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Doctors have discovered why wounds such as ulcers take longer to heal in older people and they believe a cream containing the female hormone Oestrogen could be the answer.

About 2000 people in the UK, many of them over 65 have an open wound such as ulcer or pressure sore that fails to heal, a problem which cost the NHS up to 3billion euros a year. Diabetics, the elderly and people with nerve damage or circulatory problem are, particularly at risk.

Not only are these wounds painful and debilitating, taking months to heal or in some cases, never healing, they also leave people exposed to potentially life-threatening infections because there is no barrier preventing bacteria from entering the body.

Furthermore, research shows that patients who develop a non-healing wound staying in the hospital three times longer than they should. Until now, it has been poorly understood why some wounds take a long time to heal. It’s thought it is because cells are not coordinating properly to allow tissues to heal, although the precise mechanism is not known. This means current treatments like dressing and even the use of maggots to clean wounds are largely ineffective. For some, the only solution is amputation.

Researchers at the University of Manchester have discovered that the female hormone, Oestrogen, which is naturally present in both men and women plays a key role in wound healing.

Estrogen levels decline in both men and women as they get older as part of the natural aging process: in women after menopause while men experience a gradual fall from their 20s. Falling Oestrogen is known to age the skin, reduce elasticity and altering the body’s response to inflammation.

Laboratory tests have now shown that estrogen has an effect on a range of different cells within a wound. The research involved taking samples from young and older men and looking for differences in the genes involved in the body’s healing process. scientist found that the main variation was in the genes affected by estrogen. The differences in the genes were very strong between the young and older men, explains Dr. Matthew Hardman of the University of Manchester, the one whom this breakthrough is accredited to.

In other words, the natural fall in estrogen levels that occurs with age is the reason wounds do not tend to heal in older people. This lead to the conclusion that if older people could be given Oestrogen their bodies would heal better. “We knew estrogen was important in healing but we didn’t realize it played such a pivotal role. Our discovery could lead to a new treatment for people with non-healing wounds”.

As comforting as it sounds, this was the beginning of the future. This would make a huge difference, as these wounds are not only painful but cause immobility and social isolation.

However, it is not possible to simply give patient estrogen because of its side effect which includes increased risk of cancer so “treatment option using compounds similar to estrogen but without side effect has been in development and testing”. Breast cancer drugs Tamoxifen, which is similar in structure to estrogen has been identified as a possible treatment for non-healing wounds.

Its is important to note the always, opting for a more natural approach has never been a bad idea.

Reducing sugar intake and getting involved in at least 30 min of workout could also boost one estrogen level. Smoking is dangerous to our health in general. In premenopausal women, smoking is associated with the early onset of menopause.

Eating healthy foods that are rich in phytoestrogen gives the body a chance to produce estrogen naturally, some of this food includes: Flax seeds, Sesame seeds, Soybeans, Soy Milk, Soy Yogurt, Tofu, Peaches, Strawberries, Alfalfa Sprouts, Mung Bean Sprouts, Green Beans, White Beans, Black Beans, Pistachios, Walnuts, Peanuts, Dried Apricots, Dates, Dried Prunes, and Garlic.

Know if you are getting enough estrogen, full body checkup, know your estrogen level, that might just be the beginning of you getting your life back