Hormones are a critical element in our bodies and can have an enormous impact if hormone levels go awry. Hormone imbalances can be caused be a variety of conditions and factors, and can lead to a wide range of symptoms, including some which can have a detrimental effect on your health and lifestyle.
In this article, we will look at the major causes of hormone imbalances, the effects these can have in both men and women, and what you can do if you are concerned you may be suffering from a hormone imbalance.
What Are Hormones And Why Are They Important?
Hormones are a special type of chemical which our bodies produce in the endocrine glands. They are essentially the human body’s messaging system, carrying signals between different systems and organs to regulate the majority of bodily functions. Hormones are responsible for letting us know when we are hungry, too hot or too cold, and feeling certain emotions. They carry messages which regulate complex processes like reproduction.
Hormones help to control blood sugar levels, heart rate, cellular growth, and much more. Without them our bodies simply wouldn’t function. However, it is also possible for hormones to become imbalanced, leading to specific health issues.
What Causes Hormone Imbalances?
A hormone imbalance simply means you have too much or too little of a certain hormone. Over our lifetime, hormone levels can fluctuate – think about hormone changes during adolescence and menopause, for example. Other factors can also cause the endocrine glands, the organs responsible for producing hormones, to over or under-produce certain hormones, leading to an imbalance.
Hormone imbalances may be caused by other health conditions such as diabetes, Cushing’s syndrome, or congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Problems with the thyroid gland, one of the endocrine organs responsible for hormone production in the body, is also a common cause of hormone imbalances. This could be hypothyroidism, meaning the thyroid in underactive and not producing enough hormones, or hyperthyroidism, where thyroid is overactive. A related but separate problem with similar effects is hyper-functioning thyroid nodules. Both benign and cancerous tumors can also affect the thyroid or other endocrine glands play havoc with our hormones.
Medical and behavioural factors can also contribute to hormone imbalances. Some medications may affect hormone levels or hormone production, as well as eating disorders, stress and some injuries or trauma. Patients undergoing treatment for cancer may also find that these treatments cause an imbalance in hormones.
Effects of Hormone Imbalances
Even small changes to the levels of certain hormones in our bodies can have a big impact. The human body is a well-oiled machine of many complex systems and processes all working together at the same time, and so even a small change somewhere in the system can send the whole thing out of whack.
Effects of hormone imbalances vary depending on age and gender. In general, hormone imbalances can cause weight gain or loss, fatigue, problems with the digestive system, depression and mood disorders, muscle weakness, aches or tenderness, among other effects.
Women can also suffer from hormone imbalances specific to estrogen and progesterone, particularly due to a condition called polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Specific effects of this kind of hormone imbalances in women include irregularities with menstruation, Hirsutism (excessive hair growth, especially on the face), hair loss, acne, vaginal dryness, atrophy and pain during sex, and struggles with weight gain and inability to lose weight.
On the other hand, in men can also suffer from testosterone imbalances, usually a deficiency in this hormone. This can lead to erectile dysfunction, decreased sex drive, infertility, loss of muscle mass, osteoporosis and even the growth of breast tissue.
Finally, hormone imbalances have unique effects in children, in cases of delayed puberty and associated with a condition called hypogonadism. This can effectively lead to puberty not starting for children and teenagers. For girls, this means they will not begin to menstruate, develop breasts or experience the increased growth rate typical during puberty. Boys with this condition will not develop muscle mass, deepening of the voice, increased body hair, or growth in the genital organs.
Diagnosis and Treatment of Hormone Imbalance
Services such as verisana.com allow you to perform your own check of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone hormone levels at home with a simple saliva test. Once you receive the results you should take these to your doctor in order to discuss next steps and possible treatment.
Depending on the type and cause of the imbalance, different hormone imbalances will have different suggested treatments. For women suffering from excessive menopausal systems, your doctor may recommend a type of estrogen therapy which involves taking low doses of estrogen. For women suffering from estrogen imbalances as part of PCOS, doctors may treat this through combination birth control pills, therapy using the other hormone progestin, or certain medications.
Testosterone supplements may be prescribed to men diagnosed with low testosterone to manage these systems. It can also be given to adolescents suffering from hypogonadism to encourage the start of puberty.
There are also a number of nutritional supplements and natural remedies which may help to ease the symptoms of hormone imbalances. Making lifestyle changes such as losing weight, exercising and eating a healthy, balanced diet may help to reduce the causes of some hormonal imbalances.