Do High Levels of Estrogen Impact Lupus Patients?

Lupus is more common in women than men, which is a phenomena explained by the fact that estrogen is one of the main components of developing lupus. It is pretty widely understood that estrogen aids in the evolution of lupus, but the actual details of what that relationship is are fuzzy. While research continues to happen and breakthroughs occur, the connection between estrogen and lupus is a hot button issue. The immune system and estrogen have a delicate relationship and one that requires just the right amount of estrogen in order to maintain its proper balance. This balance can also be thrown off by multiple factors, which include genetic variations, exposures to toxic and harmful material, bad dietary decisions, stress, and prescription drugs.

Clinical workers who work with women who live with SLE are often forced to make a difficult choice about the use of birth control vs. HRT. While it is now considered safe, there used to be a lot of confusion around HRT and how healthy it was to patients with specific conditions.

Understand that there are a lot of ways to tackle lupus. While an actual cure is still evasive, there are things that individual patients can do to help alleviate their lupus symptoms. Supporting hormonal balance is not just about finding the right medicine, it’s also about making the right choices. Some people suggest slowly resetting one’s hormonal balance and following an anti-inflammatory diet, as well as tend to one’s own emotional well-being.