Millions of women suffer from hormonal imbalances that interfere with their health and quality of life. Unfortunately, traditional medicine does not offer much in the way of solutions, other than prescribing hormone replacement therapy / birth control pills. The question that most doctors are failing to ask is “Why?” Why is your body failing to produce and regulate proper hormone levels?

This is the first question a functional medicine physician will be investigating when treating a woman (or a man) with hormonal imbalances. There are two major areas to consider when considering hormone balance and they are hormone production and hormone elimination. For the sake of simplicity lets focus more on women’s hormone issues but many of these same concepts apply to men as well.

Hormone Production

Most of your hormones are produced by your ovaries until you reach menopause. After menopause, the adrenal glands become a significant contributor to the hormone levels of your body. So, before the ovaries begin to shut-down, they are your primary source of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. Ok, so we know they are producing the hormones but what regulates the ovaries and their hormone production? The ovaries are controlled primarily by hormones that are produced by a gland that is attached to your brain; your pituitary gland. This gland releases two hormones called LH and FSH which travel in your blood until they reach the ovaries where they order the production of hormones. This is where most doctors stop when it comes to hormone production and regulation which is why the usual solution offered is more hormones in the form of medication. In medicine, the pituitary gland is referred to as the “master gland” because it produces the hormones that control other glands; like the ovaries, thyroid, testicles and adrenal glands. There is, however, another part of your brain that controls your pituitary gland! So, the pituitary has its own “master” and it is the part of the brain called the hypothalamus. Your hypothalamus continuously receives information about hormonal status and sends instructions either in the form of its own hormones or electrical impulses through nerves, to the pituitary gland which in turn sends orders to the glands that produce hormones; in this case your ovaries. These two systems; endocrine and nervous are so closely linked that they are referred to as the neuroendocrine system. The neuroendocrine system is constantly monitoring and adjusting hormone levels so that the body can function normally.

If you have hormonal imbalances, the problem most likely lies at the level pituitary gland or the hypothalamus and more often than not, the problem lies with the hypothalamus. This may be somewhat difficult to comprehend; probably because you have never heard of the hypothalamus before or you have no idea what it even does! In addition to ultimately controlling hormone levels is also controls the following:

• Metabolism, growth and body development

• Thirst, hunger and appetite

• Body fat levels

• Sleep

• Mood and emotional state

• Behavior

• Sex drive

• Etc.

The point being made here is that most women who have a hormonal imbalance, do not ONLY have a hormone problem they also have other problems associated with poor hypothalamus function. Through the application of integrative medicine principles, the hypothalamus regulatory mechanisms of the body can often be restored to normal once again. This is a very good example of how functional medicine differs from traditional medicine. Functional medicine addresses the root cause of hormone imbalance whereas traditional medicine ignores the cause and regulatory functions of the body and simply pumps more hormones into a broken system.

The other factor of hormone balance is proper elimination of hormones from the body.

Hormone Elimination

Hormones not only need to be produced and regulated, excess hormones need to be effectively deactivated and eliminated from the body. For this to occur twoother systems must be working properly; your liver and digestive tract. Excess hormones travel to the liver where they become deactivated and then are ultimately dumped into the bowels where they can be eliminated in the stool. Excess estrogens are the primary hormone that must be eliminated. Too much estrogen can lead to problems like:

• PMS

• Migraines

• Irregular periods

• Uterine fibroids

• Infertility

• Weight gain

• Mood swings

If your liver is “sluggish” and failing to detoxify properly, excess hormones can build up in your body. The bowels must also be healthy and working well; if they are not then hormones can be absorbed back into the blood stream again and cause problems.

As with so many health issues, the problem is not where you would expect to find it but lies in a related system; this is why functional medicine has become necessary in today’s healthcare system. Hormone problems are almost never related to a problem with the ovaries or testicles; the problems lies in hormone regulation which occurs at the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. Or the problem lies at the level of hormone elimination; if the liver and digestive tract are not working properly we see hormone-related problems.

We believe that the regulatory and elimination systems of the body should be assessed and treated before hormones considering hormone therapy.

If you would like more information about hormonal balance, functional medicine or Dr. Sexton go to www.napervilleintegratedwelness.com or contact our Naperville office to schedule an appointment.

Do your own research, inform yourself and ask lots of questions. When collecting information you MUST consider the source. There is no shortage of false, misleading, outdated, profit-driven and utterly biased information in healthcare today; even from the most respected sources.**