Risk Factors of Hormone Therapy
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but to be well” Marcus Valerius Martial |
The topic of hormones is riddled with hot debate. If our hormones are out of balance, do we use prescription synthetic hormones or "Bio-Identical Hormones"? Are we better off using herbs or another remedy? The schools of thought on this topic vary widely.
So what's wrong with micro-managing the endocrine system? You cause a ricochet effect. Side effects become something that then has to be dealt with. For instance, let's take the thyroid. Hypothyroidism is increasing in dramatic proportions. The answer for many is to take a synthetic medication, designed to replace the hormones the body is not secreting enough of. They are "designer hormones" which are intended to duplicate the action of the missing hormones, but not exactly. The result is that if not dosed precisely, the feedback loop will affect the output of the pituitary glands' hormones. Since the pituitary gland is the "Master Controller" of the entire Endocrine System, when you affect the pituitary, the whole system - every organ and gland - tries to adjust. When it can't, it's called "side-effects".
When you give the body a hormone - bio-identical or synthetic, the gland becomes lazier. It would be like to having a 40 year old son still living at home and you want him to work. Every day you tell him to get out and find a job. But as he's walking out the door you hand him a $100 bill. He's making about $3,000.00 a month just by walking out the door! What incentive is there for him to work? The same is true of our bodies. Those glands just become lazy and their function diminishes. Where's the benefit?
No one in their right mind would think of taking a sophisticated jet aircraft in flight and entering alien commands into its computer control system. Yet conventional HRT does the equivalent of this, when given to people. Alien commands are entered into the endocrine or main "computer control system" of her body through the drugs inaccurately called "hormones".
This is true of prescribed as well as some of the safer more natural remedies. Melatonin and DHEA are prime examples. They are end-product "hormones" that replace the body's incentive to work. After a while the user becomes dependent upon them. Without the DHEA they get more tired so they don't want to quit taking it. A better option would be to get the adrenals themselves working better, and then there would no longer be a need for DHEA. If you got the pineal gland working to par, then you wouldn't need melatonin.
Why aren't you getting enough hormones in the first place? That's the part that seems to get neglected. It makes more sense to get the sluggish gland do its job!
But we also have to stop doing the things which create glandular weakness in the first place. Sugar, coffee, alcohol and stress adversely affect adrenal function. Our bodies were never designed to deal with prolonged stress. Therefore stress management techniques are helpful here. Eating foods that naturally rebuild the adrenals on a regular basis and avoiding detrimental foods are some simpler remedies, but there is much more you can do to rebuild the adrenals without doing hormone replacement with DHEA. By paying attention to three basic things: what you eat, how you exercise, and how you feel emotionally you can heal hormones.