In our body, there are a group of glands called the endocrine system. This system is in charge of releasing hormones, the chemical messenger of our body into the blood stream.
There are around 10 types of glands within the endocrine system, including the thyroid, adrenal and pituitary glands. Each of these glands releases specific hormones to assist with bodily process – sexual function, reproduction, sleep and mood to name a few.
Testosterone is a hormone known as an androgen, is a type of male hormone, is specifically produced by the adrenal gland. It is responsible for the development of male sexual characteristics. Although it is a male hormone, woman also have circulating testosterone inside the bodies too. Women produce testosterone in several location in the body, ovaries, adrenal glands, peripheral tissues. Within a normal levels, testosterone does not pose any serious issues. Imbalances of either too much or too little testosterone can affect a man or a woman’s overall health and skin. Too much testosterone can affect on sebaceous glands which cause them to produce excessive sebum, causes the skin to breakout, oily, bum and hair loss. High testosterone does not only affect the skin, it also affect the body and brain works. It has been shown that high level of testosterone had more dramatic reaction, aggression, sleep disruption, frequent mood changes and change in weight.
To understand how can his hormone affect the skin condition, we need to grasp what actually occurring in the skin trigger this excess sebum. In men, testosterone is secreted by the male sexual organs and in women, it originates from the ovaries and adrenal glands. In both sexes, testosterone is secreted into the blood and enters into the sebaceous gland, where the enzyme 5-alpha reductase converts the testosterone into di-hydro testosterone (DHT), this stimulates sebum formation in the sebaceous glands.
Because 5-alpha reductase is sensitive to hormone levels, it become overactive, causing an excess production of sebum when testosterone levels escalate. When sebaceous glands become overactive (sebaceous hyperplasia) and the sebaceous glands will become enlarge due to the sebum trapped inside the gland, causing it to swell and form a bump under the skin. Usually this are the thicker sebum where the thin sebum will move to the surface to protect the skin.
However, recent studies have shown that hormone level above are not solely responsible for sebum production. We know that 5-alpha reductase may increase its sensitivity to testosterone , triggering excess sebum production even when lower levels of the hormone are present unfortunately, the cause of this is unknown.
Women tend to be more sensitive to the increase and decrease in hormone and the skin may react more severely. There are also other factors that come into play such as genes and body unique chemistry.
Testosterone production in women is often age dependant. By the time a woman is 40 years old, her levels of androgens have decreased by half. According to Boston University School of Medicine in 2002, if woman’s plasma total testosterone level is less then 25ng/dL under 50 years old is low. Testosterone level is lower than 20ng/dL in woman aged 50 and older are considered low.
Women have 3 major sex hormones. The primary focus on woman’s hormone health and imbalances have always been on the two “female” hormones. Estrogen and Progesterone. Testosterone is often ignored or overlooked, and female low testosterone is often misdiagnosed. A testosterone level that is too low can also cause problem to health and skin, with low testosterone, skin can become dry and those with skin condition such as psoriasis get worse and could also worsen other chronic skin condition as well as skin thinning. Low testosterone effects the body by memory changes, cardiac, depression, fatigue, changes in bone density, loss of muscle mass, low libido, hair loss or thinning, anxiety, decreased interest in sex, and weight gains. Because the ovaries are a major producer of testosterone, the decrease in hormones produced by the ovaries associated with menopause means that pre and post menopause women may experience low testosterone levels. Decrease in libido have been attributed to post menopause drops in Estrogen.
Treatment for low testosterone in women have not been largely studied by medical experts.
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