Hormone Balancing
What role do hormones play in the body?
Your hormones play a significant role in your overall health. They act as messengers within your system and control each of your bodily functions, including your reproductive system, immune system, and metabolic system. Hormones can even affect the healing of brain trauma.
Hormones that may become unbalanced include:
- Progesterone — associated with female reproduction
- Melatonin — involved with internal circadian rhythms and sleep
- Thyroid — controls your metabolism (how your body uses energy)
- Testosterone — a male sex hormone that’s also present in women
- Estrogen — a female reproductive hormone that’s also present in men
- DHEA — a hormone that produces other hormones including testosterone and estrogen
What causes hormone imbalance?
Hormone imbalance is often due to aging. As women reach their later reproductive years and eventually enter menopause around age 50, their bodies produce less progesterone and estrogen. Men also produce less testosterone as they grow older.
In addition to aging, hormone imbalance can also be due to:
- Diabetes
- Some medications
- Injury or trauma
- Stress or unbalanced lifestyle
- Thyroid disorders
Both men and women can experience hormonal imbalance during their lives.
What are the symptoms of hormone imbalance?
Hormone imbalance can cause a wide range of symptoms, a few of which include:
- Fatigue
- Infertility
- Skin issues
- Weight gain
- Constipation
- Mood swings
- Endometriosis
- Difficulty sleeping
- Chronic joint pain
- Sleeping more than normal
- Decreased exercise tolerance
- Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
It’s also common to experience changes in libido when your hormones are imbalanced.
