41% and her risk of blood clots by 113%. (Source: JAMA. 2002;288:321-333).

Is “Bio-Identical” Hormone Replacement Therapy Safe?

Even “Bio-Identical” Hormone Replacement Therapy that uses Estradiol or Estrone can and does cause cancer if the dose is too high, or if it is not balanced correctly with the appropriate amount of Estriol (E3) and Progesterone. I recommend that women avoid Estrone and Estradiol completely unless her blood levels are less than 2 ng/dl. Women should also check their Estriol and Progesterone levels to make sure they are in optimal balance, which will protect them against cancer, increase their emotional well-being, improve their sleep and build healthy bones.
Estriol(E3) is the “protective estrogen.” It is the key to estrogen balance and breast cancer prevention. Estriol selectively binds to estrogen receptor-beta (ER-beta), which inhibits breast cell proliferation and prevents breast cancer development. (Source: Postgraduate medicine, Vol 121, Issue 1, January 2009; Endocrinology. 2006 Sep;147(9):4132-50. Epub 2006 May 25.) Estrone (E1), on the other hand, stimulates estrogen receptor-alpha (ER-alpha), which activates breast cell proliferation and induces cancers.
Likewise, when Estradiol (E2) is too high and out of balance, it increases a woman’s risk of cancer by activating a protein known as bcl-2, which promotes cancer cell growth and decreases Tumor Suppressor Protein (known as p53), which is one of the body’s primary cancer prevention mechanisms. (Source: Ann Clin Lab Sci. 1998 Nov-Dec;28(6):360-9; Int J Cancer. 2003 Jul 10;105(5):607-12)
Progesterone is essential in order to offset the potential risks that would otherwise be caused by Estradiol and Estrone. It blocks the overproduction of these hormones and specifically counteracts Estradiol to restore the balance by doing the exact opposite of Estradiol. Progesterone decreases bcl-2 and increases Tumor Suppressor Protein (p53), which activates DNA repair and initiates programmed cell death (apoptosis) when DNA damage is irreparable.
Estriol (E3) produces a 30% reduced risk of breast cancer; Estradiol (E2) causes a 10% increased risk of breast cancer. (Source: Fournier et al, “Breast cancer risk in relation to different types of hormone replacement therapy in the E3N-EPIC cohort,” Int J Cancer 2005 Apr 10;114(3):448-54.)
What’s more, synthetic estrogens and progestins, such as Premarin, Estrace, Beta-Estradiol and PremPro, etc, cause even more damage because they amplify the adverse hormonal imbalance.
In February, 2009, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that women who take synthetic estrogen-progestin combination hormone therapy for more than five years suffer a doubling of their risk of getting breast cancer and worse yet, the risk doubles again every additional twelve months they continue to take the drugs. (N Engl J Med. 2009 Feb 5;360(6):573-87)

Dr. Hansen’s Rx:

Test your hormone levels. Take Estriol NOT Estradiol or Estrone unless an accurate blood test shows that your Estradiol andEstrone are below 2.0 ng/dl.
Ideally, your body should have 8-10 times more Estriol(E3) than Estradiol(E2) and 100 times more Progesterone than Estradiol (E2). To protect against cancer nature designed the body to produce all 3 estrogens for a very good reason. This third estrogen, Estriol (E3), has been shown to be protective against cancer. A woman’s Estriol level (along with Progesterone) goes way up when she gets pregnant and stays up while she is breast feeding. High levels of this safe estrogen protect a woman from the harmful effects of the other two estrogens during these periods. This is the reason women who have more children and who breast feed longer have a lower incidence of breast cancer.
Estriol has also been shown to prevent the excessive build up of uterine lining that is associated with uterine cancer. In fact, research indicates that low levels of Estriol (E3) place you at an increased risk for developing cancer. You need to check all of your Estrogen levels periodically to make sure that they are in a healthy balance approximately equal to a ratio of at least 8-10 times more Estriol than Estrone and Estradiol.