Female Sex Hormones

Foroughipour A, Norbakhsh V, Najafabadi SH, Meamar R. Evaluating sex hormone levels in reproductive age women with multiple sclerosis and their relationship with disease severity. J Res Med Sci. 2012;17(9):882-5.

BACKGROUND Sex-related differences in the severity of multiple sclerosis (MS) could be influenced by the sex hormones.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:This cohort (historical) study evaluated the sex hormone levels during menstrual cycle and their correlation with disease severity in MS.
RESULT: Patients with MS had significantly lower testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and prolactin levels than controls in the follicular and luteal phase but lower oestrogen (estradiol) levels only in the follicular phase. A positive correlation coefficient between follicle stimulating hormone and disease severity, and a reverse correlation with estradiol were found.
CONCLUSION: The hormone-related modulation of disease severity supports the suggestion that sex hormones play a role in MS disease.

It is well known that sex hormones can have an influence on many outcomes in biology. These relationships are however complex.

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