[Hormones and aging, (1)]

The main hormonal disturbances in ageing are: a slight decrease in the secretion of all hormones, with the exception of gonadotropins in women whose production increases sharply as a result of the almost complete suppression of ovarian activity; a slight but substantial resistance of tissues to the action of most hormones; the cessation of estrogen secretion with an important decrease in androgen secretion in the ovaries; a decrease in androgen secretion with a lesser reduction in estrogen secretion in the testicles; an important decrease in adrenal androgen secretion in both sexes. These findings are the consequence and not the cause of ageing which, to some degree, they do promote, especially in bone, muscle, skin and mucous membranes. Therapeutic incidences of the hormonal disturbances in ageing, though not negligible, are still limited.