Table 1.

Responses to Falling Sex Steroids

Adaptive During Reproductive Era	Affected Cell Systems	Maladaptive in Menopause
Maintenance of capillary blood flow to critical organs	Arterial tone increased	Cardiovascular disease, hypertension
High blood fat or milk	Lipoprotein lipase (?)	Cardiovascular disease, arteriosclerosis
Mobilization of calcium for milk	Remodeling cycle favors bone loss	Osteoporosis, fracture
Discarding of genital skin, bulk and elasticity	Organ turgor (genital and sexual skin)	Scarring and genital atrophy
Radiant warming of suckling newborn	Vasomotor control, changes in thermoneutral zone set-point	Hot flushes, night sweats
Increased vigilance	Sleep pattern alterations	Sleep disorders
Affective and cognitive changes, decreased immune brain barrier	Central nervous system alterations	Memory deficiency, impaired cognition, dystrophies
Pro-inflammatory (?) anti-inflammatory during puerperium (reversed when estrogen is high)	Immune response to insult and foreign antigens	Failure of immune privilege (?), CNS vulnerability and cancer