Hormones: Estrogens & Oxytocin
Natural Function of Female Sex Hormones, Information on Anatomy, Pregnancy, Child Birth, Breast Feeding, Orgasm, Bonding, Love

Hello. Thanks for visiting our evolutionary philosophy of human sexuality pages. We are currently researching good quality sites relating to our biological and cultural sexual evolution - as a way of collecting and presenting the most important / latest knowledge and research.

Below you will find summaries of articles & websites on Human Sex Hormones: Estrogen & Oxytocin, i.e. latest research on evolution, human biology & anatomy, the function & stimulation of human sex hormones, information on oxytocin 'the love drug', estrogens & testosterone, pregnancy, child birth, breast feeding, orgasm, bonding, love etc.
Compared with other search terms, 'hormone' gets relatively few searches ('testosterone' is the most popular hormone).

The top ten related searches for hormone are;
hormone (300), human growth hormone (519), bioidentical hormones (350), hormones (285), hormone replacement therapy (206), growth hormone (280), hormone imbalance (110), hormone therapy (100), teenage boys hormones (85), male to female hormones (82)

We hope you find the following Human Sex Hormones: Estrogen & Oxytocin articles & websites interesting, informative and useful.
Karene

Female Hormones: Estrogens

From the website: "The definition of a hormone is a chemical substance produced by an endocrine gland that has a specific effect on the activities of other organs in the body. The major female hormones are classified as estrogens. Female hormones, estrogens, are also present in both sexes, but in larger amounts for women.

Estrogens are the sex hormones produced primarily by a female's ovaries that stimulate the growth of a girl's sex organs, as well as her breasts and pubic hair, known as secondary sex characteristics. Estrogens also regulate the functioning of the menstrual cycle. ... Estrogens are important in maintaining the condition of the vaginal lining and its elasticity, and in producing vaginal lubrication. They also help preserve the texture and function of a woman's breasts.

.. Aging, illness and certain cancer treatments can affect our bodies' delicate hormonal balance, causing changes in sexual interest and functioning. Familiar to most are the changes that occur when a woman goes through menopause. Estrogen production drops throughout this process as a woman exits her child-bearing years.

The major sexual impact of decreased estrogen is a shrinking of the vagina and thinning of the vaginal walls, along with a loss of elasticity and decreased vaginal lubrication during sexual arousal. Some women experience only slight changes in sexual functioning, while others have dryness and pain with intercourse, or genital soreness.'

https://health.discovery.com/centers/sex/sexpedia/hormone.html

Oxytocin 'The Love Drug'

From the website: 'In humans, oxytocin stimulates milk ejection during lactation, uterine contraction during birth, and is released during sexual orgasm in both men and women.

In a preliminary study, the hormone oxytocin was shown to be associated with the ability to maintain healthy interpersonal relationships and healthy psychological boundaries with other people.

"Evolutionarily speaking, it makes sense that during pregnancy and the postpartum, both a woman's body and her mind would be stimulated to nurture her child," said Rebecca Turner, PhD, UCSF adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry and lead author of the study.

"Our results provide the groundwork for further studies looking at the way hormones may be affecting human attachment. We know that oxytocin is one of the hormones that can facilitate bonding in other animals, but this is the first step in exploring whether it plays a role in the emotional behavior of humans."

https://www.oxytocin.org/oxytoc/index.html

Oxytocin: The 'Cuddle' Hormone

Oxytocin plays a role in the expression of maternal, sexual, social, stress and feeding behaviors, as well as learning and memory. Although oxytocin is produced in both males and females and receptors for it are found all over the brains and reproductive systems of both sexes. The name oxytocin is derived originally from the Greek for "swift birth." Among other things, oxytocin, which is produced naturally in the hypothalamus in the brain, stimulates uterine contractions, and allows the breasts to "let down" milk in pregnant and lactating women. The hormone is naturally released in response to a variety of environmental stimuli including nipple stimulation in lactating women, and uterine or cervical stimulation during sex, or as the result of a baby moving down the birth canal.

https://www.oxytocin.org/cuddle-hormone/

Hormones in Menstrual Cycles may affect Cancer Risk

Several reproductive factors have been linked to increased risk of breast cancer - from early menses and late menopause to childlessness and late age at first pregnancy. A new study would add yet another: menstrual cycles that are typically either shorter or longer than average.
The researchers suspect that hormones in general, and their peaks during an ovulatory cycle, collectively affect cancer risk.

Read More: Menstrual Cycles may affect Cancer Risk

Study of Oxytocin Hormone During Birth: Quietening Baby Brain, Conserve Oxygen

New research in rats may solve the mystery of why babies need less oxygen during the stressful moments of birth. Scientists say the hormone oxytocin, produced by the mother, tells the fetal brain to quiet down and stop using so much energy.

In the new study, which appears in the Dec. 15 issue of the journal Science, researchers in Germany and France report that a surge in a mother rat's oxytocin levels during childbirth calmed neurotransmitters, essentially quieting the brain so it won't need as much oxygen. By reducing the ability of the rats to process oxytocin, researchers found that they could cause more problems with oxygen during birth.

The findings could potentially lead to new treatments for mothers during difficult births. At the least, they reveal the remarkable workings of the birth system, said Dr. Hugh Taylor, director of the division of reproductive endocrinology at Yale University School of Medicine. 'It's just comforting to know that when you're going into labor, your body is doing something to protect your baby, and your baby will be more likely to come out normal and intact,' said Taylor.

HealthDay, Friday, December 15, 2006

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_42715.html

Orgasms & Sexual Arousal in Women: A Study of Cardiovascular and Endocrine Alterations

This study investigated the cardiovascular, genital, and endocrine changes in women after masturbation induced orgasm.
Sexual arousal and orgasm produce a distinct pattern of neuroendocrine alterations in women, primarily inducing a long-lasting elevation in plasma prolactin concentrations. These results concur with those observed in men.

Read More: A Study of Cardiovascular and Endocrine Alterations in Female Orgasm & Sexual Arousal

The Effects of Moderate Alcohol Consumption on Female Hormone Levels and Reproductive Function

From the website: 'It is clear that recent studies which have investigated the biochemical consequences of moderate alcohol consumption in humans have, in part, been responsible for the revision of the safe drinking limits within the UK. What is now also beginning to emerge is the realization that health promotion advice to women may be seriously inadequate; the health consequences of moderate alcohol consumption for a woman may vary with the life stage.

The effect of moderate alcohol consumption on the level of estrogens and progesterone in both pre and post menopausal women are reviewed in this study. It is concluded that several lines of evidence point to an alcohol-induced rise in natural or synthetic estrogen levels in women. Proposed mechanisms include an increased rate of aromatization of testosterone or a decreased rate of oxidation of estradiol to estrone. Moderate alcohol consumption has also been linked to decreased progesterone levels in pre menopausal women. The relevance of these findings to female health, fertility and the timing of the menopause is considered.'

By Jan Gill. Department of Occupational Therapy and Art Therapy, Queen Margaret University College, Duke Street, Edinburgh EH8 6HF, UK. Pub. 16 May 2000

https://alcalc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/35/5/417

Breast Cancer Rates Drop in United States: Reduction in Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)

The incidence of breast cancer in the United States dropped precipitously in 2003, and new research suggests the downward trend was the result of millions of women discontinuing use of hormone replacement therapy.

The drop was most pronounced among women over 50, and was seen mostly with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancers, which are fuelled by the hormone estrogen. As many as 14,000 fewer women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003 than in 2002, the researchers stated.

The decline in the number of women taking HRT came just after publication of the results of the landmark Women's Health Initiative (WHI) trial in 2002. That study, involving 16,608 participants, was halted after researchers found elevated health risks among HRT users, most notably for breast cancer and stroke. Since then, a debate has raged about the utility and safety of HRT, with health officials advising women to take HRT only when needed and for as short a period as possible.

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_42655.html

Analyse any human emotion, no matter how far it may be removed from the sphere of sex, and you are sure to discover somewhere the primal impulse, to which life owes its perpetuation. ... The primitive stages can always be re-established; the primitive mind is, in the fullest meaning of the word, imperishable. ... Mans most disagreeable habits and idiosyncrasies, his deceit, his cowardice, his lack of reverence, are engendered by his incomplete adjustment to a complicated civilisation. It is the result of the conflict between our instincts and our culture. (Sigmund Freud)

Create some good Sexual Karma - Share this Knowledge - Thanks!

Famous Sexually Provocative Erotic Books & Sex Stories
Download & Read Beautifully Illustrated
Erotic Novels on Amazon Kindle

Support an open honest discussion of human sexuality by sharing this knowledge.
https://www.sexualevolution.org/hormone-oxytocin-estrogen.htm
Female Sex Hormones: Natural Function of Oxytocin, Estrogen, Testosterone. Brain, Breasts, Cervix, Vagina, Testicles, Pregnancy, Birth, Orgasm, Bonding

Site Map - Banners - Bibliography / Reference Books - Reasons for this Sexuality Study - Legal Disclaimer & Privacy Policy - Protect Children Online

Copyright 1997 - 2018
We support 'Fair Use' of these pages for Academic & Non Commercial use.
You are welcome to use images and text, but please reference them with a link to relevant web page on this site. Thanks!


The free, unhampered exchange of ideas and scientific conclusions is necessary for the sound development of science, as it is in all spheres of cultural life. ... Only the individual can think, and thereby create new values for society, nay, even set up new moral standards to which the life of the community conforms.
(Albert Einstein)