Men And Estrogen: What You Need To Know
Estrogen is known primarily as a female hormone that helps regulate menstrual cycles, yet the hormone plays a bigger role in mens health than most people realize. Men produce small amounts of estrogen as part of their normal functioning male reproductive system, along with the male hormone testosterone. As they age, less testosterone is produced.
Yet questions are beginning to emerge as to what specific part estrogen plays in male development, especially as a man ages. Once largely ignored, estrogen levels in men are now under the microscope as researchers are trying to determine this hormone’s role in men and how it affects the body’s different hormone levels.
A decrease in estrogen, for example, may be a factor in fat accumulation in men as well as women. One endocrinologist at Harvard Medical School reported in a 2013 study that some of the symptoms of testosterone deficiency in males, including a decline in libido, were at least partially caused by lower estrogen production.
Make Eating Into A Mindful Practice
What you eat is just as important as when and how you eat.
In order to maintain whats known as balanced blood sugar which means youre keeping your blood sugar in a rather straight line versus having big spikes and dips throughout the day you should be eating every three to four hours.
Please dont wait until youre starving, have the shakes, feel like youll throw up, or faint. In addition, follow these rules at mealtime. Slooowww it down, girlfriend.
Sit down while eating , chew your food 20 to 30 times , and focus on something positive while eating. When youre stressed out, your gut cant easily absorb the nutrients youre consuming, so it doesnt matter how much broccoli you eat!
Why The Conventional Approach Is Ill
Just as every woman is unique, so is her hormonal balance. Understanding and effectively treating hormonal imbalances requires a whole-body approach, rather than looking at your health as a set of independent issues. This is especially true with hormones, which are all interrelated. As a result, an imbalance in one can lead to a series of other problems, including weight gain, irritability, lack of libido and more serious health issues.
The holistic approach we have advocated for so many years is very different from what you’ll see in today’s medical system, which at times can seem hopelessly out of touch with the care that real women need. Here are just a few examples:
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Dangers Of Hormone Imbalance
The most dangerous thing about a hormonal imbalance is not actually the symptom, but what it may represent. Common causes of a hormonal imbalance range from diabetes to thyroid issues, to glandular issues and possible tumors either benign or malignant. If your body is reacting in these ways to changes in your bodys chemicals, it could be sign of a deeper issue, which could be dangerous if left untreated.
Particularly in women, a hormonal imbalance could indicate early onset of menopause, polycystic ovary syndrome, primary ovarian insufficiency and even ovarian cancer, among other conditions. In men, hormone imbalance could indicate any number of conditions, including prostate cancer.
Talk to your doctor about any new or unusual symptoms that are not typical of your personality or body. Many people keep a log to keep track of changes this is helpful when describing to their doctors any concerns or symptoms. Once diagnosed, your doctor will work with you to prescribe medicine, advise life-style changes, conduct additional testing, or refer you to a specialist.
Remember, a hormonal balance can be serious if left untreated, but speaking to your doctor even if youre wrong can only help make the issue better.
Period Problems And Period
A common complaint of women who visit Madison Womens Health is irregular periods or unexpected changes to their periods. A period is considered irregular when it occurs more often than before or less often than before, or if the amount and duration of bleeding has changed significantly for repeated months. Is your period suddenly much heavier than it has been? Or are you not having a period at all?
Keep track of your cycles, when you begin to bleed, and for how long. A popular app among our patients for tracking cycles is Period Tracker Period Calendar , although there are many options. Let your doctor know how many days there are between your periods and what your typical flow is like. Discuss what is different and why you are concerned. Let them know if youre under more stress than before, if youve changed your diet or exercise recently, or if you have a family history of irregular periods.
These changes could have a structural cause having to do with your cervix or uterus or a hormonal cause. Your doctor will likely want to perform a physical exam and may also check specific hormones on a specific day of your menstrual cycle.
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Testing For A Hormonal Imbalance
Although a hormone imbalance may bring some obvious symptoms, thatâs not always the case. For example, it can be challenging for someone to decipher whether the depression theyâre experiencing is related to a life event or if itâs instead because of hormone levels that are affecting their mental health. Thatâs why consulting with a healthcare provider is a good idea any time you arenât sure whatâs going on with your health.
Hormone testing may also be worth considering if youâre curious to learn whether you have a hormonal imbalance. Everlywell makes testing your hormones easy with at-home test kits that come with everything you need for collecting your sample and sending it to a lab . Plus, you can view your results on our secure, online platform in an easy-to-understand format. This can be a simpleâbut powerfulâway to see if hormones are balanced in your body and learn your personal levels.
As an example, consider a Womenâs Health Test to check for a hormonal imbalance in women.
What Are The Treatments For Hormonal Imbalance
Dr. Krol begins by evaluating your health and determining the type and extent of your hormonal balance.
Following an in-depth personal consultation and any necessary testing and bloodwork, Dr. Krol devises an individualized treatment plan that might involve hormone replacement therapy, lifestyle changes , and other effective hormone-balancing solutions.
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What Causes Hormonal Imbalance
Your hormones have to work together in balance to help your body thrive. However, hormone ups and downs in women are very common, so if you feel that you have a hormonal imbalance, you are not alone.
Doctors from WebMD say that some of the common causes of an imbalance in hormone production in women are pre-menstrual syndrome, pregnancy, and the menopause. However, other lifestyle factors can cause hormones to fluctuate. Being overweight, not getting enough exercise, or a lack of sleep can all throw your hormones off balance.3
Other reasons for hormone fluctuations are an underactive thyroid that doesnt produce enough thyroxine . Doctors from the Mayo Clinic say that hypothyroidism can leave you feeling lethargic, cause changes in your menstrual system, or make it difficult to lose weight.4
Also, diabetes is a common cause of hormonal imbalances and can affect, not just the insulin hormone, but also other blood sugar-related hormones, sex hormones, and growth hormones.5
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What Are The Treatment Options
Hormone replacement therapy is one of the most common treatments of low hormone levels.
For people experiencing menopause, premature menopause, or primary ovarian insufficiency as well as after oophorectomy or chemotherapy estrogen therapy can offer some relief. Estrogen therapy alone is recommended for those who have had a hysterectomy. You can take estrogen in different forms, generally estrogen pills and estrogen patches.
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What Is Hormonal Imbalance
Hormonal imbalance is a medical condition involving a disruption and imbalance in your endocrine system, which controls your bodys hormone production.
Throughout your body, your endocrine glands produce hormones. When these glands produce too much or too little of particular hormones, it causes a hormone imbalance. Hormone imbalance can lead to various health problems, symptoms, and complications.
Cut Back On The Alcoholic Beverages
Ive often been told Im the bearer of bad news, but I promise that laying off the liquor will be a game changer.
A glass of alcohol is like consuming a handful of sugary cookies, just via another delivery method. It immediately hits your bloodstream, sending your blood sugar levels on a roller-coaster ride.
Alcohol also raises estrogen levels, because it creates a whole lot of extra work for your liver, so it cant effectively detox estrogen, which is one of its main jobs. This estrogen excess can trigger heavier, longer periods, breast pain, headaches, and raging PMS.
See the connection between what we eat and drink and our period problems?
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How Is Your Sleep
If you arent sleeping as soundly as you used to hormones may be the culprit. Lower levels of progesterone and estrogen, as you get older, have the capability to interfere with sleep and wake you up in the middle of the night. That can trigger you to grab OTC sleeping pills however, theyre a band-aid to a much deeper issue.
If getting out of bed every morning is a struggle, then thats a clear indication your circadian hormonal output is out of balance. Particular hormones are produced in a cyclical or circadian pattern daily, and if their rhythm gets modified youll begin to feel fatigued, and cant function properly.
For instance, lets look at the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol should be high in the early morning it wakes you up, gets your brain in high gear sets you up for the day. If you notice that it takes more effort than usual to get going in the morning, then your circadian cortisol high might be stuck in neutral. How does this rhythm get out of balance?
Well, if youre always on the go and consuming a few cups of java or stimulants, it can affect your deep sleep and eventually circadian pattern. Additionally, having a hectic social life and a couple of beverages every night can likewise impede your deep sleep and circadian rhythm.
Cutting Out Unhealthy Fats
Another step you should take towards rebalancing your hormones is limiting or cutting out all types of unhealthy fats. This means that highly processed foods and other sources of trans fats should be avoided as much as possible. Sources of saturated fat like fatty meats and high fat dairy should be limited, and most of your fat should come from heart-healthy fats like olive oil, avocado, and oily fish.
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What Are Symptoms Of A Hormone Imbalance
There are many symptoms that are related to hormone imbalances, including:
- Anxiety, irritability, and depression – Anxiety and depression are clues that you have an imbalance, toxicity, are overworked, stressed out, and most likely aren’t nourishing your body the way it needs.
- Belly fat and loss of muscle mass – An underproduction of certain hormones and an overproduction of others that makes your body store fat for future use, making an increase in belly fat a clue to adrenal fatigue.
- Fatigue – Feeling sluggish, scattered, or mentally foggy.
- Insomnia and poor sleep patterns
- Low libido – One of the most noticeable symptoms of hormonal imbalance is low libido, which starts with disturbed sleep. Without quality sleep, sex hormone production can diminish.
- Persistent weight gain Many people have underlying hormonal imbalances that make it difficult to maintain a healthy weight.
Many of these symptoms are easy to ignore or dismiss. If you feel that your life is negatively affected or if you or a loved one have noticed a change in your body, demeanor, or health, it is a good idea to see a medical professional for a checkup.
Changes In Blood Pressure
Your hormones play a major role in heart health, primarily due to one of your bodys largest hormone-producing glands, the pancreas. The pancreas is responsible for producing insulin, which regulates the amount of glucose in the blood. Without proper regulation of this hormone, your body could end up with too much glucose in the blood, leading to cardiovascular problems like high cholesterol or high blood pressure. High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, has also been linked to thyroid dysfunction, testosterone deficiency, growth hormone excess or deficiency, and more.
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Hormonal Imbalance: The Takeaway
If youre struggling with any of these symptoms, my first advice is to find a doctor that can help you. I am a little biased, as I am an Integrative/Functional Medicine doctor, and I have seen thousands of patients thrown through the medical merry-go-round. Because of that, I recommend more of an integrative approach vs. seeing a hormone specialist that only looks at your hormones. And remember, there are many pieces to your health puzzle! Dont work on just the side effects, try to get to the root of and fix the problem. Keep an eye out for my follow up article with tips to prevent hormonal imbalance.
Dr. Corey King, D.C., B.C.I.M. utilizes Integrative/Functional Medicine to help his patients heal. Dr. King has been specializing in autoimmune diseases, thyroid gland dysfunction, diabetes and gastro-intestinal dysfunction for the past 12-years. You can learn more by visiting his website and you can also check out his online course, Fundamentals For Healing.
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A Natural Approach To Hormonal Imbalance That Makes Sense
When I treat women for symptoms related to perimenopause and menopause, I take the most natural route possible. We start simple by looking at nutrition and sleep patterns and making some lifestyle changes. We talk about stress, exercise, self-care, and eating the healthiest diet possible. I also look closely at what is going on with the adrenals and what might be happening with hormone levels and that includes comprehensive lab tests. Conventional doctors often tell women that their hormones are going up and down all the time, so tests wont tell them anything. But I think its essential to look at hormone levels the natural dips and rises will look really different than a drastic deficiency or a downward trend over time.
I believe that you are the expert on your own body, and its up to me to listen to and understand your concerns so I get the whole picture. Then, I can help you develop the best plan to bring your body into balance naturally. Its a partnership designed to help you find relief and possibly better health than youve ever experienced!
Theres no rule that you must stick with a practitioner who isnt giving you what you need. Dont be afraid to seek out someone who shares your desire to find holistic solutions to hormonal issues. After all, its your health on the line. Shouldnt you be able to trust in the relationship, knowing that together you can find solutions that are right for your unique situation? I think so!
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Hormonal Belly Woman: How To Fight Stubborn Fat In Your Midsection
There are many different reasons why people have stubborn fat in their midsection, but one common culprit is hormone imbalance. The reason for this is that when your hormones are out of balance, they can cause weight gain or difficulty in losing weight in certain parts of your body. This means that you might be able to fight off belly fat by correcting hormonal imbalances first. But how do you know if you have a hormone imbalance? And what should you do about it?Heres some information on how to tell if youre experiencing hormonal problems and what steps to take after determining that this may be the case.
What Are The Treatments For Hormone Imbalance In Women
You dont have to suffer the negative effects of a hormone imbalance. BioTE hormone replacement therapy pellets offer an effective, safe way to prevent the effects of hormone irregularities.
Bioidentical hormones are a natural alternative to chemical or animal-derived hormones used in traditional hormone replacement therapy. BioTE products are made from plant ingredients like soybeans and yams. Theyre structured to match the hormones your body produces naturally, so your body uses them effectively and efficiently.
BioTE hormone pellets are customized to match your bodys needs. Bioidentical hormones can include estrogen, progesterone, thyroid, and DHEA, an adrenal precursor often recommended to combat the signs of aging.
Dr. Grier inserts the pellets just under your skin in a simple, in-office procedure. The pellets time-release hormone delivery so you always have a consistent dose. You’ll start to feel the effects after 7-10 days. Youll get benefits for 3-4 months, after which you may choose to have additional doses implanted.
To learn more about how you can benefit from hormone replacement therapy, call Melissa Grier, MD Womens Healthcare or schedule an appointment online today.
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How To Get Rid Of Pigmentation
Pigmentation is discoloration or darkening of some areas of your skin due to various causes. Most commonly, pigmentation occurs due to hormonal imbalance and over exposure to sun without any blocking agent. Pigmentation can happen in both men and women and of any age.
Treating Pigmentation permanently can only be done by its root cause i.e. what has caused it. If it is imbalance in your hormones, it would be treated from root once your hormones are balanced. Similarly, if it is due to exposure to sun light, you need to use sunscreen cream of any sun blocking agent while you step out in sunrays.
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For a temporary solution, you can try out creams, serums and DIYs. One of the most common DIY face packs is= Gram Flour+ Honey+ Lemon + Rose Water. Apply this and keep for 15 minutes. Scrub and wash off with cold water.
You can also try apple cider vinegar, added with water and apply for 2 minutes. Rinse off.
Also, stay away from chemical-based face washes, creams and even shampoos. Do not apply deodrant on your face or directly on your skin to prevent pigmentation.
Make sure you visit a dermatologist if your problem persists for long. They may suggest you skin peels that can make a significant difference to make your skin even out.