Observations on the extragenital effects of oestrogen in females: a report.

ABSTRACT

Some extragenital effects of the female sex steroids are known for a long time and serious research is going on in this matter. A study was carried out at Medical College, Kolkata on 10 female patients suffering from perimenopausal syndrome--they were administered synthetic oestrogen tablets and the oestrogen-induced changes were noted on some parameters ie, psycho-analytical score, electroencephalograph, lung function tests, electrocardiograph, blood female sex hormone level. On the basis of the study it was observed that with low doses of oestrogen (ethinyloestradiol 0.5 mg once daily) the changes were not marked enough. But when it is compared with animal study, where it causes appreciable changes, it can safely be concluded that oestrogen causes (i) some desynchronisation (faster rhythm, lesser voltage) of EEG, (ii) bradycardia/increased sinus arrhythmia and increased amplitude of ventricular complex in ECG, (iii) reduction of scoring rate for anxiety and depression.