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A brief understanding of the way hormones work (hormones) is required if you wish to follow how they are used in treatment. Most drugs in general and hormones in particular, work by their action on receptor sites (hormones). Biological mechanisms maintain a balance within the cells, tissues, organs of individuals and species. Over the last three or four decades there has been an explosion in the depth of knowledge relating to reproductive physiology (function). Pharmacologists (those who study drugs or medicines) have been able to develop drugs of incredible power, allowing the clinician to prescribe treatments that were unimaginable even at the conclusion of the Second World War. Cortisol, progesterone, testosterone and other androgens (male hormones) and oestradiol and other oestrogens are on a common biological pathway (Figure 2.5). The action of one hormone treatment may be altered by that of another:
A drug may act by blocking a receptor.
Some drugs have actions on different receptor sites and these combined actions can be utilised therapeutically.
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