THE END TO ENDOCRINE CLUELESSNESS – HOLY HORMONES!

/in /by

THE END TO ENDOCRINE CLUELESSNESS

Last week we talked about hormones being the chemical messengers that our bodies need to tell our cells what to do. So where do our essential hormones come from? It’s called the endocrine system. Our endocrine system works with the nervous system to control important bodily functions. It’s a system of unique glands that secrete specific hormones into the bloodstream. Although there are eight major endocrine glands scattered throughout the body, they are still considered to be one system because they often have similar functions, similar mechanisms and many important interrelationships. Regrettably, all sorts of problems can occur in the endocrine system when it produces excessive or deficient hormones. It can cause diabetes, thyroid problems, pituitary tumors and more than you really want to know. “Oh, no!” Oh, yes.

GIVE GLANDS A HAND

As we’ve said, glands are the guys that produce the hormones we simply can’t live without. You might say they’re the bosses of a healthy life, telling your body what to do. You’ve probably heard of some of them, but do you really know what they do?

  1. PITUITARY GLAND  Produces the hormones that control the thyroid gland, adrenal glands, ovaries, and testes
  2. THYROID Regulates the body’s metabolic rate, heart and digestive function, muscle control, brain development, and bone density
  3. PARATHYROID Helps control calcium within the blood, which then regulates how much calcium ends up in your bones, leading to bone density
  4. ADRENAL GLANDS Produce sex hormones and the stress hormone, cortisol
  5. PANCREAS Produces insulin and glucagon, which both keep the body’s blood glucose (sugar) in balance
  6. OVARIES Produce estrogen and progesterone to facilitate fertility and conception. Can also produce steroid hormones that can aid in a fertilized embryo implanting in the uterus
  7. TESTES Produce testosterone, which initiates the testes to descend before birth, regulates sperm production and promotes the development of secondary sexual characteristics at puberty
  8. PINEAL GLAND Produces melatonin that helps to regulate the human sleep-wake cycle known as the circadian rhyth

Some body of work going on here…

TOP GUNS

So those were the glands. These are some of the hormones they produce that get and keep us going. The muckety-mucks of making everything work the way it’s supposed to.

  1. PROGESTERONE – Key player in your menstrual cycle, progesterone levels rise after ovulation and prepare your uterus for a fertilized egg.
  2. IRISIN – Dubbed the exercise hormone, it’s released when you get a sweat on, and converts calorie-storing white fat cells into calorie-torching brown fat cells.
  3. TESTOSTERONE – The male sex hormone plays a role in your sex drive, bone density, and muscle strength (oh, of course, you knew about the sex part).
  4. PEPTIDE YY (PYY) – The gut hormone helps to decrease appetite and make you feel full after eating (which doesn’t mean you also need a plateful of will power to avoid devouring that molten chocolate cake for dessert).
  5. GLUCAGON-LIKE PEPTIDE 1 (GLP-1) – Another appetite-regulating hormone produced in the gut after you chow down, that makes you feel more satisfied.
  6. THYROID  – Controls your metabolism. Not only does your metabolism dictate your weight, it also determines your energy levels, internal temperature, skin, hair, nail growth, and more.
  7. INSULIN – After you eat, cells in your pancreas release insulin that shuttles sugar from your bloodstream into your body’s tissues to use for energy later. The lack of insulin causes a form of diabetes.
  8. GLUCAGON – When your blood sugar levels dip, glucagon breaks down stored glucose so your body can use it for energy. Insulin and glucagon work together to keep your blood sugar levels stable
  9. SEROTONIN – Major mood booster associated with learning and memory, regulating sleep, and digestion. Low levels could lead to depression.
  10. GHERKIN – Ghrelin is your hunger gremlin. Signals your brain that it’s time to feast (maybe “have a healthy meal” is more like it) Controlling ghrelin levels may be key to preventing weight gain (nice for keeping your stomach from growing over the waist of your pants!).
  11. LEPTIN – Ghrelin’s counterpart communicates to your brain that you’ve been fed so you stop eating, which is why it’s been given the nickname the “satiety hormone”. Also helps your brain regulate how much energy your body burns throughout the day.
  12. ADIPONECTIN – Another fat-fighting hormone, this one boosts your muscles’ ability to use carbohydrates for energy, increases your metabolism, and speeds the rate at which your body breaks down fat.
  13. MELATONIN – Known as the sleep hormone, it is produced at night to help you fall asleep and stay asleep.
  14. ADRENALINE – Churns out the “fight or flight” hormone, which allows you to battle danger head-on or escape to safety.
  15. DOPAMINE – The kick-ass chemical in your brain that makes you feel and do happy things.

Relax, they’ll be no quiz. Just accept that they’re there. And be very, very grateful.

THE DIRTY DOZEN DISRUPTERS

Caution…warning…all is not well in the gland kingdom all the time. There is no end to the dirty deeds that endocrine disruptors can play on your body: increasing production of certain hormones, decreasing production of others, imitating hormones, turning one hormone into another, interfering with hormone signaling, telling cells to die prematurely (yes, as in “kaput”), competing with essential nutrients, binding to essential hormones, accumulating in organs that produce hormones. They can mess up every single part of your body in deadly dastardly ways.

BPA – Some may say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but do you really want a chemical used in plastics imitating the sex hormone estrogen in your body? 93 percent of Americans have it in their bodies!

Dioxin – Dioxins are multi-taskers… but not in a good way. Very long-lived, they build up both in the body and in the food chain, are powerful carcinogens and can also affect the immune and reproductive systems.

Phthalates (nope, no vowel missing) – Chemicals called phthalates can trigger what’s known as “death-inducing signaling” in testicular cells, making them die earlier than they should- (yep, that’s cell death – in your man parts).

Perchlorate (Isn’t that what you do with coffee?) – Who needs food tainted with rocket fuel?! That’s right, perchlorate, a component in rocket fuel, contaminates much of our produce and milk.

Fire retardants – These incredibly persistent chemicals have been found to contaminate the bodies of people and wildlife around the globe – even polar bears. Incredibly persistent, they’re going to be contaminating people and wildlife for decades to come.

Lead – This is one heavy metal you want to avoid. This killer is toxic especially to children. It harms almost every organ system in the body and has been linked to a staggering array of health effects. Funny how the phrase “get the lead out” has come to mean “hurry”. Well you certainly want to hurry avoiding this.

(Are you getting really nervous and pissed-off yet?)

Arsenic – Arsenic isn’t just for murder mysteries anymore. In fact, it’s lurking in your food and drinking water. If you eat enough of it, arsenic will kill you outright. In smaller amounts, arsenic can cause skin, bladder and lung cancer.

Mercury – Caution: that sushi you are eating could be hazardous to your health. Mercury, a naturally occurring but toxic metal, gets into the air and the oceans primarily though burning coal. Eventually, it can end up on your plate in the form of mercury-contaminated seafood.

Perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs)  – Chemicals used to make non-stick cookware can stick to you. They are so widespread and extraordinarily persistent that 99 percent of Americans have these chemicals in their bodies. They don’t break down in the environment – ever. That means that even though the chemical was banned after decades of use, it will be showing up in people’s bodies for countless generations to come.

Organophosphate pesticides – These compounds produced by the Nazis in huge quantities for chemical warfare during World War II, were luckily never used. After the war ended, American scientists used the same chemistry to develop a long line of pesticides that target the nervous systems of insects.

Even all the names of these devils sound ominous and menacing.

UNDERSTANDING HORMONES BEYOND “HUH?”

WITH ALL THE DETAILS REGARDING THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM AND HORMONES, IT COULD CAUSE HEADS TO SPIN. IT’S COMPLICATED. BUT THEN THE WAY OUR BODIES WORK IS LIKE TRYING TO PUT TOGETHER A 5000-PIECE CROSSWORD PUZZLE. THE IMPORTANT THING TO TAKE AWAY IS HOW SO MANY THINGS CAN GUNK UP YOUR HORMONES AND SEND THEM SPIRALING OUT OF BALANCE. AND WHEN YOUR HORMONES AREN’T BALANCED, YOU’RE NOT GOING TO FEEL YOUR BEST. FORTUNATELY, DR. STEPHEN A. GOLDSTEIN, M.D, F.A.C.S. AT DENVER HORMONE HEALTH IS AT THE HEAD OF THE FIELD IN BHRT OR BIOIDENTICAL HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY. HIS EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE IS UNPARALLEL. FIRST HE TAKES THE TIME TO DISCUSS AND EXAMINE YOUR SYMPTOMS. THEN, WITH EXACTING CARE, HE DEVELOPS A UNIQUE TREATMENT PLAN SPECIFIC TO YOUR PROBLEMS. CALL TODAY FOR A CONSULTATION.

THEN ALL YOU’LL HAVE TO UNDERSTAND IS THAT YOU’RE GETTING THE BEST.