Sex Hormone Balance:
For Serious Anti-Aging and Disease Prevention
In both males and females, a decline or
imbalance of the sex hormones is associated with a wide variety of health
problems.
Imbalanced or decreased sex hormones in women can cause:
- Acne or oily skin
- Bloating
- Bone loss
- Breast disease including cancer
- Cancer (hormone-related: breast, ovary,
uterus)
- Decreased fertility
- Depression
- Endometriosis
- Excess facial and body hair
- Heart disease
- Heavy or painful periods
- Hot flashes
- Irregular periods
- Irritability
- Loss of muscle mass
- Loss of scalp hair
- Low libido
- Memory lapses
- Menstrual irregularities
- Mood swings
- Nervousness
- Night sweats
- Osteoporosis
- Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
- Poor concentration
- Sleep disturbances
- Tender or fibrocystic breasts
- Urinary incontinence
- Vaginal dryness
- Weight gain
Imbalanced or decreased sex hormones in men
can cause:
- Bone loss
- Decreased mental clarity
- Decreased muscle strength
- Decreased stamina
- Decreased urine flow
- Depression
- Erectile dysfunction
- Heart disease
- Hot flashes
- Increased abdominal fat
- Increased urge to urinate
- Irritability
- Low sex drive
- Mood swings
- Night sweats
- Poor concentration
- Sleep disturbances
Youthful hormone balance, achieved with natural
("bio-identical") hormone replacement therapy is considered a main-stay of
anti-aging and longevity medicine.
Best Test for Sex Hormone Balance
The sex hormones can be tested in blood, saliva or urine. Urine provides the
most accurate results, saliva is next best and blood testing is least accurate.
Here's why:
The sex hormones are released in "pulsed" doses throughout a 24-hour period. One
hour, the output may be high, the next hour it may be low. This is a normal
pattern for both sex and adrenal hormone excretion.
A blood sample gives us only a "photograph" of the hormones present at the time
the blood is drawn. It tells us nothing about the 24-hour average of hormones
(which is the real number we are concerned with). Blood testing is the least
accurate measure of sex and adrenal hormones.
Saliva, which reflects an "average" of the 24-hour hormone content of the blood,
is the next most accurate.
Because a 24-hour urine test "captures" both the highs and lows of hormone
output for an entire 24-hour time period and averages them, this method of
hormone testing is in my opinion the "Gold Standard" of hormone testing.
I currently recommend urine hormone testing for any patient who has concerns of
hormone balance (which should be everyone over age 35-40!). Saliva testing is
next best but does not appear to be as accurate.
What's Your EQ?
Do you know what your EQ --- estrogen quotient --- is? You should, because this
may be the single most important piece of information for preventing breast and
prostate cancer. Here's why:
Estriol (E3) is a "good" estrogen and higher levels of estriol are associated
with less cancer risk. Estriol appears to block many of the effects of the
carcinogenic estrogens, estradiol (E2), estrone (E1), and other related
"pro-carcinogenic" estrogens. How do you find out if you have enough estriol to
protect you from cancer? You calculate your EQ.
Studies done in the 19060's and 1970's showed
that women with an EQ above 1.0 had a significantly lower risk of breast cancer.
Many women today have EQ's of less than 1.0, and breast cancer rates are on the
rise. This is no coincidence.
Although the EQ ratio has been best-studied in
women, it appears that a similar ratio may be predictive for prostate cancer in
men.
I now recommend that my patients who have hormone
testing done have the EQ performed at the same time. The results, if
unfavorable, are easily improved with dietary changes, supplements, iodine
therapy or other natural measures. Where cancer is concerned, "prevention"
trumps "early detection" every time.
Learn more about urinary sex hormone testing, The "Gold Standard" of hormone
testing, here: Comprehensive Plus Hormone
Testing |
