HORMONE DISRUPTERS; YOUR BODY’S WORST NIGHTMARE

GOTTA LOVE THOSE HORMONES

Let’s start with the endocrine system. Which, most likely you never think about. In fact, probably even know about. The endocrine system is a network of glands and organs that produce, store, and secrete hormones. Hormones are the chemical messengers that swim throughout our bloodstreams signaling every cell and organ what they are supposed to do to keep our bodies working the way they are supposed to. It’s not just that hormones are key to keeping us healthy. We simply couldn’t live without them. When something interferes with or disrupts how they function, we’re beyond out of luck. We don’t want to trash talk hormone disrupters, but well…they deserve it. So here’s the story…

GOTTA HATE THOSE HORMONE DISRUPTERS

Chemicals are an essential component of our daily lives. We know chemicals aren’t so great. But some chemicals, known as endocrine disruptors, can have harmful effects on the body’s endocrine (hormone) system. Chemicals that interfere with hormone actions—even at low doses– can knock your whole system out of balance. Endocrine disrupter chemicals (EDC’s), or hormone disrupters as they are more commonly referred to, have been around for a long time.  Over the last 70 years, more than 80,000 chemicals have been released into the environment through human activity. Yes, you’ve got the zeros right. Because of inadequate health and safety laws, more than 85% of these chemicals have never been assessed for possible effects on human health. But many have, which we’ll get to in a minute.

HORMONE DISRUPTERS; THEY’RE EVERYWHERE AND THEY LIKE IT THERE

They’re lurking where we can least suspect it. We’re being exposed to them in countless ways, and most of the time, we don’t even know it. They’re in our food (that supposedly good-for-you fish you ate), personal care products (that shampoo promising to leave your hair healthy and shining), cosmetics (not so beautiful), pharmaceuticals, pesticides (well, we all know those are baddies), soil, water and probably no surprise, plastics. To put it into perspective, global production of plastics grew from 50 million tons in the mid-1970s, to over 300 million tons today. They’ve got names you have trouble even pronouncing; BPAs, dioxin, atrazine, phlatates, perchlorates, fire retardants (PBDEs), lead, arsenic, mercury, perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), organophosphate pesticides, glycol ethers…

And the worst, is that hormone disrupters are very stable. In other words, they don’t break down quickly. They often hang around doing their dastardly hormone-imbalancing deeds for years. Scientists from around the globe have found that endocrine-related diseases and disorders are on the rise. A United Nations Panel formed to look into them, has called hormone disrupters a “global threat”.

EVEN POLAR BEARS SHOULD BEWARE

Just to put their far-reaching effects into perspective, decades-old chemicals may be threatening polar bear fertility. As if between climate change, human conflict and habitat loss they didn’t have enough to worry about. It turns out these vulnerable conservation icons also face a more unlikely threat: industrial chemicals that were banned almost 40 years ago. PBC’s (more about them below) reach them in long-range transport by air and ocean currents.

Polar Bears have hormones, too.

HORMONAL TRICKS

  • Hormone disrupters are especially skilled at turning things upside down. Here are just a few examples:
  • Increasing or decreasing the production of certain hormones
  • Imitating hormones
  • Interfering with hormone signaling
  • Promoting premature cell death
  • Competing with essential nutrients
  • Binding to essential hormones
  • Accumulating in organs that produce hormones

BODY TRAINWRECKS

  • Hormone disrupters have different effects on everyone, but they may be associated with:
  • Sexual development
  • Impaired immune functions
  • Cognitive, behavioral, and other brain development problems
  • Learning disabilities
  • Severe attention deficit disorder (ADHD)
  • Deformations of the body (including limbs)
  • Various cancers, including cancer of the breast, prostate,
  • Thyroid conditions
  • Lower IQ
  • Obesity
  • Diabetes
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Before you run for the Valium, remember, these are pretty big “ifs and cans”.

START CLEANING UP YOUR HORMONE ACT HERE

Choose phthalate-free packaging, drink filtered tap water, dust and vacuum often, turn your nose up at fragrances, think twice about plastics, kick cans to the curb, be on constant pesticide alert…couldn’t hurt, except who can really live that way?  But here’ what you need to know. If the damage has been done and your hormones have been constantly hit and hurled out of balance, giving up sushi and that expensive bottled water –even if it has vitamins and electrolytes, isn’t going to cut it. But take heart, there’s help. It’s very difficult to measure many of these chemicals in humans, and there aren’t biochemical tests (like you could really take them) for most of them. What you can test, is if your hormones are in a healthy balance. And to check them, you want the most expert and experienced hormone pros you can find; Denver Hormone Health. The medical professionals at DHH, can pinpoint where your hormone levels aren’t where they’re supposed to be, and with personalized care can get them back on track. And you feeling the best you can be. All percolates aside. Call Denver Hormone Health for an appointment now.

MALE MENOPAUSE; ENOUGH TO GIVE ANY MAN PAUSE

MALE MENOPAUSE … WOULD IT HELP TO CALL IT ANDROPAUSE?
“IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU CALL IT. I DON’T WANT IT.”

Every man wants to live life to the fullest, but life’s “halfway stage” can see a significant number of them entering a phase called male menopause. Male menopause has been called many things, and if we’re going to get real about it, an abundance of words that are limited to 4 letters. But male menopause is really just the more common name for “andropause”. Still doesn’t sound great, right? “Andras” in Greek means human male and “pause” in Greek a cessation. So literally “andropause” is defined as a syndrome associated with a decrease in sexual satisfaction or a decline in a feeling of general well-being with low levels of testosterone in men as they age.

FORTUNATELY, MALE MENOPAUSE ISN’T LIKE FEMALE MENOPAUSE
“THAT’S SUPPOSED TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER?”

Well, somewhat. Andropause differs from female menopause in several ways. For one thing, not all men experience it. For another, it doesn’t involve a complete shutdown of your reproductive organs. In women, ovulation ends and hormone production plummets during a relatively short period of time. This is known as female menopause: the “change” which some men would refer to as “mentalpause”. Andropause can cause men to go through their own “change”, but the consequences aren’t as clear.

IT’S ABOUT MORE THAN JUST SEX AND YOUR MAN PARTS
“REALLY? COULD IT BE ANY WORSE THAN THAT?”

Testosterone, which is produced in the testes, is usually thought of as the powerhouse hormone that makes men, men. According to the Mayo Clinic, most men’s testosterone levels peak in adolescence and early adulthood. In their 30’s or 40’s (and sometimes even younger), those levels tend to decline by about 1 percent per year. By age 70, your testosterone level might reach closer to 50 percent of your peak level. Regrettably, this process can cause a lilt in your libido and the ability to “lift-off” when it comes to sex. So yes, it’s about sex. But more important to know, is that it’s more.

LET’S TALK SEX, FIRST “YES, LET’S”.

OK, we’ll get right to it. The sexual side effects of andropause include:

  • Loss of libido
  • Less strong erections
  • Decreased spontaneous erections
  • Ejaculatory issues
  • Erectile dysfunction
  • Testicular shrinkage
  • Infertility

But settle down. It doesn’t happen to everyone. And all of it doesn’t happen to one man. Also, the severity of these issues varies from man to man. It’s not all bad. By a long shot. You should just be informed.

THEN THERE’S YOUR PSYCHE. (OH, AND THE REST OF YOUR BODY)
“ENOUGH ALREADY. YOU’RE KILLING ME…”

We’ll assure you again; you should just be informed.

In some cases, depression may be the first symptom of andropause that you notice. Feelings of unexplained sadness or anxiety. In fact, some men go to psychiatrists first, when it might be that they need to get their hormone levels checked first. Low testosterone can also cause:

  • Reduced muscle mass and weakness
  • Low energy
  • Low bone density (yep, osteoporosis)
  • Height loss
  • Insomnia
  • Increased body fat
  • Decreased motivation
  • Incontinence

And here’s a flash; hot flashes and night sweats

BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO GO THERE…
“SO WHERE DO I GO?” WHERE CAN I GET THE HELP I NEED?”

That part’s easy; Denver Hormone Health. The hormone professionals at DHH know hormones inside and out. Every hormone. Including testosterone. They have years of experience treating men as they wander unknowingly through the maze of male menopause. It can be somewhat uncomfortable to some men to talk to their doctors about the sex stuff. But the experts at DHH will put you right at ease. They listen. Ask questions. Encourage you to ask questions about anything and everything. Then they test your testosterone levels to pinpoint what’s going on. Are you really going through andropause, or could it be some other medical issue? If it is andropause, they create a treatment plan to balance your testosterone with safe, natural bioidentical hormones. Which they’ll also discuss in every detail. Put the balance back in your life. Call Denver Hormone Health for an appointment now.

MY STRESS HORMONES ARE KILLING ME

STRESS HORMONES

Today, everything seems to be stressful. We’ve just gotten through the 15-month lockdown that left us experiencing collective trauma. Things are open. At last. But there are jobs lost, new rules of doing business, new rules of dating, new rules of living, actually. Masks are off. But will they stay there? Do we shake hands yet? Can we hug strangers? 2 in 3 adults say that the number of issues we’re facing is overwhelming to them. Wired, keyed up, agitated…it can really take a bite out of your health. But thankfully we have stress hormones.

THE SABRE-TOOTHED TIGER EFFECT

Before we go any further, let’s debunk one myth; stress is not necessarily always a bad thing. Without our body’s brilliant ability to feel stress, humankind wouldn’t have survived. Just ask our cavemen ancestors. Stress was what alerted them to potential dangers like the long terrifying canines of a ferocious saber-tooth tiger. When stressed, the body thinks it is under attack and switches to ‘fight or flight’ mode, releasing a complex mix of hormones and chemicals to prepare the body for physical action. Through the release of these hormones, caveman gained a rush of energy, which prepared him to either fight the tiger or run away. If he just froze, he’d become a great dinner. We haven’t had to face these beasts in, oh, 10,000 years or so, but even encountering a large Pitbull barking at you on your morning run can set the stress response off just as much.

AND ON AND ON AND ON IT GOES…

There are two types of stress; acute, and chronic.  Acute stress is one of the least damaging types of stress, which is good because it is also the most common type. We experience acute stress multiple times throughout the day. Acute stress is experienced as an immediate perceived threat, either physical, emotional, or psychological. These threats don’t even need to be intensely threatening—you’ve lost your phone, you’ve fought with your partner, you’ve felt restrained road rage during killer traffic jams. Which are back again post-Covid. Chronic stress occurs when the body experiences stressors with such frequency or intensity that the autonomic nervous system does not have an adequate chance to activate the relaxation response on a regular basis. This means that the body remains in a constant state of physiological arousal. Trouble is, we just weren’t built to maintain high levels of stress for any prolonged time. This affects virtually every system in the body, either directly or indirectly.

HIGH STRUNG STRESS HORMONES

Remember that cocktail of hormones we spoke of that are part of the stress response? Cortisol, adrenaline, norepinephrine, and insulin are all work together to prepare you for stressful situations. They raise your heart rate, blood pressure, and energy supplies so that you become more awake, focused, and generally more responsive. They also help shift blood flow away from areas where it might not be so crucial, like the skin, and toward more essential areas at the time, like the muscles, so you can flee the stressful scene. If one hormone doesn’t have your back, another does.

IF THIS DOESN’T STRESS YOU OUT, WHAT WILL?

There is absolutely nothing good about chronic stress. Nothing. Just look at all it can lead to:

  • Weakened immune system
  • Raised blood pressure
  • Digestive issues
  • Food cravings and weight gain
  • Sleep apnea
  • Depression and anxiety
  • Erectile dysfunction
  • Cognitive and memory problems
  • Accelerated aging process
  • Skin conditions such as eczema
  • Heart disease
  • Yikes!

FROM DISTRESS TO DE-STRESS

When it comes to stress tolerance, we’re all different. Some people seem to be able to roll with life’s punches…” I’ve got this”, “no biggie”, “things could be worse”, “someday I’ll laugh about all this”. Other people crumble. Their stress hormones are in a constant misfire, and no amount of “think positively, take deep breaths, smell a rose or try goat yoga”, is going to help. The help they need is balancing their hormones. And the best place to do that is at Denver Hormone Health. Denver Hormone Health has years of advanced training and experience in treating people of all ages for hormones imbalances that could happen for any number of reasons. Like stress. DHH knows all too well the stressors that could be in your everyday life, and you can feel comfortable discussing it all with their caring experts. Even though the country is finally opening up, Covid and the stress of the last 15 months could still be with you. Causing you stress on top of any other stress that could be dragging your health down. Start feeling the best you’ve felt in a long time. Call Denver Hormone Health for an appointment now.