17 oxyprogesterone is a hormone that is present in the body in humans. He plays a crucial role. This component is especially significant for those who are being treated for infertility or simply planning a pregnancy. That is why it is worth paying attention to this hormone. What concentration is considered normal? What to do if the hormone is increased or decreased? Why can there be violations? All about this component will be described below. In fact, understanding why 17-OH is so important is not difficult. A test for this hormone is even easier than it sounds.
Description
First you need to understand what substance is 17 oxyprogesterone. What is this all about? This hormone is sometimes called "intermediate". It plays an important role in the formation of various substances in the body. For example, progesterone. It is an intermediate steroid. It is produced by the adrenal cortex.
In addition to progesterone, it promotes the formation of estrogen and androgen. It is present in both men and women. But for girls, 17 oxyprogesterone plays a more important role. It is important for conception and pregnancy in general. Therefore, it is important to be able to determine the amount of a given substance in the human body. For normal conception, oxyprogesterone should be in sufficient quantities in both men and women.
How is the analysis delivered?
Before you study the established norms of the hormone in the body, you need to understand how the analysis is passed on it. Especially when it comes to women. The thing is that the beautiful half of humanity has a menstrual cycle. Some tests can not be taken with menstruation.
But 17 oxyprogesterone does not have such limitations. Analysis for this hormone is given in the form of venous blood. The fence is made mainly in the morning on an empty stomach. Accordingly, men and women can donate blood at a concentration of oxyprogesterone at any time. It is recommended to refrain from the process during menstruation. This is not a direct contraindication. Just so you can avoid unnecessary error in the results.
Increase
Now you can find out about the reasons for the increase and decrease of this hormone. Only then should you look at the normal indicators in a particular case. 17 oxyprogesterone is often able to indicate serious illness. Especially when it comes to metabolic disorders. After all, the studied hormone is involved in the breakdown of glucose, proteins, fats.
17 oxyprogesterone increased? It doesn't matter who the girl or guy has. Why can this happen? There are quite a few reasons. Normally, this hormone will be contained in certain sizes. An increase in its concentration in human blood may indicate:
- Dysfunction of the adrenal cortex.
- Polycystic ovary.
- A tumor in the ovaries or adrenal glands.
- Hyperprolactinemia
- Infertility.
- Itsenko-Cushing's syndrome.
- The presence of a cyst of the corpus luteum.
- Pathology of the placenta.
- Hypothalamic syndromes.
The list of diseases does not end there. But if the hormone is elevated - this is a sign of certain violations. True, not in all cases. That is why it is often necessary to monitor the content of a hormone called 17 oxyprogesterone in women in dynamics.
When the rise is the norm
The thing is that the female body is a complex mechanism that behaves in a different way throughout life than the male one. And therefore, girls should not panic if this hormone has risen sharply. Under certain circumstances, as already mentioned, this is a completely normal phenomenon.
Which ones? 17 oxyprogesterone increased? In women, an increase in the concentration of this hormone is observed upon pregnancy. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to say exactly with oxyprogesterone whether conception has occurred or not. Have to donate blood for hCG. But when planning a pregnancy, it is likely that the hormone will increase sharply when the couple succeeded.
Also 17 alpha hydroxyprogesterone will be elevated during menstruation. Not always, but it happens. Why does the hormone start to be produced by the adrenal glands? Such behavior is determined by the individuality of the woman’s monthly cycle. In other words, for someone, oxyprogesterone will increase sharply during periods of menstruation, for someone not. It is because of this that one sometimes has to observe changes in the hormonal background in dynamics. So it will be possible to understand whether there is a real disease in the body of the girl, or whether the increase in the hormone is associated with an individual characteristic of menstruation.
Lowering the norm
In general, in women, 17 oxyprogesterone is in a small concentration initially. Under what conditions the hormone begins to be produced in large quantities, of course. And what if there is a decrease in oxyprogesterone? Why is this happening? Should I panic?
Not really. But, as practice shows, quite often there is an increase in this hormone. Its decline may indicate adrenal disease, for example. Both congenital and acquired. In some cases, 17 oxyprogesterone is contained in small amounts if the body is too short luteal phase. Also, a low level of the hormone indicates infertility. In fact, serious abnormalities of oxyprogesterone from the norm are a common cause of conception problems.
What is dangerous hormone lowering?
Why is pregnancy planning to be wary of lowering 17 oxyprogesterone? The thing is that this substance, as already mentioned, rises with an interesting position. In fact, its sharp decrease is a pathology. A low concentration of the substance causes the fertilized egg to not attach to the uterus. This phenomenon either causes an ectopic pregnancy, or entails an unsuccessful conception.
In the early stages of pregnancy, a lowered level of the hormone called 17 oxyprogesterone can lead to miscarriages, abnormal formation of the placenta, and fetal pathology. Fortunately, raising or lowering the hormone level is not so difficult.
Methods of increasing and lowering the hormone
So, in order to easily adjust the concentration of the studied substance in the body, it is necessary, as a rule, to take various medications. By the way, if a person has been treated for a long time, then 17 oxyprogesterone rises. It is enough just to cancel the pills and other drugs, as the level of the hormone drops to the expected norm.
In general, an increase is treated with a variety of hormonal drugs. Most often, a medication called Dexamethasone is prescribed. It should be taken carefully - it is possible to gain excess weight. Other hormonal drugs are prescribed only by your doctor.
You can increase 17 oxyprogesterone either by improving nutrition, or by treating a disease. In some cases (most often this is the way doctors recommend) a variety of hormonal drugs are also prescribed. In fact, if an abnormality is detected in time, then bringing oxyprogesterone to the desired level is not so difficult. Problems can occur during pregnancy. Then the treatment comes down to folk methods. Or the doctor prescribes the least dangerous hormonal drugs both to increase the hormone in the blood, and to lower it.
Normal values
And what indicators are considered normal? How much blood does a woman have in a hormone called 17 oxyprogesterone? The norm in non-pregnant women depends on age. Small increases or decreases are harmless. But ideally, you need to focus on the following values:
- Recently born girls - 4.08-29.4 nmol / L.
- 2-3 months - 0.3-9.4 nmol / L.
- From 12 months to 14 years old - 0.42-6.9.
- Adolescents from 15 years old - 0.5-11.5 nmol / L.
- Women during the follicular phase - from 0.5 to 8.24 nmol / L.
- Women during the luteal phase - 1-11.5.
- Postmenopause - not less than 0.7 and not more than 5.9 nmol / L.
- Pregnancy - from 3.6 to 33.3 nmol / L.
Accordingly, such indicators indicate the absence of certain diseases. As already mentioned, 17 oxyprogesterone may deviate slightly from these standards with full health in women.