High Levels of Estrogen & Late Menopause

Estrogen is the primary sex hormone for women, and as such, its presence is needed to maintain the menstruation cycle. Once estrogen levels begin to significantly decline in a woman's body---a normal part of aging---menopause can occur. But having too much estrogen can delay this process in a woman, causing late menopause.

• Aging Women

Estrogen

• Aging Women

  Estrogen is a hormone (a chemical substance) found in the human body of males and females. In females, it is one of two sex hormones, and it is responsible for sex organ development and other reproductive functions.

  There are three different types of estrogen in the female body: estrone, estradiol and estriol. Two of these (estrone and estradiol) are produced by the female ovaries up until menopause occurs. The other, estriol, is created by the placenta during pregnancy.

Ovary Estrogen and Menopause

• Older Women

  The estrogen produced in the ovaries supplies women with the majority of their needed estrogen hormone during childbearing years. Then, as women age, their ovaries begin to shrink and start producing less estrogen, according to NW Health.edu.

  This process of estrogen decline in the ovaries heralds the onset of menopause, a condition that generally occurs around age 51 in women in the United States, according to the University of Maryland's Medical Center.

Late Menopause

• Older Women

  But not all women transition around age 51 into menopause---or see a decline in ovary estrogen output by then---according to the UMMC. In fact, some women begin menopause as early as their 40s, while others enter this period of menstruation cessation much later (known as late menopause). There is currently no definitive reason known for the fluctuation in age that occurs regarding women and menopause or why some women's estrogen levels remain high up through their 60s.

Other Estrogen Influences

• older women

  While estrogen decline in the ovaries plays a significant role in the onset of menopause, women get estrogen from sources outside the body, too. These other estrogen sources (phytoestrogens and xenoestrogens) may contribute to why some women have higher estrogen levels than other women and reach menopause later; however, there is no scientific data to support this thesis at this time.

Phytoestrogens and Exenoestrogens

• Phytoestrogens (like those found in soy) are plants or botanicals which contain estrogen-like activity. While ingesting them can increase a woman's estrogen level, it will not be increased as much as if it were estrogen from her ovaries, according to NW Health.edu.

  Xenoestrogens, on the other hand, are very potent in estrogen-like activity. These products---generally petrochemicals, but cosmetics, foods, perfumes and soaps can be made from them, too---can be very toxic when an overexposure to them takes place. This overexposure of estrogen (due to the higher levels in some of these products) can increase a woman's estrogen level and cause reproduction abnormalities.