Hormones are involved in regulation of metabolism and energy production, reproduction and related cycles and behaviors, stress response, and other homeostatic and time-related
processes. There are divergent views about how to approach various aspects of hormonal assessment and function.
Thyroid disease is common, particularly hypothyroidism, with symptoms that include low energy, cold body temperature, constipation, cardiac arrhythmias, and menstrual cycle and other sex hormone effects. Conventional lab testing often fails to identify issues when it is limited to TSH and T4 – missing the crucial role to T3 – and it is often assumed that blood levels are reflective of intracellular levels despite evidence that thyroid hormones are actively transported rather than passively diffusing into cells. Hashimotos thyroiditis is one of the most prevalent autoimmune diseases, and addressing it as such has broader impact on health. We often find benefit in taking an integrative rather than a conventional approach to thyroid dysfunction.
Sex hormones decline as we age. Some see this as a natural process that ought not to be intervened with. Others advocate for assessment and treatment to address the symptoms of hormonal decline – menstrual cycle irregularities, sexual and erectile dysfunction, loss of muscle mass and increase in body fat, mood changes, vasomotor symptoms – or to address the adverse effects of low sex hormones on brain, bone, and heart health. We often find benefit in using natural sex hormones to address these issues.
The adrenal gland is central to the body’s response to stress, and dysfunction has adverse impacts on mood, energy, and metabolism, as well as other hormonal function. Adrenal function is integrally related to other systems that are stress responsive, particularly immune and detoxification systems. As such, assessment and treatment of adrenal dysfunction is complex and multifactorial, but core to an integrative approach to illness.
