Below Are Some Reasons Why.
We all know that hormones play an integral part in our daily lives.
They regulate everything from a person’s blood pressure to how well he sleeps at night. Hormones affect how we feel, our appetite, metabolism, fertility, and reproduction; they even affect our ability to regulate pain. These chemical messengers are produced throughout the body. Through their interaction with our organs and with one another, they help maintain a balance designed to keep us happy and healthy. The delicate balance of hormones can be disrupted in both men and women of any age, but imbalance problems are most commonly seen in adults beyond middle age.
So how do you know you may be out of balance?
Some common symptoms include anxiety, insomnia, loss of appetite, and poor concentration. Irritability and mood swings may be familiar to a lot of you. Our emotional health is so tied into our hormones that once that balance is disrupted, we find ourselves unhappy, disgruntled, frustrated, and angry all the time. Some physical indicators of possible hormonal imbalance include sudden weight gain, acne, hair loss, night sweats, and reduced libido. Women may experience intense premenstrual symptoms, vaginal dryness, yeast infections, and hot flashes. Some women also suffer from unusually heavy, irregular, or painful periods. Some can even suffer from infertility as a result of hormonal imbalance. As for men, hormone imbalance for you brings on symptoms of anxiety, fatigue, weakness, depression, sexual dysfunction, and irritation.
Let’s look at the most common causes of hormonal imbalance.
Stress is a major culprit! Stress raises cortisol (the main stress hormone) levels in the body, which in turn makes the body produce excess amounts of other hormones to cancel out the cortisol. This is a common cause of the memory issues associated with hormonal imbalance. Diet is another cause of hormonal imbalance. Eating too much of the wrong foods can affect the way your body produces hormones. Non-organic animals that are slaughtered for food are fed estrogenic steroids to fatten them up. These estrogens go directly into our blood stream, causing a further rise in estrogen levels. The birth control pill can be another cause of hormones out of whack. Birth control pills are composed mainly of synthetic estrogen, progestins, and progestogens. These are synthetic, man-made compounds that have an altered chemical structure that is not fully recognized by our bodies. These compounds are often confused with progesterone, but they are not the same! Progestins and progestogens are highly toxic to the body, resulting in known side effects including miscarriages, migraines, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, depression, and low progesterone levels. In addition, HRT (hormone replacement therapy) for menopausal women can throw off your hormonal balance. Some women are still taking estrogen alone for their menopausal symptoms — unopposed estrogen therapy without progesterone leads to estrogen dominance, which in turn leads to increased risk of heart disease and breast cancer.
Environmental poisons contribute significantly to hormone imbalance.
Chemicals like pesticides mimic estrogen. Fifty-one chemicals have now been identified as hormone disruptors. Approximately 2 billion tons of pesticides are used in the world annually. In underdeveloped countries the use of pesticides is still largely unchecked, and where do most of our food supplies come from? Other chemicals that wreak havoc are DDT, dioxin, and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls). Dioxin is the by-product of the manufacture of chemicals using chlorine, which includes disinfectants, dry cleaning fluids, pesticides, drugs, and plastics (polystyrene and clingwrap in particular). PCBs are used in lubricants, plastics, paints, varnishes, and inks. These petrochemicals contain high levels of xeno-estrogens, which mimic estrogen in the body. These fill up all the estrogen receptor sites in your body so that even the good estrogen cannot get through to perform its role properly. The result: hormone imbalance!
I know no one wants to acknowledge this, but bad habits can affect you hormonally as well.
Men who smoke and drink alcohol regularly run the risk of having lower testosterone levels. The nicotine found in cigarettes releases enzymes that deactivate testosterone and other hormones. When alcohol is consumed in large quantities, estrogen levels become elevated while testosterone levels are lowered.
If you or someone you know suspects hormonal imbalance, please get tested.
It could mean the survival of the family unit. Saliva testing is a convenient, noninvasive, and accurate way to test for hormone levels. A blood test is like a snapshot in time and only shows the levels at the exact time of testing, and many factors including stress, diet, time of month, time of day, and lifestyle choices can affect the constantly fluctuating hormone levels. For more information on saliva testing and hormone imbalance, talk to a doctor or pharmacist specializing in BHRT (bioidentical hormone replacement therapy). Don’t let hormone imbalance control your life — find out what your levels are and get help today!
Hormone and adrenal stress testing is available at TLC Medical Centre Pharmacy. Please call 803.648.7800 to make an appointment with
our integrative and board certified functional pharmacist Zoom H. Heaton to find out whether you have hormonal imbalance, and learn how we can help you achieve a more balanced mind and body.
