Aging is inevitable. As your body gets older, its ability to produce hormones necessary to keep your body healthy and youthful is significantly reduced. Toxic chemicals called endocrine disruptors can alter your hormonal balance as well. Unfortunately, they’re prevalent in our environment as they are found in plastics, cleaners, cosmetics, perfumes, and many other products which makes them hard to avoid. Stress is the biggest enemy of hormone balance because the body will produce cortisol rather than hormones if it has to choose (survival instead of reproduction). Using personalized medicine and hormone optimization can help restore energy and vitality. Aging is inevitable, but that does not mean we have to lose our quality of life.
Hormone balance is the key to well-being. Each of our hormones have many important functions of its own but overall balance is critical to avoid uncomfortable symptoms.
Estrogen has over 400 functions in the body. It maintains bone density and helps prevent osteoporosis. It protects against memory loss, heart disease, colon cancer, and incontinence. Estrogen enhances sleep, emotional well-being, mental acuity, focus, and skin tone. It relieves menopausal symptoms and depression, as well as increases tolerance to pain by increasing serotonin formation.
Progesterone balances estrogen. It is very important that the ratio of progesterone to estrogen be maintained in order to decrease the risk of breast and endometrial cancer. Progesterone builds bone and regulates fluid balance. It increases blood sugar, thyroid function, and mineral balance. One of the most important things that progesterone does is produce a calming effect, enhancing mood and sleep.
Testosterone strengthens bones and muscles and promotes muscle tone. It decreases excess body fat and helps keep skin from sagging, along with increasing energy and libido. Women don’t need much testosterone but we do need enough to enhance our sense of well-being. Since testosterone is the least important hormone for women, it is the first hormone that drops in levels when our environment becomes stressful.
DHEA is a building block in our hormone production pathway. It protects against the effects of stress and supports the immune system. It helps prevent wrinkles and dry eyes and decreases allergic reactions. DHEA can help with weight loss. DHEA levels decrease with stress and menopause.
Cortisol is our stress hormone (“fight or flight”). It increases energy and metabolism. Cortisol helps us respond to stress, trauma, and infection. It helps regulate blood pressure and blood sugar, as well as reduces allergic and inflammatory responses in the body. Unfortunately, high levels can interact with progesterone by blocking receptors, leading to imbalances with estrogen. When cortisol levels are elevated, thyroid function can decrease, eventually leading to thyroid failure.
Hormone imbalance in women is inevitable when approaching menopause, but long-term stress can also cause imbalances in younger women. Bioidentical hormone replacement can safely rebalance hormones and restore quality of life and optimal wellness. It is critical to avoid synthetic hormones as they are processed differently and can increase the risk of cancer. In order to rebalance hormones properly, it is important to evaluate thyroid function, adrenal gland function, and daily stress levels. Some prescriptions only address each of these symptoms individually but don’t resolve the root cause. At Nimbus, we will help identify both the cause of the imbalance and the best treatment based on your goals.
