How does estrone affect the body during postmenopause?

Estradiol is not the dominant estrogen in your body when you become postmenopausal. There is another type of estrogen that plays an even more important role at this time: estrone, a weaker form of estrogen. Estrone becomes the dominant form of estrogen in your body in postmenopause, and it is not made in your ovaries. Your body's fatty tissues, also called adipose tissue, manufacture estrone.

There is a reason for the extra belly fat that none of us can seem to avoid at this age. It is helpful to have a modest amount of extra fat in postmenopause to maintain your supply of estrone, which helps you to maintain your bone strength. As in life, there can be too much of a good thing. Women with a great deal of adipose tissue produce excess amounts of estrone that may cause abnormal bleeding and increase the risk of breast and uterine cancer.