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Consider bio-identical hormone replacement therapy. Listening, understanding, and treating hormonal problems and imbalances is our specialty. Helping our guests achieve hormonal harmony is very satisfying. Progesterone and the human estrogen hormones, estrone, estradiol, and estriol, are the primary hormones of all females that need to be in balance. So how do we know which hormone is causing your symptoms?
In females, the ovaries produce the sex hormones; the three estrogen hormones, estrone, estradiol and estriol, progesterone, and a small amount of testosterone. When the ovaries begin to function a girl develops her secondary sex characteristics and her menstrual life begins. This is called puberty and usually occurs between the ages of 10 and 15. Menopause is the time when the ovaries cease functioning and the monthly periods stop. This generally occurs around age 50.
In a perfect world, when a woman has a 28 day menstrual cycle, her ovaries gradually begin to produce increasing amounts of the three human estrogen hormones, estrone, estradiol and estriol, starting on the first day of her menstrual cycle, which is the first day of her period. The estrogen hormones stimulate the growth of the tissue in the inner lining of the uterus, known as the endometrial lining, during the first two weeks of her menstrual cycle. This is termed the proliferative stage because the estrogen hormones are stimulating growth of the endometrial lining. Midway through her menstrual cycle, around day 14, one of her two ovaries will produce an egg. This is called ovulation. The egg lives for one day only. After ovulation the area on the ovary from which the egg is derived will start producing progesterone and a small amount of testosterone.
Progesterone matures the tissue of the inner lining of the uterus, known as the endometrial lining, preparing it for a potential pregnancy. Progesterone means “promoting gestation”, promoting pregnancy. If the egg fails to be fertilized and no pregnancy occurs, then the production of progesterone dramatically falls at the end of the 28 day menstrual cycle and the endometrial lining is sloughed, leading to a period. This cycle repeats itself over and over again during a woman’s menstrual life which extends from the time her periods begin, puberty, until her periods cease at menopause.
Progesterone and testosterone, both of which peak at ovulation, stimulate a woman’s desire for sexual relations. The body temperature rises at this time. Like all mammals when they ovulate, a woman is in “heat”. This time in a woman’s menstrual cycle is termed estrus.
Female hormonal balance between the estrogen hormones and progesterone is essential in order for women to obtain and maintain health and wellness. The three human estrogen hormones have numerous effects on the body which require the balance of progesterone to prevent the hyper effects of estrogen dominance which can lead to a host of health problems. Good health occurs when the hormones in the body are produced in adequate amounts and are in balance. Think of this as hormonal harmony, as if the hormones are a symphony orchestra. If one section of the orchestra, say the brass section, is too loud, then this will drown out the other sections of the orchestra and ruin the symphony.
The human estrogen hormones have the following effects in the body:
Stimulates growth of the lining of the womb or uterus
Causes breast tissue to develop and grow
Promotes fat storage and weight gain
Promotes fluid retention
Causes thickening of the blood
Decreases bone loss, but does not stimulate new bone growth
Increases emotional sensitivity
Activates progesterone receptors
Inhibits sex drive
Stimulates the production of thyroid binding globulin by the liver, inhibiting the action of the thyroid hormones
Progesterone has the following effects which counterbalance the estrogen hormones:
Matures the uterine lining preventing excess buildup of tissue
Inhibits breast tissue overgrowth, preventing fibrocystic breast disease
Has a diuretic effect which mobilizes fluid, decreasing swelling
Enhances the action of thyroid hormones, increasing metabolism
Stimulates the production of new bone, protecting against osteoporosis
Increases the sex drive
Protects against breast cancer and uterine cancer
Thins the blood, preventing blood clots
Supports the function of the adrenal glands
Elevates mood
Promotes pregnancy
A woman’s ovaries generally function best between a few years after puberty until around age 30. As a woman ages so do her ovaries. By the time a woman reaches 35 years of age she is over halfway through her menstrual life and her ovarian function begins to falter. The progesterone hormone production falls most dramatically over the last half of her menstrual life, between the ages of 35 and 50. This decline in progesterone occurs for two reasons. Firstly, the ovaries are aging and functioning less effectively than they did earlier in life. Secondly, as a woman ages she begins to have menstrual cycles during which her ovaries do not ovulate, that is, they do not give off an egg. This is called an anovulatory cycle. When a woman does not ovulate during a menstrual cycle, her ovaries will produce no progesterone. These are the causes of what is termed “progesterone deficiency”. In these cases, the hormones that have the greatest influence in a woman’s body are the estrogen hormones. When this occurs a woman will experience estrogen dominance, meaning her female hormones are imbalanced in favor of the estrogen hormones. Many women have experienced estrogen dominance since puberty. In most women, this condition develops as they move through their menstrual lives.
The estrogen hormones and progesterone decline as a woman ages. But progesterone declines much more rapidly than do the estrogen hormones. As a woman approaches and enters the change of life, menopause, she may begin to experience the symptoms of declining estrogen hormones manifested by hot flashes and vaginal dryness. By this time progesterone is no longer being produced by the ovaries. Even as she has symptoms of declining estrogen a woman still has estrogen dominance because there is no progesterone to balance the lower levels of estrogen. When a woman enters menopause her ovaries no longer function. Yet, she still makes estrogen hormones, primarily estrone, in her fat cells at approximately 50% of what she made premenstrually.
Depending on the degree of the progesterone deficiency, estrogen dominance may manifest itself with one, some or all of the following hyper effects:
Premenstrual breast tenderness
Premenstrual mood swings, irritability, depression
Premenstrual fluid retention and weight gain
Premenstrual headaches, including migraines
Heavier periods often associated with clotting
Irregular menstrual cycles
Menstrual cramping
Fibrocystic breast disease
Uterine fibroids
Loss of sexual desires
Anxiety and panic attacks
Infertility
Insomnia and restless sleep
Bone loss, osteopenia and osteoporosis
Adrenal gland fatigue
Autoimmune disorders
Triggering of allergies associated with more frequent respiratory illnesses
Urinary frequency
Easy loss of urine when coughing, laughing or sneezing
Recurrent bladder infections
Frequent headaches, including migraines, throughout the month
Dry eyes
Increase in body fat
Sagging skin and wrinkles
Decreased mental sharpness
Gall Bladder Disease
Polycystic Ovaries
Elevated cholesterol
Elevated blood pressure
Breast cancer
Cancer of the uterus
Hypothyroidism
Many of these symptoms and conditions commonly occur in women of all ages. They may be common, but they are not normal. These symptoms are an indication of declining ovarian function which leads to an inevitable deterioration in health as women age. In order for women to obtain and maintain health and wellness as they age, it is essential that they preserve female hormonal balance as soon as the presence of its symptoms occur.
Not just the uterus, but every cell in a woman’s body has receptors for and is influenced by the estrogen hormones, by progesterone and by testosterone. Most importantly the sex hormones affect the brain, stimulating the production of neurotransmitters, neurochemicals and neurohormones, which enable a woman to think clearly and have elevated moods. When the sex hormones decline, become imbalanced or are no longer produced, brain function deteriorates, manifested by a decrease in mental sharpness, inability to focus, poor short term memory, “brain fog”, mood swings, irritability, depression and anxiety. This is why it is so important to provide women bioidentical progesterone supplementation when indicated for premenstrual symptoms and progesterone replacement after menopause. Although progesterone and estrogen are the two dominant hormones that women produce, it is important to remember that women also produce small doses of testosterone. For women, the production of testosterone peaks at ovulation in order to stimulate a woman’s desire for sexual relations.
Testosterone has the following effects on the body:
Relieves panic or anxiety attacks
Gives a sense of well being
Decreases body fat and cholesterol
Increases and enhances libido
Increases muscle tone (bladder, heart, etc.) and bone mass
Enhances cognitive thinking and math ability
Converts inactive thyroid (T4) to active thyroid (T3)
Men, too, can benefit dramatically from bio-identical hormone replacement therapy. As men age, testosterone, the male hormone, declines. This is often referred to as andropause. Symptoms of low testosterone include lack of initiative, assertiveness, mental sharpness and drive, elevated cholesterol, decrease in muscle mass and strength, low libido, depressed moods and fatigue, to name a few. Simple and effective, natural testosterone supplementation can restore youthful energy and vitality in men.
Causes the formation of the internal and external male sex organs
Promotes the development of the mass, strength and tone of the muscles
Decreases body fat
Stimulates the formation and increase of bone mass Stimulates the production of red blood cells by the bone marrow
Enhances libido and sexual potency
Initiates the production of sperm by the testicles
Increases metabolism by enhancing the conversion of the inactive thyroid hormone, T4, to the active thyroid hormone, T3, within the cells
Promotes heart function
Initiates male pattern behavior; initiative, assertiveness, sense of well being, self confidence, elevated moods, decisiveness, goal orientation, abstract thinking, mathematical ability
When men have lost their testicles to disease or injury they have difficulty reading a map, performing math problems and making decisions. They lack initiative and have depressed, irritable moods. But testosterone supplementation reverses these symptoms and returns these men to normal. Above all else, testosterone affects the brain function of men.
Just as the sex hormones decline in women over time, so too, aging in men leads to the gradual and steady decline in testosterone. This condition in men is termed andropause, which is analogous to menopause in women. Although testosterone production in men does not stop completely, it does gradually decline over their lifetime. By the time a man is 40 years old his testosterone level will be approximately ½ what it was when it peaked in his twenties. By the time a man is 50 years old it will be 1/3 of its peak; at 60 it will ¼ or less of its peak level. The natural course of production of all the various hormones in our body is downward after they have peaked in our late teens and early twenties.
The signs and symptoms of testosterone decline are as follows:
loss of muscle mass and strength
decrease in the size of the penis
erection difficulties
decline in libido
increased body fat around the waist
lower red blood cell counts
lower sperm counts
decreases hair in the pubic area and under the arms
diminished stamina and endurance
loss of energy
depressed and irritable moods
lack of motivation
lack of goals
poor sense of well being
loss of initiative and assertiveness
loss of interest in work
focusing on retirement prematurely
bone loss and osteoporosis
The decline in testosterone and in the other hormones is the prelude to the degenerative diseases which afflict men as they age, such as, heart disease, arthritis, obesity, high blood pressure, adult onset diabetes and cancer. While these diseases may occur in younger individuals, their incidence increases with age and the associated decline in hormones.
Petrochemicals in the environment hasten the decline in male testosterone levels. Petrochemical products are found throughout our environment, in pesticides in our homes and in our foods, in the plastic bottles from which we drink and in which we cook, in dry cleaning fluid, and in hair sprays and body lotions, to name a just a few sources. Petrochemicals mimic estrogen hormones and are referred to as xenoestrogens. Because they are fat soluble, when we are exposed to petrochemicals of any kind they are absorbed into our fat cells and into the fat molecules that surround every cell. Xenoestrogens disrupt the production of testosterone in men and antagonize the effect of testosterone in the body. In western societies the male sperm count has declined by at least 50% since the 1950’s. There has been a significant rise in testicular cancer over the same time period, as well as in the incidence of young boys with undescended testicles at birth. Numerous petrochemicals have been proven to cause various types of cancers in both males and females.
The diagnosis of andropause, the decline in male hormone, can easily be made based upon the patient’s age and his clinical symptoms. The diagnosis can easily be confirmed by obtaining a free testosterone blood level. Only 1% of testosterone is free and available for use by the cells of the body. The remaining 99% of testosterone is bound to proteins in the blood and unavailable for the cells.
Biologically identical human testosterone can be easily supplemented. It is available in creams, gels, patches, capsules, pellets and by injection. Clinically, the best results are by weekly injections. Testosterone Cypionate in an oil base, which allows for a slow release. This maintains a steady blood level of testosterone without the associated highs and lows that accompany larger and less frequent injections. When large injections are given less frequently the extra testosterone can be converted to estrogen by the fat cells of the body. This leads to an effect opposite than the one desired. In testosterone supplementation, less given more frequently is better.
Some pharmaceutical companies have produced counterfeit testosterone hormones which have serious side effects. They are methyltestosterone and flouxylmesterone. These hormones have even been combined with estrogen hormones for women. These counterfeit testosterone products have been associated with severe liver disorders including liver cancer.
Many physicians will warn men about taking testosterone supplementation under the false conception that it may promote prostate cancer. Long term studies have demonstrated that there is no increased risk for prostate cancer in men who use testosterone supplementation. As a matter of fact, it is not young men, with high testosterone levels who develop prostate cancer, but rather old men with low testosterone levels.
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