Geeze, Les, you might as well ask why the earth is round.
You cannot believe how many times I've read the UTK info on this and how many times I've accessed the dictionary to try to understand all the big words. One big word begat another big word and so on and so on until my eyes roll back into my head and I start cussing. There is no way that I could ever explain the actual process by which those six adrenal hormones magically appear but I'll try to give you a quick and dirty that I hope you can understand. So here goes nothing.
Aromatase is an enzyme that is involved in the production of estrogen. It acts by catalyses (big word – look it up) the conversion of testosterone to
estradiol, which is an estrogen by the way. Aromatase enzyme is located in the estrogen producing cells in the adrenal glands, ovaries, placenta, testicles, fat tissue and the brain. Note to self:
Lysodren only targets the adrenals so it has no effect if the
estradiol is being produced in the latter five areas of the body.
Melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone in the body that we cushdog parents buy in a bottle, is an aromatase inhibitor. UTK always recommends
Melatonin and phytoestrogen treatment when estradiol is elevated.
[Phytoestrogens, sometimes called "dietary estrogens", are a diverse group of naturally occurring non steroidal plant compounds that, because of their structural similarity with estradiol (17-β-estradiol), have the ability to cause estrogenic or/and antiestrogenic effects] Lignans, found in the flaxseed, has the highest concentration of phytoestrogen found in plants.
Lignans is also an aromatase inhibitor and with its phytoestrogenic activity, competes with
estradiol for tissue estrogen receptors. So the quick answer to your question is if
estradiol is elevated, UTK recommends both
Melatonin and
Lignans
21 hydroxylase is an enzyme which is involved in the biosythesis of
aldosterone and
cortisol.
Melatonin inhibits the 21 hydroxylase enzyme.
3-beta-HSD is an enzyme which catalyses the synthesis of
progesterone from pregnenolone,
17-hydroxyprogesterone from 17-hydroxypregnenolone, and
androstenedione from dehydropiandrosterone in the adrenal gland. Note: the synthesis of all six adrenal steroids requires 3beta HSD.
Melatonin and
lignans inhibit 3-beta-HSD
So there ya go.
Glynda