Estrogen

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Estrogens (U.S., otherwise oestrogens or œstrogens) are a group of steroid compounds, named for their importance in the estrous cycle, and functioning as the primary female sex hormone, their name comes from estrus (period of fertility for female mammals) + gen = to generate.

Estrogens are used as part of some oral contraceptives, in estrogen replacement therapy for postmenopausal women, and in hormone replacement therapy for transwomen.

Like all steroid hormones, estrogens readily diffuse across the cell membrane. Once inside the cell, they bind to and activate estrogen receptors which in turn up-regulate the expression of many genes. Additionally, estrogens have been shown to activate a G protein-coupled receptor, GPR30.

For more information about Estrogen, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with estrogen


Cut out the (estrogen) middleman

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Estrogen seems to act like a middleman in its positive effect on the brain, raising the possibility that future drugs may bypass the carcinogenic hormone altogether while reaping its benefits.


Coffee break: Compound brewing new research in colon, breast cancer

Coffee break: Compound brewing new research in colon, breast cancer (w/ Podcast)

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 12, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A compound in coffee has been found to be estrogenic in studies by Texas AgriLife Research scientists.





Search results for estrogen


Decline of hormone therapy decreases breast cancer cases, analysis finds

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created 23 hours ago | popularity 2.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

The declining use of hormone therapy among women has led to 6,000 fewer invasive breast cancer cases a year, according to an analysis by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The research quantifies and advances ...


Hops compound may prevent prostate cancer

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

The natural compound xanthohumol blocks the effects of the male hormone testosterone, therefore aiding in the prevention of prostate cancer.


Women with breast cancer who consume soy food have lower risk of cancer recurrence

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Although there is a concern regarding the safety of soy food consumption among breast cancer survivors, researchers have found that women in China who had breast cancer and a higher intake of soy food had an associated lower ...


Spices halt growth of breast stem cells, study finds

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 07, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

A new study finds that compounds derived from the spices turmeric and pepper could help prevent breast cancer by limiting the growth of stem cells, the small number of cells that fuel a tumor's growth.


Random DNA mix-ups not so random in cancer development

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine have pinpointed a mechanism that may help explain how chromosomal translocations - the supposedly random shuffling of large chunks of DNA that frequently lead to cancer - ...


Estrogen receptor-alpha, breast cancer patients and tamoxifen response

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 25, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers have found evidence of a statistically significant survival benefit from adjuvant tamoxifen among patients whose estrogen receptor (ER)-positive tumors had high levels of phosphorylation of ER-alpha; at serine-118 ...


Protein from pregnancy hormone may prevent breast cancer

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 24, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Researchers have found that hormones produced during pregnancy induce a protein that directly inhibits the growth of breast cancer. This protein, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), may serve as a viable, well-tolerated agent for the ...


Migraine raises risk of most common form of stroke

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Pooling results from 21 studies, involving 622,381 men and women, researchers at Johns Hopkins have affirmed that migraine headaches are associated with more than twofold higher chances of the most common kind of stroke: ...


Heart and bone damage from low vitamin D tied to declines in sex hormones

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 15, 2009 | popularity 2 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Researchers at Johns Hopkins are reporting what is believed to be the first conclusive evidence in men that the long-term ill effects of vitamin D deficiency are amplified by lower levels of the key sex hormone estrogen, ...


Fertility procedures need not delay breast cancer treatment for younger women

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 12, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A new study published in the November issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that breast cancer patients under 40 years old who undergo fertility preservation do not face a significant delay in the ...



List of search results for estrogen