About Hormones
Understanding About Bioidentical Hormones
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A rapidly growing, large body of scientific evidence establishes that many hormones decline as we age. The evidence also shows how these declines result in frequent manifestations of aging. The first hormonal declines usually noticed, of course, are those of the estrogen and progesterone produced in women at the stage of life called 'menopause.' Most likely, the condition is noticed because of ovarian failure with symptoms like infertility, the absence of menstruation, and the acute discomforts hot flashes (sometimes called flushes).
Other well-documented hormones that decline are testosterone in both men and women and the hormone DHEA produced in the adrenal glands. Declines in production of these hormones starts much earlier and is more gradual. Still, an analogy with menopause has been adopted and you may have heard the terms andropause, somatopause, and adrenopause. Melatonin is known to also decline in many individuals, but no term describing this phenomenon has been embraced.
Blood levels of further hormones are known to actually increase as we age. Tissues may become resistant to insulin and can result in increases in fasting levels as well as the levels produced after eating a meal. This can increase your risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Likewise, our bodies' responses to stress may stimulate prolonged elevations of cortisol. Long periods of elevated cortisol can wreak havoc on our body compositions, brain functioning and immune system effectiveness.
When put together, this body of data comprises what medical science is calling the endocrine theory of aging. Our menu on the left presents the evidence for this theory and includes what the clinical studies tell us can be done about it.
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