How Do Hormone Fluctuations Affect Women?

How Do Hormone Fluctuations Affect Women? (0:53)

Serious hormone fluctuations affect both men and women, but at different frequency and severity levels throughout life. In this video, HealthMaker Louann Brizendine, MD, a neuropsychiatrist, discusses the issue and the role of hormones.

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My specialization is in the effects of hormones on behavior, in particular the sex hormones like testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, and the fluctuation of those hormones in the female brain are part of what makes what we commonly call PMS happen. So about 80-85% of women get the fluctuation in their mood during the menstrual cycle or postpartum when there is about 100,000 level drop in hormones on the day of birth.

So there are many times in a female's life that you get these large fluctuations, in the male's life it's only usually between age 9 and 15. All of you guys have an increase in testosterone about 250%.