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Hormone allergy is a heightened reaction to the normal function of hormones. A Hormone imbalance is an allergic reaction experienced by some women from the young age before puberty right through to the later years. Hormone allergy occurs in nearly almost all women during the premenstrual part of their cycle.
Some women can actually develop an allergy to their it gets so pronounced that there is an actual hormone allergy to their own hormones which heightens their reactions.
The inflammatory mechanisms of allergic reactions to hormone allergens, which are intrinsic to the body, are the same as the mechanisms of allergic reactions to external allergens. The difference is in the magnitude and manifestation of discomforts.
As the body is not constantly being exposed to external allergens, the discomforts in response to allergen exposure are not continuous. Hormones being within the body can induce allergies that result in chronic ailments, although the expression of symptoms can vary with the day of the menstrual cycle in females depending on the hormone load.
Estrogens may support allergic reactivity in females by acting via the estrogen alpha receptor on mast cells, which might explain the peaking allergic reactions in females around menstruation and pregnancy, under oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy.
Interestingly, even exogenous or xenoestrogens imitate or support the action of the estrogens. Environmental estrogens like the pesticide lindane accumulate in the environment and may affect the development of the female reproductive system by acting as endocrine disrupters.
For allergy, it is important to note that xenoestrogens interact equally well with the estrogen alpha and beta receptors and, thus, may either directly or in conjunction with an allergic reaction support the release of histamine.
Additionally, it may be noted in this context that on account of structural homology, phyto-estrogens might also interfere with estrogen receptors and consequently influence mast cell mediator release. The expression of progesterone receptors is upregulated by estrogen through estrogen receptors.