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Your body’s hormones are like a seesaw. When they’re perfectly balanced, your body works as it should. But when they’re unbalanced, you may begin experiencing problems.
Estrogen is known as the
“female” hormone. Testosterone is known as the “male” hormone. Although
each hormone is identified with a specific sex, both are found in women
and men. On average, women have higher levels of estrogen and men have
more testosterone.
Symptoms of high estrogen in men
Although
it’s called the female hormone, a man’s body also makes estrogen. A
healthy balance of estrogen and testosterone is important for sexual
growth and development. When these hormones become imbalanced, your
sexual development and function may be affected.
Symptoms of high estrogen in men include:
- Infertility.
Estrogen is partly responsible for creating healthy sperm. When
estrogen levels are high, sperm levels may fall and lead to fertility
issues.
- Gynecomastia. Estrogen
may stimulate breast tissue growth. Men with too much estrogen may
develop gynecomastia, a condition which leads to larger breasts.
- Erectile dysfunction (ED). Men with high levels of estrogen may have difficulty getting or maintaining an erection.
Diagnosing high estrogen
If your
doctor suspects that you might have high estrogen, they’ll likely order a
blood test to check your hormone levels. A trained professional will
collect a sample of your blood to be tested in a laboratory. The results
will indicate if your estrogen levels are too low or too high. Blood
estrogen levels are measured in pictograms per milliliter (pg/mL).
There are three types of estrogen: estradiol, estriol,
and estrone. Estradiol is the primary female sex hormone. Estriol and
estrone are minor female sex hormones. Estriol is nearly undetectable in
women who aren’t pregnant.
Treatment for high estrogen
To
manage high estrogen or estrogen dominance, your doctor might prescribe
medications, recommend surgery, or encourage you to adjust your diet.
Medication
If
you develop high estrogen while undergoing hormone therapy, your doctor
might change your hormone therapy plan. This might help your body
achieve a healthier hormone balance.
If you have a type of cancer
that’s sensitive to estrogen, high estrogen levels can make the cancer
worse. Your doctor might prescribe medications to block cancer cells
from binding to estrogen. For example, they might prescribe tamoxifen.
Alternatively, they might prescribe an aromatase inhibitor. This type of medication stops the enzyme aromatase from converting androgens into estrogen. This class of drug includes:
- anastrozole (Arimidex)
- exemestane (Aromasin)
- letrozole (Femara)
In
other cases, they might prescribe a medication that stops your ovaries
from producing estrogen. For example, they might prescribe:
- goserelin (Zoladex)
- leuprolide (Lupron)
Surgery
If you have a type of cancer that’s sensitive to estrogen, your doctor might also recommend an oophorectomy.
This is a type of surgery used to remove ovaries. Since ovaries produce
most of the estrogen in women’s bodies, removing them lowers estrogen
levels. This causes what is known as surgical menopause.
Your doctor might also recommend oophorectomy if you’re at very high risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer. You may be at very high risk if one or more of the following are true:
- You have a strong family history of breast cancer or ovarian cancer.
- You test positive for a specific mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene.
- You test positive for a specific mutation in other genes associated with cancer risk.
According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), removing both ovaries appears to reduce the risk of breast cancer in very-high-risk patients by about 50 percent.
Your doctor can also use radiation therapy to make your ovaries inactive.
Diet
To
help lower your estrogen levels, your doctor might recommend changes to
your eating habits. For example, they might encourage you to eat a
low-fat and high-fiber diet. They might also encourage you to lose excess weight.
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