The Preservation of Youth
Hormone Patterns of Youth and Balance, Natural Cure Doctor, Costa Mesa, Orange County, California, Dr. Robert Janda, Chiropractor, Natural Healing, Traditional Naturopath, Naturopathic Healing, Fibromyalgia Treatment
Hormones are the generals of your metabolism. They tell everything else what to do and when to do it. If there is a problem with the amounts of hormones and the timing of their release, the organization of the body will suffer. We believe that to maintain youth you must mimic the physiological patterns of youth. Young bodies are rich in hormones. When you are young your body will regulate all this for you. As you get older you need more and more knowledge to function well and may need to replace missing hormones.
Many younger people also suffer from hormone problems. The main reasons are drugs, diet and pollution. Drug use can be recreational or prescription, the latter being more common. We have see patients crippled physiologically by taking too many prescription drugs as doctors keep adding new drugs to make up for the problems caused by ones already taken. The main problem with prescription drugs is that, as a therapy, they are predominately symptomatic treatments, and secondly, they are foreign substances entered into the metabolism. This causes disruptions of the metabolism called side effects. We are not opposed to drug use if there is no other option. This is rarely the case, and most physiological problems can be corrected by addressing the cause rooted in lifestyle and diet. The foods of today are severely depleted and, for this reason, it is wise to supplement with herbs, vitamins, amino acids, enzymes, and minerals. For example, most of the hormones in the body are derived from essential Omega III oils. Often, supplementing with these oils will normalize many hormone problems.
A number of industrial pollutants disrupt hormone function. For example, plastics mimic estrogen and are capable of causing cancer. It is important to minimize the use of plastic containers for carrying water or cooking.
Some hormones can be released at the wrong time. This is common with Cortisol which should be high in the morning and low at night. If this pattern is reversed it will disrupt sleep. Supplements such as phosphatidylcholine can help reset the timing.
Hormone Replacement
As we age we loose hormones. For years the medical profession has responded to this fact with hormone replacement. However, because artificial hormones can be patented these hormones have been promoted by drug companies to the exclusion of natural hormones. It has recently become apparent through research that synthetic hormones are highly carcinogenic, particularly the combination of progestins with Premerin. This has led many patients to stop using them. We feel the research does not generalize to natural bioidentical hormones, as this research refers only to artificial hormones. Suzanne Summers has popularized the use of natural hormones, some of which prevent cancer, like natural progesterone and Estriol. We encourage our patients to see a medical doctor who is knowledgeable in bioidentical hormones in order to preserve youth and health. In the early stages of hormone loss much can be done with herbs and nutrition. Later in life you will need medical help.
The chief hormones to be concerned with are pregnonalone, progesterone, the 3 main estrogen, DHEA, Cortisol, Thyroxine and Testosterone. These can be monitored with blood testing or saliva testing. The latter is cheaper and more useful because it measures free hormones (not bound to proteins and inactivated). Also, many more samples can be taken which allows the hormone rhythms to be evaluated over a month’s time. A blood sample only samples one moment in time.
It is also important to monitor the detoxification of hormones. In the case of estrogen, estrone and estradiol can be broken down into beneign 2-catechol estrogen, or hypertoxic 4 and 14-catechol estrogen. If these pathways are not right you are at risk for cancer. These can be monitored with saliva testing. If found abnormal this situation can be corrected by stimulating liver function and by changing diet and supplements. High estrogens or bad estrogens are also a factor for prostate cancer in men. The supplement DIM or Indol 3 Carbinol will block this toxic conversion.
In some cases, too much of a hormone can be produced. It turns out that eating sweets causes an increase in testosterone and, in women, this can cause the growth of facial hair. In these cases the sweets need to be curtailed and the drinking of Spearmint Tea will help block testosterone production.
It is essential to get your hormones functioning as well as possible. I have had women tell me they went from youth to old age in 1 year after menopause. This kind of problem is preventable and unnecessary.