Sleep – Why It’s Essential & How To Get Some Zzzz’s

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Sleep Good Tonight, You Deserve It!

Sleep is essential to our overall well-being, yet many times we put sleep towards the bottom of our priority list, especially when it comes to meeting the demands of life. Whether it’s work, family or running errands, or simply keeping up with the Joneses; sleep is often put on the back burner and supplemented with that extra cup of coffee or energy drink to “get us through the day.” But is this really healthy?  The answer is a resounding “No!”.

Sleep is imperative to overall physical, cognitive functioning, and body repair. A lack of sleep can cause impaired memory, depression, a decreased immune response, fatigue, and increased pain.

Yet for many Americans it’s not just the lack of sleep, but about the quality of sleep. Millions of individuals report difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep. This can often be attributed to certain chemical deficiencies, hormonal imbalances, an individuals lifestyle or a combination of all the above. No matter what the cause, the results are deleterious to ones overall health.

How Much Sleep Do You Need?

Recommendations for sleep vary depending on where you look. However, the general consensus for adults ranges from 7-9 hours per night. This variance accounts for the wide variety of differences found in each individual, so genetic and some environmental.  Simply put, some individuals need less sleep, and some require a bit more.

Sleep-stages5 Stages Of Sleep

One factor that may account for this variance appears to be the type of sleep an individual receives. According to the APA there are five stages of sleep (counting REM sleep), all of which are essential however, it’s stages three and four that are most restorative. The less time one spends in stages three and four, the more warn out and tired they will feel, even after what may seem to be a “full nights rest.” Whether it’s lack of sleep, difficulty falling asleep or trouble staying asleep; many doctors are quick to prescribe medications such as Lunesta, Xanex, Valium. Yet, the problem with these medications is that they do not promote stage three and four sleep and are thus not as regenerative as a normal nights rest.

Unfortunately, there is no one cause or solution to all sleep problems. To understand why repair is necessary we need look no further than our hormones. Cortisol, which is secreted through our adrenal glands is highest between 6 and 8 am and at lowest levels around midnight. However, cortisol levels also increase, along with adrenaline, during stressful situations. Now this works great when we are faced with acute stress, but not the chronic stress that many of us face today.

 Stress

The chronic stress found in today’s world often results in adrenal fatigue, which can throw the whole system out of whack. The result of which can be difficulty falling asleep when cortisol and adrenaline are running high at night, or difficulty staying asleep as cortisol levels spike in the middle of the night. Cortisol is also catabolic, meaning that it breaks down chemicals and muscle in the body. On the other hand, human growth hormone (HGH) is anabolic meaning that it builds and repairs.

Consequently, HGH is released at night when we sleep, working with other mechanisms in the body to repair damage.  But as we said it’s not as simple as just one mechanism that can throw our sleeping patterns off kilter. Sleep can also be effected by the following:

GABA – is an inhibitory neurotransmitter which can be used when levels of excitatory hormones are too high.  GABA can be found in prescription form or through over the counter supplements that have been specially formulated so that the GABA molecules can penetrate the blood brain barrier.

Melatonin – helps regulate our sleep cycle. Levels normally increases at night. Melatonin also acts as an antioxidant.

Vitamin D – Is directly related to Melatonin. A good example of Vitamin D’s effects is to think of how you feel after a long day in the sun. Most individuals report feeling tired or very relaxed afterwards, which is attributed to increased Vitamin D exposure.

Serotonin – is an inhibitory neurotransmitter which promotes relaxation and a sense of wellbeing. There are prescription medications and over the counter supplements that increase levels of serotonin.

Estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone–  All have effects on energy levels and the excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters.

resourcesSo instead of grabbing an extra cup of coffee, eating more sugar, or having an energy drink, why not seek out a healthy long-term solution. Sleep disturbances can have many causes, but there are solutions. Life style changes, bioidentical hormone therapy and natural supplementation are safe and easy ways to get back on the right path towards optimal sleep. To find out more, click on the links in this blog and contact Vitali-T Medical Clinics to find our more about bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, natural supplementation and overall wellness.

 

 

Metabolic Syndrome

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What Is Metabolic Syndrome?

If you spend time listening to news about health and wellness, you have probably heard the words “metabolic syndrome” mentioned on several occasions. What is metabolic syndrome and why is it important to you?

Well, metabolic syndrome is a term used to describe a group of risk factors that can increase your risk for coronary heat disease, stroke, type two diabetes and kidney disease. Identified some twenty years ago, metabolic syndrome is becoming more and more common. The American Heart Association estimates that it effects some 47 million Americans and this numbers appears to be on the rise. There are many theories as to why these numbers are increasing, but there is increasing evidence that a sedentary lifestyle and poor nutrition are two of the main culprits.

Signs of metabolic disorder:

  • Large waist size- Men 40 inches or greater- women 35 inches or greater
  • High triglycerides– 150 mg/dl or higher- or if you are taking a cholesterol medication
  • Low good cholesterol (HDL)-  for men less than 40mg/dl- for women less than 50mg/dl
  • Hight Blood Pressure- 135/85 or greater- or if you are taking a blood pressure medication
  • High fasting glucose levels of 100 mg/dl or greater

Now this does not mean that having one of these symptoms means you have metabolic syndrome. Instead, the more of the symptoms you have from the list above, the greater the likelihood is that you have metabolic syndrome.

Risk factors that can increase your chances of having Metabolic Syndrome:

  • Insulin resistance
  • Age- Risk of metabolic syndrome is 20 % for someone in their 40’s and up to 45% for someone 60 plus
  • More prone to blood clots and inflammation- Inflammation is often a sign of poor health that can lead to other chronic medical conditions
  • Other medical conditions such as fatty liver, cholesterol gallstones, and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS),
  • Family History.
  • Ethnicity- some ethnicity’s have shown a higher propensity towards metabolic syndrome.

 

Unfortunately, there is not much anyone can do to change the risk factors listed above.  However, the good news, is that the emerging field of epigenetic has shown us that our genes are expressed based on several lifestyle factors.

These factors include:

– Diet

–  Weight

–  Smoking

–  Exercise

–  Hormone balance

–  Stress

Thus, a diet high in saturated fats, trans fats, salt, cholesterol, artificial sugars, and processed foods, or little exercise, smoking, being overweight, or having a hormone imbalance can increase your risk of metabolic syndrome. However, you can decrease your risk by eating lots of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, organic/natural foods, wholes wheats, exercising, maintaining a healthy weight, optimal hormone levels, and not smoking.

This doesn’t mean that you have to make all of these changes or else. If you have several of the symptoms listed above and have poor habits; just making a few small changes can make a huge difference. For example, walking more instead of taking the elevator or escalator, cutting out soft drinks and drinking more water, or loosing 10 pounds can also make a profound difference. By making these changes now, you can affect whether or not your genes express health or disease.

To find out more about metabolic syndrome contact us today.

Does Hormone Therapy Cause Cancer?

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Bottom line…NO! 

There is no medical evidence that natural, bio-identical hormone therapy in women and men will cause or induce cancer.

So, where does this myth or falsehood come from?

The problem arises from the use of synthetic or chemically altered hormones which have been shown to have deleterious effects including increasing cancer risk.

Allow us to clarify:

“Fear of breast cancer is the strongest factor limiting postmenopausal hormone use. The most powerful study to date definitively demonstrated that estrogen does not cause an increase risk for cancer. The increased risk was associated only with taking the progestin (Provera®) and not estrogen.” JAMA 2004;291(24): 2947-2958.

There is a drastic gap in communication between the hormone replacement therapy studies that have been conducted, and what’s been reported in the news. Synthetic hormones were used in the highly publicized Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) and are still in use and referred to in studies today. Many news articles and reports reference the WHI report because it was such a large/ highly funded study. These reports have been misleading consumers to believe that all types of hormone therapy are harmful. Let’s take a look at an example of this from a CNN report:

Synthetic vs. Bioidentical Mis-Communication

“In 2002, one arm of a large U.S. study – the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) – set out to confirm that hormone replacement therapy helps prevent heart disease. It was halted when it was discovered that women in the study taking estrogen plus progesterone actually had an increased risk for invasive breast cancer, blood clots, strokes and heart disease after about five years.  While combination hormones showed some benefits including reduced hip fractures and colon cancer, the researchers determined that “harm was greater than the benefit.”

Provera Is Now Banned

This article leads you to believe that hormone replacement therapy is bad, and can result several deleterious effects possibly leaving you with a great deal of trepidation towards seeking hormone therapy.  However, this is an excellent depiction of the miscommunication that takes place around hormone replacement therapy.  The author of this article writes that patients were provided “estrogen and progesterone” hormones. However, this is not necessarily correct. If we take the time to read the WHI study, we find that patients were not taking progesterone, but instead received a progestin called Provera.  In short, Provera has been banned in several countries for its carcinogenic (cancer causing) effects. Therefore, it is no wonder that the use of Provera resulted in an increased risk in breast cancer in this study.

Horse Urine

This CNN article also references estrogen, but does not inform the reader that the estrogen given, conjugated horse urine, is natural to horses and not humans. Last of all, Participants the WHI study were taking hormone replacement therapy orally.

Taking hormone replacement therapy orally can cause liver damage and increase the risk of stroke and blood clots, while other methods of delivery do not. Therefore, the results are much different from those of individuals taking natural bioidentical hormones with a different method of delivery. What we are really referring to is a matter of semantics. Terms such as bioidentical, estrogen, and progesterone are often lumped into categories when in actuality we are comparing very different items. This process of “generalizing” leads to the misinformation we see in the aforementioned CNN excerpt.

The WHI study can be summed up in three quotes from the journal of The Female Patient, Family Practice News, and Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.

”Because of the design flaws, the WHI trial should be discredited as it used only 2 synthetic hormones that were already known to be harmful. The positive effects of many different hormone methods studied over the last 50 years should not be discounted due to one poorly designed and flawed study (WHI) trial.” Female Patient 2004 Oct;Vol 29:40-46.

“North American Menopausal Society (NAMS) position statement: The WHI results do not apply to the majority of women. The WHI trial does not negate 40 years of study demonstrating HRT benefit. Five recent studies demonstrate overwhelming evidence that HRT prevents atherosclerosis.” Family Practice News 2003 Oct;1-2.

“Estradiol and progesterone demonstrated no increased risk of breast cancer. Synthetic estrogen (Premarin® ) and synthetic progestins (medroxyprogesterone and noresterone) all dramatically increased the risk of breast cancer. This was a ten-year study of over 100,000 women, the largest and longest study to date comparing natural hormones to synthetic hormones”. Breast Cancer Res Treat 2007;101:125-134.

Study Later Explained The Many Benefits Of Hormone Therapy

What’s even more surprising is that a second report from the WHI study, estrogen only hormone therapy, was later released, but not highly publicized? The results indicated that estrogen alone offered many beneficial results.

”In the final analysis of the estrogen only arm of the WHI; there was no increased risk of breast cancer or heart disease. There was a 35% decrease in hip fractures, 35% decrease in diabetes and a 60% decrease in urinary sepsis. This leads to a significant decrease in all causes of mortality. J Gen Internal Medicine 2004;19(7): 791-804

Estrogen, when administered appropriately in a bioidentical form, has been show to protect against heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, dementia, memory loss, vaginal atrophy, urinary incontinence, and osteoporotic fractures.  Individuals who fall and break their hip have a 50% chance of dying within the next two years!

“Estrogen deficiency greatly increases mortality from cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. Over 90% of women will die from cardiovascular disease which estrogen can prevent”. Over 40 years of study have well documented the cardiovascular protective effects of estrogen”. Obstet Gynecol 1996 Jan;87(1):6-12.

“The potential lethal consequences of osteoporosis are overwhelming. Estrogen is protective but only when certain serum levels are maintained.” Female Patient Oct. 2004;Vol. 29:40-46.

Bioidentical Estrogen Decreases The Risk Of Breast Cancer

Estrogen also prevents against hot flashes, temperature deregulation, urogenital atrophy, sagging skin and breasts, increased skin wrinkles on face, fatigue, depression, mood swings, and decreased libido.  Recent studies done with bioidentical estrogen hormones have even been shown to decrease the risk of breast cancer.

Hormone Therapy Mis-Representation

As  you can see, estrogen deficiency is detrimental to a women’s health and due to the misrepresentation in the media, millions of women have gone untreated and left to suffer the consequences. At Vitali-T Medical Clinics we believe that no individual should be left to suffer. We are dedicated to providing natural, bio-identical hormones and supplements that have gone through are proven to be safe and effective.

For more information on the topics discussed above, please reference our previous blogs and visit our resources page.  You may also contact Vitali-T Medical Clinics if you have any further questions or would like to find out if hormone replacement therapy is right for you.