Your adrenal glands enable you to deal with stress which may be caused by allergies, hormonal imbalances, low thyroid or life experiences. Chronic stress causes adrenal fatigue, resulting in low levels of natural cortisol. This alters your immune system, lowering your resistance to infections, and inhibits your ability to handle inflammation. Your adrenal glands can be supported by using natural supplements. The thyroid, sex, and adrenal hormones work together synergistically to enhance one another's functions. It is important that they be balanced in order for you to enjoy optimal health.
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The two adrenal glands sit on top of each kidney and are the size of a walnut. The adrenal glands are our stress glands and produce many powerful hormones to combat stress. You may be familiar with adrenaline, which produces the “fight or flight” syndrome in the face of a stressful condition. The adrenal gland also produces cortisol, which is the naturally occurring adrenal steroid that is secreted in response to stress. In the face of emotional or physical stress, injury, infection, inflammation, allergies or hormonal decline the adrenal gland responds by producing cortisol. If the stress is chronic, the adrenal glands become fatigued and produce lower and lower levels of cortisol. The adrenal glands also decline with age as do the other hormone producing glands. Cortisol potentiates the immune system’s ability to fight infections. Cortisol also promotes the assimilation of thyroid hormones and sex hormones by the cells of the body.
If the adrenal gland is under stress and unable to produce the proper amount of cortisol, then the thyroid gland and the sex organs become stressed. The hormones produced by the thyroid gland, ovaries, testicles and adrenal glands work together in synergy. If we have the proper physiological doses of these hormones in our cells, then our body will be healthy and well. If we produce or assimilate too little of these hormones, then our cells function poorly and we become unhealthy and ill. It is this decline in hormone production that causes aging and leads to a host of degenerative problems.
Drug companies do not promote the sale of bio-identical cortisol, natural thyroid, bio-identical male or female hormones. The drug companies purchase the bio-identical hormones and make molecular changes so that their hormones are no longer bio-identical but rather counterfeit. This enables the drug companies to patent and sell these counterfeit hormones under a proprietary name, allowing them to make huge profits.
The cells of our body have receptors for each of our bio-identical hormones. When we use bio-identical hormone supplementation we are replenishing the body with the same identical hormone molecules that our body has always made. Because these hormones are bio-identical they bind quickly to the receptors and cause the appropriate effect. Our body has enzymes which breakdown the bio-identical hormones quickly and metabolize them so that they can be excreted from our system.
Counterfeit hormones produced by drug companies have different molecular structures than the bio-identical hormones. They bind to the receptors in our cells in such a way that they are not easily metabolized and therefore cause a hyper effect, which can lead to a host of side effects.
The drug companies make counterfeit hormones to cortisol, some of which you may be familiar, such as Cortisone, Dexamethasone, Prednisone, Deltasone, Prednisolone, to name a few. Because these hormones are counterfeit and not biologically the same as the hormones which our bodies’ naturally produce, their chronic use can cause dangerous side effects.
In prescribing bio-identical Cortisol, and any of the other bio-identical hormones, we are attempting to ensure that our hormone levels are maintained in a proper physiological range. As long as our bio-identical hormones are supplemented appropriately they have only positive effects.
If taken in too large a quantity, even the bio-identical hormones can have the opposite effect that they would have if they were given in an appropriate physiological dose range. When our body produces insufficient quantities of our bio-identical hormones or when the bio-identical hormones are properly assimilated, then adverse effects will also occur and our health deteriorates.
By prescribing Cortisol we are supplementing the same biologically identical cortisol that is normally produced by our bodies but in insufficient quantities due to adrenal fatigue. This has the effect of relieving the stress on the adrenal gland and allowing the synergistic effect between cortisol, thyroid and sex hormones to occur. This has the inevitable effect of promoting health and wellness.
By supplementing our hormones at appropriate physiological doses there will be no long term or adverse side effects rather there will only be positive benefits to our health. Remember that the aging process is caused by the gradual and insidious decline of our various hormone levels. If we want to remain healthy and well we must maintain our hormones within the physiological range that we experienced when we were in our 20’s.
The adrenal glands also make several other key hormones such dihydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and adrostenedione. These hormones have androgenic effects similar to testosterone but they are not as powerful. In women, after menopause, these hormones may be converted in the fat cells of the body to estrogen hormones.
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