Sex Hormones Protect Your Heart?!

By New Day Vitality Hormone Center

New Day Vitality Hormone Center

. http://www.newdayvitality.com/

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Sex Hormones Protect Your Heart?!

YES! Sex hormones do more than impact your sex life; they affect your heart health, too. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. And, while most people know that high blood pressure, excess weight, and high cholesterol levels can put them at risk for heart disease, not many know that the sex hormones – estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone – play a critical role in heart health.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health, report the changing hormone levels that accompany the transition to menopause negatively impact a woman’s cholesterol, “leaving her at greater risk for heart disease.”

However, “…new clinical data show that cardiovascular mortality risk is reduced among HRT users,” according to Sex Steroids’ Effects on Brain, Heart and Vessels. And “estrogen treatment resulted in a significantly lower rate of atherosclerosis progression among early post-menopausal women,” according to a 2016 article in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“Lower levels of testosterone…are associated with higher cardiovascular risk in both men and women,” states an article in a 2015 Current Cardiology Reviews. In addition, a 2013 Journal of Sexual Medicine reports, “testosterone deficiency has been associated with metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.” Both of these illnesses greatly increase the risk of heart disease.

Here’s how sex hormones influence cardiovascular health:

Estrogen:

• Improves arteries’ flexibility and strengthens their interior walls
• Reduces inflammation in the heart
• Helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels

Progesterone:

• Increases “good,” HDL cholesterol
• Improves dilation of blood vessels
• Lowers blood pressure
• Reduces coronary hyperactivity

Testosterone:

• Increases blood flow
• Positively impacts cholesterol
• Decreases inflammation
• Affects muscle mass

Take care of your heart. Talk to a hormone specialist to learn more about how you can improve your quality of life with bio-identical hormone therapy.