Search Results - Systen

Estradiol (medication)

Estradiol (E2) is a medication and naturally occurring steroid hormone. It is an estrogen and is used mainly in menopausal hormone therapy and to treat low sex hormone levels in women. It is also used in hormonal birth control for women, in feminizing hormone therapy for transgender women and some non-binary individuals, and in the treatment of hormone-sensitive cancers like prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women, among other uses. Estradiol can be taken by mouth, held and dissolved under the tongue, as a gel or patch that is applied to the skin, in through the vagina, by injection into muscle or fat, or through the use of an implant that is placed into fat, among other routes.

Side effects of estradiol in women include breast tenderness, breast enlargement, headache, fluid retention, and nausea among others. Men and children who are exposed to estradiol may develop symptoms of feminization, such as breast development and a feminine pattern of fat distribution, and men may also experience low testosterone levels and infertility. Estradiol may increase the risk of endometrial hyperplasia and endometrial cancer in women with intact uteruses if it is not taken together with a progestogen such as progesterone. The combination of estradiol with a progestin, though not with oral progesterone, may increase the risk of breast cancer. Estradiol should not be used in women who are pregnant or breastfeeding or who have breast cancer, among other contraindications.

Estradiol is a naturally occurring and bioidentical estrogen, or an agonist of the estrogen receptor, the biological target of estrogens like endogenous estradiol. Due to its estrogenic activity, estradiol has antigonadotropic effects and can inhibit fertility and suppress sex hormone production in both women and men. Estradiol differs from non-bioidentical estrogens like conjugated estrogens and ethinylestradiol in various ways, with implications for tolerability and safety.

Estradiol was discovered in 1933. It became available as a medication that same year, in an injectable form known as estradiol benzoate. Forms that were more useful by mouth, estradiol valerate and micronized estradiol, were introduced in the 1960s and 1970s and increased its popularity by this route. Estradiol is also used as other prodrugs, like estradiol cypionate. Related estrogens such as ethinylestradiol, which is the most common estrogen in birth control pills, and conjugated estrogens (brand name Premarin), which is used in menopausal hormone therapy, are used as medications as well. In 2023, it was the 56th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 11million prescriptions. It is available as a generic medication.

Provided by Wikipedia