Estrogen and liver fibrosis

[merryBe]

Hi, this is a survey/discussion:

I've been reading a few studies on the correlation between estrogen levels and fibrotic advancements.

All anyone needs to do is Google:  estrogen liver fibrosis ....and get 684,000 hits.

Apparently the benefit to protecting the liver is well documented and the research has been around for a while.

Yet my liver doctor didn't mention it, or suggest I go back on it.....but I did it through my endocrinologist as soon as I found out.

I'm wondering how many ladies in here are aware of this, have any doctors told you???

or whether any men have considered a small dose to help slow the progression of this disease?

MaryB

[merryBe]

well we know not too many guys would go there.....although if they already were on it, say for prostate problems, at least it might be nice to know some benefit would be involved.

I've been following this debate for some years since losing an ovary. The tide shifted a few years ago when is became apparent the progesterone/estrogen combo carried more risks than the estrogen alone.

Obviously this is still a highly debated subject, but the newer research has my OBY/GYN and many others going back to prescribing low doses.

Mind you, these are NOT the high doses prescribed for those in early menopause or taking birth control.
These are minute doses to regain the health and mucosa of the the vaginal wall, and return someone to the low (rather than non-existant) levels ones sees in late middle age.

At these levels the chances of benefit do go up considerably. Not only sleep improves, which aides cell repair, but many other general health issues seem to improve for most women.
Of course if one has a history of breast cancer/stroke or heart disease then problems could occur.  I get my Uterus scanned (CAT) every couple of years to make sure that the organs are still healthy. This allows me to keep an eye on the lining of the uterus...if you take too high of a dose your lining will thicken...so one way to assure that the correct dose is being given, not one that will greatly increase cell proliferation, is to keep an eye on what's happening with your breast and uterus size.

Ovbiously we should run things by the Liver guys...but the research for 2002 is different from research now...so they may not be up to date here.

example: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/menopausal-hormone-use

[Trinity4]

Good luck getting a guy to take estrogen pills!!!  Personally, I wouldn't take anything unless my liver specialist recommended it.  I was on low level hormone therapy while going through the change but as soon as the symptoms subsided, I got off of it.  Estrogen should be taken with progestergen to offset the adverse effects on the heart.  It also increase the incidence of cancers.  I would heavily weigh the odds before using it as a preventative for fibrosis.
Trin