Aging can affect hormonal balance, weight and mental focus.
Beginning at age 38 - 42, typical declines of 1-2% per year occur in the body's systems that affect a person's hormones, weight and mental function. You can think of this 1-2% a year decline as "a kind of compounded interest of the wrong kind" in your body's "health account". As aging occurs, people experience less effective recovery, and experience a decline in the body's repair and maintenance systems. This results in a longer time to recover from exercise, slower recovery from injury, steady weight gain and a decrease in hormonal function, including declines in libido and sexual performance.
These systemic declines can be reversed and optimized by balancing hormones so a person can live long and live well.
Bio-identical hormone replacement therapy - known as BHRT or HRT - can improve quality of life and make aging more comfortable. Bio-identical hormone therapy includes treatment that restores balance to the function of the thyroid, adrenal (cortisol) and pancreas (insulin) glands, along with the sex hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and other hormones.
Cortisol is a hormone that needs to be in balance in order for a person to feel calm and to maintain a healthy weight range. When cortisol is out of balance, fat is gained around the abdominal organs and throughout the belly area. Cortisol, the Hormone of the Hero™, allows a person to have the drive and focus needed to achieve their goals. When cortisol is depleted, a person experiences profound fatigue and may have strong cravings for sugar and other sweets (carbohydrates) as a way to get quick bursts of energy. These food cravings are an important signal and need to be dealt with when treating a patient's unwanted weight gain. Cravings are one of the ways the body cries for help. Cortisol out of balance can really cause disrupted sleep, insomnia and feelings of exhaustion.
Insulin is a hormone that needs to be in balance in order for blood sugar (glucose) levels to remain even, and insulin receptors on cell walls need to remain sensitive to the effects of insulin, or a person experiences insulin resistance and then has relentless weight gain. This process usually precedes the onset of pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes. Insulin levels and insulin performance can affect weight, the ability to exercise, vision, sexual performance and blood circulation.
Thyroid hormones need to be in balance for a person to feel well overall. Thyroid hormonal balance affects weight, mood, tolerance to heat and cold, and overall energy levels throughout the day. Imbalance in the thyroid hormones system leads to feeling tired, weight gain - especially around the hips and lower half of the body, swelling (fluid retention), feeling cold on the inside, and a number of other chronic symptoms that really impact quality of life.
Now let's review a few specific examples of hormone balance and hormone imbalance. Read More
In the case of stress, the body has specific reactions designed to quickly get a person out of danger. One of the reactions is the release of Cortisol, the Hormone of the Hero™. Why do I call Cortisol the "Hormone of the Hero™ "? I give it this name because it helps people do incredible things, like lift a car off of a loved one, or run super fast to escape an immediate physical threat. In that difficult moment, a person has the potential to be a hero in their own life, or in someone else's life. Just like other hero images, though, there is another side to the story. Too much cortisol, for too long, for the wrong reason, leads to exhaustion, poor sleep and lots of belly fat. The good news is that hormone balancing treatment can correct this imbalance and restore a normal cortisol response, improved sleep and a return to a healthy weight range.
When a person experiences a strong stress, Cortisol, the Hormone of the Hero™, causes cravings for sugar for a reason. Sugar is a fast, simple form of energy; it is quick fuel for the body. When a person feels stressed, cortisol is released into the blood stream. The experience of stress signals the needs for fast, immediate energy. Sugar fills that need easily.
With chronic, ongoing stress, a person wants more and more sugar. The sweet tooth really tries to take over. Unrelieved stress causes imbalance in the rest of the hormonal system, leading to endocrine problems, including insulin resistance and decreased amounts of sex hormones, e.g. estrogen, progesterone, DHEA and testosterone. These hormonal imbalances lead to weight gain, sleep problems and persistent fatigue. This cycle can be eliminated with my Systems Approach™ treatment.
Few people know that the thyroid gland can be negatively affected by heavy metal toxicity caused by toxins like lead, cadmium and mercury. Many cases of auto-immune thyroid disease are caused by heavy metal toxicity. The heavy metal toxicity disrupts normal thyroid function by interfering with the action of thyroid hormones throughout the body. In the presence of a body burden of heavy metals, otherwise well-indicated thyroid treatments are ineffective. Thyroid medicines that should work will not be able to do their job in this situation unless the heavy metal toxicity is successfully treated.