Stress and Aging together can lead to a drop in vital youthful hormones. These include progesterone, estrogen, dhea, testosterone, and cortisol among others. A woman can be as young as 35 or even younger when she may begin to notice some signs and symptoms of depression, anxiety, breast tenderness, pms, mood swings and insomnia. As someone ages, the list of symptoms and signs grows to possibly include one or several of the following: chronic fatigue, chronic pain, hair thinning, central weight gain, muscle tone loss, bone density loss, hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness and loss of libido.

A woman might go to her health care provider with some of the symptoms above and will often be prescribed synthetic hormones, antidepressants, sleeping pills and/or nerve pills. These drugs are being advised so to suppress the symptoms. They are doing little to nothing to help correct the real problem or the main cause(s) which is/are resulting in the manifestation of the symptoms. These drugs may work in the short run, but they will eventually have unwanted side effects such as dizziness or weight gain among others.

Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapy has been around since the 1980s, but perhaps better known since the late 1990s. They have been found to help not only female patients but also male patients who are struggling with chronic symptoms and do not really know why. The patient's deficiencies has to be assessed or quantified using both serum and saliva testing. Correcting these imbalances has certainly improved a person's quality of life over and over again. Premarin and Prempro were very popular drugs used to treat women's hot flashes during the 1960s through the year 2002. Drug sales dropped when the WHI or the Women's Health Initiative Study showed a rise in the incidence or breast cancer paralleling a rise in the consumption of these synthetic hormones. These drugs are still written for to this day. There are other more natural solutions for these women who will not only benefit from control of their uncomfortable symptoms, but they can positively affect their energy, anxiety, insomnia ,migraine headaches and so many other signs and symptoms that come with aging. Stress inevitably accelerates this process.

If treated properly by a well trained physician, a person who has hormone imbalances can enjoy their life again once these are corrected. Periodic serum and urine testing of hormone levels and hormone metabolites are wise medical practices when monitoring and adjusting hormone levels in these patients. It would be a mistake to attempt to correct hormone deficiencies without a comprehensive evaluation of adrenal and thyroid function.

To learn more about this topic, you can call our office to schedule a consultation with our medical director, Dr, Jean Allen., who has over 12 years experience with anti-aging medicine and the proper management of hormone imbalances. Our office number is (813)253-3223.