Endocrinology / Hormones

Insulin is a hormone produced by the beta cells in the pancreas. Insulin plays an important role in regulating blood sugar levels in the body. It transports sugar into the cell, so to speak, and is therefore essential for survival. Without insulin, glucose cannot enter the cell, which would starve it.

Insulin is released when blood glucose levels rise after a meal. It promotes the uptake of glucose from the blood into the cells of the body, where it is used as an energy source or stored as glycogen. Insulin also inhibits the release of glucose from the liver and promotes the conversion of excess glucose into fat.

It is important to keep insulin at a normal concentration. This means that too much is bad, but so is too little. Overproduction of insulin can lead to hypoglycemia, a condition in which blood glucose levels are too low. Too much insulin leads to fat deposits, especially in the liver and adipose tissue. Too much insulin also leads to an inability to break down fat from the body and poor weight loss.

Insufficient insulin production or a lack of insulin action, on the other hand, can lead to diabetes mellitus , a disease in which blood glucose levels are chronically elevated. Too little insulin means that blood glucose cannot enter cells in humans, resulting in diabetic disease that is treated with insulin administration. (Type 1 diabetes usually develops as an autoimmune disease at a young age).

However, insulin resistance occurs extremely frequently. In this case, the cell no longer responds to a normal insulin level, i.e. it becomes "resistant" to insulin. However, the blood sugar must be transported into the cell. This only happens when there is enough insulin. This requires more and more insulin to transport the same amount of sugar into the cell. The beta cells must therefore produce more and more insulin, then become exhausted over time. Insulin resistance itself causes a decrease in cognition and memory, has an accelerating effect on inflammatory processes, contributes to fatty liver and thus to a decrease in the detoxification capacity of the liver, promotes the growth of carcinomas. This insulin resistance often leads to the development of type 2 diabetes. In other words, it is the precursor of type 2 diabetes.

Estradiol is a hormone from the estrogen group that is produced mainly in the ovaries but also by our fatty tissue. It is the most important female sex hormone and plays an important role in the development and function of the female sex organs. Estradiol also regulates the menstrual cycle and promotes the growth of breast tissue.

Estradiol also has effects on the brain and can affect mood, sleep, and memory.

The production of estradiol decreases noticeably after menopause, which can lead to classic menopausal symptoms such as unexpected hot flashes, sweating, sleep disturbances, vaginal and general skin dryness, but also panic attacks and bone loss. The ability to remember and learn also decreases. Depressive episodes also recur, which means that women over the age of 50 are often prescribed psychotropic drugs. Without hormones, blood pressure rises and antihypertensive (blood pressure-lowering) preparations are unfortunately also increasingly prescribed.

For this reason, it makes sense to use estradiol in hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women to relieve symptoms, reduce the risk of osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease, and prevent the need for other medications that merely treat symptoms.

Estradiol, on the other hand, is just as important for men as it is for women. Especially for men, estradiol is helpful for bone formation and as protection against osteoporosis, i.e. against bone fracture. The source of estradiol in men is testosterone, so it is important that men have sufficiently high testosterone.