A petering out of sex hormones as we age coincides with a number of the less desirable aspects of growing older, namely brittle bones, loss of the ol' sex drive and sagging muscles. Answers to this simple solution are as complex as hormones themselves.
Hormones are potent biochemical messengers that trigger all sorts of bodily mechanisms.
And while we know that hormone replacement can work wonders to prevent osteoporosis and heart disease after women undergo menopause, we also know that sex hormones must be used appropriately. Under certain circumstances, for instance, they can stimulate abnormal growth in some tissues. Alarming increases in rates of endometrial cancer among women prescribed the early does of estrogen replacement led to the addition of a synthetic progestogen called progestin to the formulation. Scientists have identified no known function for estrogen in men. Certain estrogen drugs are used in younger women for birth control or to treat menstrual disorders, some types of infertility and certain breast cancers.