Estrogen and Brain Changes During Menopause

Brain Changes During Menopause: The Estrogen Effects

​A woman undergoes many changes as she grows older. The physical and mental effects of growing older can get even more devastating when they reach their menopausal stage. During this time, they can experience hot flashes, memory fog, night sweats, electric shocks, and sleep problems. But what truly causes these symptoms to appear during menopause?

Estrogen is the culprit.

Read on to know more about this important hormone and how its levels affect a woman’s brain.

What Is Estrogen?

Estrogen is a hormone that is responsible for developing and maintaining the reproductive system, as well as female physical features. This also plays a role in regulating other areas of the body including cardiovascular function, bone health and cognitive capabilities. It is a vital hormone in keeping a woman’s body in a good state.

Types of Estrogen:

• Estrone (E1)
• Estradiol (E2)
• Estriol (E3)
• Estetrol (E4)

Although we naturally have enough levels of Estrogen in our body, there are many reasons why the normal levels change. Here are some of them:

• Pregnancy
• ​Puberty
• Being overweight or doing an extreme diet
• Medications
• Medical conditions
• Menopause

The Connection Between Estrogen and the Brain

Estrogen is not just for reproductive health; it also affects brain function. It is responsible for creating chemicals that affect our moods and emotions. This hormone also helps neurotransmitters and receptors, making it possible for us to maintain good cognitive functions, such as learning, thinking, problem-solving, reasoning, and focus.

How Does Estrogen Imbalance Affect Your Brain?

Given that Estrogen has a crucial effect on the functions of our body, when this hormone declines during menopause, it can create mild to severe symptoms that may disrupt everyday life. The most common effects of Estrogen imbalance are:

Mood changes
Estrogen plays a role in managing our emotions. Specifically, it assists in increasing serotonin, which is a mood stabiliser, and brain receptors. This is why menopausal women often experience irritability, anxiety and depression.

Declining memory
Although being forgetful is part of ageing, hormonal imbalance can make you more at risk for memory-related issues. This is because estrogen helps with the concentration of an enzyme that is necessary for synthesising acetylcholine, a chemical that plays a vital role in our memory.

Reduced concentration
​Menopause can cause brain fog and other memory issues. If one moment you are excitedly talking about your favourite show with your loved one and suddenly forget what you are saying, that might be due to estrogen imbalance.

Behaviour
Changes in estrogen levels can affect a woman’s behaviour. It may affect vital receptors, resulting in a sudden shift towards aggressive communication or violent actions.

Cognitive function
Oestradiol, a type of estrogen, helps in memory performance and reorganisation of our brain circuitry. This is essential for learning, problem-solving, decision-making and other functions. 
​During menopause, this hormone declines, making it unable to properly assist the brain.

Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease risk
Due to the decline in the hormone that assists normal brain function, menopausal women are at risk of getting Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. In a study that investigated the link between the number of reproductive years and the risk of having Dementia, 42 per cent of the 6,137 women who joined the study developed Dementia.

What Can You Do to Maintain Brain Health?

Preventing or easing Menopausal symptoms is possible. Try these tips to improve your condition.

• Physical exercises
  It has been proven that physical movements for 15 to 20 minutes a day helps improve blood circulation, mood and overall health.
• Do mental exercises
  Sharpen your memory and cognitive skills, making puzzles, doing the crossword or learning a new hobby.
• Eat healthy foods
  Avoid eating food that is high in salt, sugar and fat, as well as alcohol and caffeine. Change your diet to those rich in vitamins and phytoestrogens, such as soybeans, cashews, chickpeas, flax seeds, dried fruits, garlic, peaches and berries.
• Have enough sleep
  Having an undisturbed and deep sleep is important because it promotes body repair and relaxation.
• Practice mindfulness or meditation
  Whether you are experiencing anxiety and depression or not, it is helpful to allot time in doing mindfulness or meditation because it will help you forget about stressful things.
• Drink some herbal teas 
  Herbal tea for menopause is proven to alleviate the symptoms caused by menopause. It assists in balancing estrogen levels and reducing the effects of having hormonal issues, including hot flashes, insomnia, joint pains, brain fog and electric shocks.

How The T Lady Can Help You

If you want to try a natural way of alleviating the symptoms of menopause, try our menopause tea. This drink is a special tea blend of Red Clover, Black Cohosh and other herbs that can give you relief from various menopausal symptoms. It is all-organic and pure-tasting. Our tea gives you relief from your symptoms and creates a relaxing effect that will help you get through the day without being hindered by menopause inconveniences.
​Are you looking for menopause tea? We have batches ready for you! The T Lady menopause tea is available for purchase within Australia (free delivery) and internationally (includes postage). Contact us today.