Unsure if You Have a Hormonal Imbalance? Take Our Quiz!
Almost every person will experience hormonal changes during their lifetimes. It’s also common for both men and women to start experiencing symptoms of hormone changes and deficiencies as they age. But how do you know for certain if you’re experiencing a hormonal imbalance?
First, it’s crucial to evaluate your symptoms. In women especially, hormones are a critical aspect of every phase of life—from the beginning of menarche through childbearing age and into menopause. These hormones change over time to meet our body’s changing needs.
But sometimes hormone levels become unbalanced, creating uncomfortable or painful symptoms. At Renewed Vitality, our symptom checker services help people address hormonal problems and feel their best through each stage of life.
Common symptoms of hormone imbalances often include:
Hair Loss
The health and growth of your hair is also specifically related to your hormones. Thyroid abnormalities, for instance, can cause a person’s dry hair or skin, thinning hair, or fragile nails. Hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, and parathyroid disorder are also known to cause hair loss.
Anxiety or Depression
Nearly 20% of Americans suffer from an anxiety-related disorder, and 7% from a major depressive disorder every year. Women may be at a higher risk due to changes in estrogen levels during menstrual cycles, pregnancy, or menopause that are correlated to worsening depression. In terms of hormones specifically, research on the impact of estrogen receptors in the brain concluded that estrogen reduces the fear response and anxiety levels for both humans and rodents. Higher amounts of estrogen were also correlated with less fearful responses when stimulated by fearful situations.
Heightened Moodiness or Irritability
The hormone estrogen induces an important effect on neurotransmitters in the brain, including serotonin (a chemical that improves mood). For women, fluctuating estrogen levels can cause premenstrual syndrome (PMS) or depressed mood during the perimenopause (the phase before periods stop completely) and the menopause. Men with low levels of testosterone have a higher chance of developing anxiety or major depressive disorder when compared to those with normal levels.
Weight Gain or Loss of Muscle Mass
A wide range of hormone-related conditions can result in weight gain, including an underactive thyroid (when it does not produce enough thyroid hormones that help regulate your metabolism). Hormone-related weight gain or loss of muscle may also result from polycystic ovary syndrome, a problem causing small cysts on the ovaries, and menopause, which creates hormonal changes that can make you more likely to gain fat near your abdomen.
Low Energy, Stamina, or Motivation
While experiencing perimenopause and menopause, a woman’s ovaries gradually produce less estrogen and progesterone, which promotes sleep. Decreasing estrogen levels could also make night sweats worse, which disturb your sleep, contributing to greater fatigue and low energy levels.
Low Sex Drive
Low libido is a common symptom for women going through perimenopause or menopause because of falling levels of estrogen and testosterone. Additional menopausal symptoms include night sweats, fatigue, low mood, and greater anxiety, all of which can also negatively impact your sex life.
Still uncertain whether you’re suffering from hormone imbalances? Take our quick quiz that helps you evaluate hormonal imbalance symptoms. To get started, click here for women and here for men. Truly, the more information you have about your specific hormonal imbalances (triggers, causes, etc.) the better you can heal them moving forward.
If you and your healthcare provider think you may be experiencing hormone imbalances, contact Renewed Vitality today! We are the Reading area’s hormone therapy resource and can help you start feeling healthy and more like yourself again.
Being diagnosed with and experiencing breast cancer is extraordinarily difficult for both patients and loved ones. For breast cancer survivors, there are thankfully a few reliable options that can improve and restore quality of life to similar levels, pre-diagnosis. Hormone therapy is one such option for breast cancers that are sensitive to hormones.
Hormone therapy to treat breast cancer can be a great option after undergoing surgery to decrease the chance that the cancer will return. Such hormone therapy may also be used to reduce the size of a tumor before surgery, increasing the probability that the cancer will be removed in its entirety. Even if a patient’s cancer has spread to other parts of the body, hormone therapy for breast cancer may help control it.
Let’s take a closer look at how proper hormonal therapy works and can benefit breast cancer survivors.
Hormones and Hormone Therapy
Starting with the basics, hormones are essentially chemical messengers that regulate specific functions in the body, including reproduction. Hormones are created and released by many glands in the body and eventually enter the bloodstream, where they circulate to other tissues across the body.
In terms of hormone therapy, the most common forms of breast cancer are either designed to block hormones from binding to receptors on cancer cells or to decrease the body’s creation of hormones. More specifically, hormone therapy is typically used for breast cancers that are found to have receptors for the naturally-occurring hormones estrogen or progesterone. Hormone therapy can prevent these hormones from attaching to cancer cells, which stops the cells from growing, and as a result, prevents or delays breast cancer recurrence. Hormone therapy can also reduce or prevent the occurrence of a second, independent breast cancer.
Hormone Therapy Myths
While still a controversial issue, bioidentical hormones are increasingly believed to not cause cancer. The belief that they did began with a false impression back in 1991 when the very controversial Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) was stopped because of the increased occurrence of chronic disease among subjects. This study incorporated the synthetic hormone, Prempro, and study subjects were 63 years old on average.
Meta-analyses following this study have shown both that most of the subjects came with pre-existing conditions that led to the development of disease during the study, and that hormones have the potential to reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases in women.
Importantly, over 15 major medical organizations now encourage hormone therapy as part of a safe and effective treatment plan for many adverse health conditions (2013). And, according to a 2015 survey conducted by the North American Menopause Society, over 60 percent of clinicians prescribe or support the application of bioidentical hormones.
When is Hormone Therapy Used for Breast Cancer?
As mentioned above, hormone therapy is typically prescribed after surgery (as adjuvant therapy) to reduce the probability of the cancer returning. It is also, sometimes, started before surgery as neoadjuvant therapy.
Hormone therapy for breast cancer is usually taken for approximately 5 years. Treatment that goes beyond 5 years is usually made available to women who have cancers that carry a more substantial risk of coming back. In essence, hormone therapy can still be an effective solution to treat cancer that has come back after treatment or that has spread to other parts of the body.
Hormone therapy for breast cancer can be an incredible treatment solution for women who have survived breast cancer and want to improve their health and quality of life while reducing their risk for future cancers. If you and your healthcare provider think hormone therapy for breast cancer could be a good option for you, contact Renewed Vitality today! We are the Reading area’s hormone therapy resource and can help you start feeling healthy and like yourself again.
Most people are familiar with the concept of hot flashes. They’re a very common symptom of menopause, and so many women will experience them at least a few times in their later years. You may be wondering, however, if men can ever experience hot flashes. The answer is yes, they can, but the underlying causes of hot flashes are of course different from the causes of hot flashes in women. Let’s take a look at why a man might be suffering from hot flashes, and what can be done to relieve them.
What is a Hot Flash?
A hot flash is a sudden and unexpected warm feeling that doesn’t correspond to the temperature of the environment. The sensation of heat is often felt in the face, neck, chest, and upper body, and can often cause sweating and redenning of the skin. Loss of heat during a hot flash can lead to chills after it ends, and they can often occur during the night and are then referred to as night sweats.
Hot flashes are not a condition on their own and are a symptom of some other issue that might be happening. They can be bothersome and uncomfortable, and when they occur at night, can lead to lost sleep.
What Causes Hot Flashes in Men?
While hot flashes in women are usually a sign of changing hormone levels, like those seen in menopause, in men they have a few different causes.
Androgen Deprivation Therapy
A treatment for prostate cancer called androgen deprivation therapy works by restricting the production of testosterone in the body. This helps to stop the cancer cells from growing or spreading, because testosterone stimulates their growth. However, the lowered levels of testosterone cause hot flashes for the majority of the men who undergo this treatment.
Lifestyle Stress
Hot flashes can sometimes occur alongside other symptoms in a man such as erectile dysfunction, lowered libido, or mood changes. For these symptoms together, it’s common that some kind of stress, depression, anxiety, or other mental health issue is aggravating them.
Low Testosterone
Low testosterone can occur for many different reasons, and can cause hot flashes. Some of the underlying causes of low testosterone (also called hypogonadism or low T) include undescended testicles, physical testicular injury, Klinefelter’s syndrome, hemochromatosis, pituitary disorders, HIV or AIDS, and many other conditions. Other symptoms of low T include infertility, low energy levels, low muscle mass, decreased sex drive, hair loss, and more. If these symptoms occur along with hot flashes, speak to your doctor about your testosterone levels and what might be causing them to be low.
What Can You Do to Relieve Male Hot Flashes?
Hot flashes can be difficult to manage, and even more challenging to avoid, but there are some steps you can take to make them easier to deal with.
Avoiding Triggers
Spend a week or so being observant about what you’re doing right before and during a hot flash. You might be able to identify some things that trigger them, including warm rooms or tight, hot clothing, alcohol, smoking, caffeine, or spicy food. Avoiding these things can help you to avoid hot flashes.
Healthy Lifestyle Changes
Building in more exercise, nutritious foods, and plenty of sleep will help to improve many things about your physical health, including hot flashes. Prioritizing fitness and health and taking care of your body can help to make these episodes easier to deal with.
Treat the Cause
If you can identify the underlying cause of your hot flashes with your doctor’s help, such as environmental stress or low testosterone, you can begin treating the underlying cause of your hot flashes and stopping them altogether.
Hormone Replacement Therapy
Hormone replacement therapy can often be a great treatment for men looking to deal with their hot flashes, although with some exceptions. Men with a history of prostate cancer are advised not to undergo any testosterone replacement therapy since testosterone stimulates prostate cancer cells. However, if you and your healthcare provider think this might be a good option for you, contact Renewed Vitality today! We are the Reading area’s hormone replacement therapy resource and can help you start to feel like yourself again.
The changes of pregnancy and the postpartum period are some of the most intense hormonal changes that a woman’s body will ever go through, and even though they’re normal, they can be difficult to manage. Right after birth, some hormone levels fall dramatically while others rise, and this is what leads to the postpartum issues that so many women experience– depression, extreme fatigue, hair loss, and more.
Knowing what to expect and some ways to cope with these changes can really help to make it easier for you to get through this stressful time! Here are some of the things you should know.
How do your hormones change postpartum?
Estrogen and Progesterone
Over the course of a pregnancy, estrogen and progesterone are at very high levels. Right after delivery, whether you deliver vaginally or via C-section, these two hormones drop very fast. This is a natural change– your body doesn’t need the high levels anymore and there are other hormones that need to get to work.
However, the sharp drop is often part of the reason (combined with the stress of labor and a new baby) that many women feel low or just “off” physically and emotionally right after the birth, and it’s a large contributor to postpartum depression in the following weeks and months. This change is also what leads to postpartum hair loss, and can contribute to some additional sleep disturbances on top of your new baby.
Around three months after your baby is born, your estrogen and progesterone levels will begin to return to normal.
Prolactin and Oxytocin
At the same time that your estrogen and progesterone levels are falling, your prolactin and oxytocin levels are rising. Oxytocin plays a role in labor– it’s the hormone that stimulates uterine contractions. It also plays a major role in early mother-child bonding. Prolactin, on the other hand, is the hormone involved in milk production.
If you choose not to breastfeed, these hormone levels will drop off fairly quickly, but if you do nurse your baby, they will stay elevated until the baby is about six months old. Around this time they start to eat solid foods, so their demand for breast milk will slowly start to taper off, which is why this hormonal change happens.
What can I do to manage postpartum hormonal changes?
Focus on Your Diet
One of the most effective ways to get through rising and falling hormones during the postpartum period is to focus on eating a nutritious diet. Adding in plenty of healthy fats and proteins as well as fruits and vegetables will not only help your energy and mood, but can set your body up as well as possible to produce the hormones you need.
Accept Any Help You Can
As much as hearing it is probably exasperating, reducing your stress levels and getting plenty of sleep and gentle exercise will do wonders for how you feel as you recover from birth. Obviously, with a new baby, that’s much, much easier said than done! As a result, one of the best things you can do for your physical and mental health is to get help.
From your partner to friends and family members to professional services if you can afford them, there are plenty of ways for you to get the assistance you need so that you can care for yourself and your baby as efficiently as possible. Let loved ones cook you meals or come clean the house and do laundry! Split nighttime feedings and diaper changes as evenly as possible with your partner, and enlist them to hold the baby while you take a shower and have some time to yourself. Any way you can find to focus on your own wellbeing in addition to your baby’s will help you to feel better as you ride out these hormonal changes.
Speak to Your Doctor
When all else fails, difficulty with hormone levels during your postpartum period is definitely something you should speak to your doctor about. They can help you with any concerns about your health, so make sure to prioritize yourself and make an appointment if you feel like you need it!
Eventually every woman begins to experience some of the symptoms of menopause, and even when you know it’s coming, it can still be a challenging time! As the partner of someone who is going through menopause, it can be difficult for you to know what the right course of action is. You want to help the person that you love, but oftentimes it doesn’t seem like there’s much you can do at all, and you end up feeling powerless to make this transition easier for them.
While you certainly can’t stop the natural process of you and your partner aging, there are some ways that you can show support and help your partner as they go through menopause. Here are some good things to keep in mind.
Learn What to Expect
One of the best ways for you to support your partner is to do your homework. If you’re not familiar with what the effects of menopause actually look like and what your partner is and will soon be experiencing, now is the time find out!
Educate yourself on things like mood swings, hot flashes and night sweats, sleep problems, weight gain, hair thinning, and the many other physical effects that menopause can have. Not only will this help you to be more understanding of what your partner is going through, it can keep you from blundering into awkward situations where you make hurtful comments about something that they can’t control.
Be Understanding of Mood Swings
While not everyone experiences mood swings during menopause, it is a common symptom. The occasional bad mood is normal, but sudden and intense changes of mood that disrupt a person’s daily life and relationships are most likely a result of changing hormone levels during menopause.
Even when you know that your partner’s crankiness is caused by menopausal mood swings, pointing this out to them is probably not the best idea. No one likes to be told they’re being irrational and hormonal when they really feel upset! Instead, try not to take them personally and if needed, discuss the situation with your partner later when they’re in a better headspace.
Communicate
You’re never going to be able to get through this next phase in your relationship together if you and your partner simply rely on assumptions about each other to understand what’s going on between you. Now is the time to focus on open and honest communication more than ever.
Discuss with your partner what the best ways are that you can offer support, and what you need from them in order to feel content and fulfilled in your relationship. Build a plan for how to handle fights and other disagreements. Practice active listening and being mutually patient with each other. All of these things can help your relationship to become stronger through this transitional phase.
Stay Healthy Together
Focusing on physical health like diet and exercise can help to make the symptoms of menopause easier to manage, so make forming healthy habits a part of your relationship that you do together!
Evening walks, weekend yoga sessions, or healthy cooking classes can be a great way for you and your partner to spend time with each other, and building in these healthy practices will help to make menopause a less challenging time for them. Plus, you get to reap the benefits of a healthier lifestyle as well!
Look Into Treatments
Sometimes, the symptoms of menopause are unpleasant enough that treatment is required. If this is something that your partner is open to, you can help them by assisting in researching possible treatments and therapies that can alleviate their symptoms and make their life easier as they continue to age.
Hormone replacement therapy (or HRT) has been shown to be extremely helpful in alleviating the symptoms of menopause, and at Renewd Vitality in Wyomissing, PA is the premier facility for HRT in the Berks County area. If your partner is interested in hormone replacement therapy for menopause, contact us today!
Whether you’re treating a hormone imbalance, dealing with the issues of menopause, or addressing problems with your thyroid, hormone replacement therapy can completely change how you feel and your outlook on life. Hormones affect many vital processes that happen in the body, and choosing to use HRT to put your levels back on track can have powerful effects on almost every aspect of your physical wellbeing.
Once you’ve settled on HRT, though, you have more decisions to make, and one of the biggest decisions is what form of hormone you’re going to use. There are many different ways that replacement hormones can be delivered into your system, and no one way is better than the others. You’ll have to decide which form is going to be the best fit for you, and to do that, you’ll need to know about your options! Here are the most common forms of hormones used in HRT and the benefits and drawbacks of each one.
Pills
Of the forms of hormone therapy, pills taken orally are the most common. Most are taken once a day, although some pills have different or more complex dosing schedules, and they are one of the most researched forms of hormone therapy since they’ve been around for the longest.
The benefits of pills is that they are easy to use and an effective way to deliver hormones to your system. Some of the downsides of pills, however, is that they can carry side effects. With estrogen therapy, for instance, side effects could include headaches and nausea, and pills can sometimes carry risks of aggravating other health conditions, like liver damage or increased risk of strokes or blood clots. Your doctor can discuss with you if these potential side effects are likely to cause an issue in your case.
Patches
Patches attach to your skin with an adhesive and secrete hormones into your system through the skin. Usually you wear patches somewhere out of the way, like on your stomach below your waistband, and you change them out regularly according to the instructions, typically once a week. If you frequently forget to take pills or other medications, patches can be a good option for you since they’re more of a “set it and forget it” kind of treatment.
Skin patches can be a good choice for people who can’t take pills– for instance, if you have a liver condition and can’t take oral estrogen, which is hard on the liver, an estrogen patch completely bypasses the liver and would be a great option. Side effects like headaches or nausea from patches can also sometimes be less intense than those from pills, although this does vary from person to person. Hormone patches usually need to be kept away from high heat or direct sunlight, though, because it can make them release their doses too quickly. This makes them difficult to wear for people who spend a lot of time outdoors in hot climates or who frequently use tanning beds or saunas. If these things apply to you, a different option might be better.
Topical Treatments
Topical hormone treatments cover any type of treatment that is applied to the skin, such as gels, creams, and sprays. They work similarly to patches by allowing the hormone to be absorbed into the bloodstream through the skin. They may be applied to different places on the body depending on the specific medication, like the arm or the leg.
Like patches, hormone creams, gels, and sprays are good for anyone who can’t take hormone pills orally because they bypass the digestive system and go straight to the bloodstream. Unlike patches, however, they do need to be applied regularly, often daily, which can make them difficult for people who have trouble remembering to take medication. Additionally, there is a risk of them being rubbed or washed off before they have a chance to absorb. Because of this, topical treatments always need to be applied after bathing or showering, and you should let them fully dry before dressing.
Vaginal Treatments
Vaginal suppositories, rings, and creams are most often used to deliver estrogen, and they are commonly used by women whose hormone imbalances lead to them having vaginal dryness, itching, burning, or pain during sex. This is one of the most effective ways to treat the vaginal symptoms of menopause. The schedules for these treatments can vary depending on what kind you’re using, from needing to be changed daily or a few times a week to only needing to be changed or reapplied every few months.
These treatments, like patches, are convenient because you don’t need to take them every day, and if the only real problems you’re having with a hormone imbalance are related to dryness and discomfort, they can be great to target that symptom directly. They also typically have a low dosage, reducing the risk of side effects like headaches or nausea. On the downside, they often don’t do much to help other symptoms such as hot flashes, so if you have symptoms besides vaginal discomfort, another type of therapy would be a better choice for you. It’s also not recommended to use vaginal treatments long term unless you’ve had a hysterectomy, because extended use can increase your risk of endometrial cancer.
While other types of hormone replacement treatments are available, these are the most common ones that you’ll run across. As you can see, each one has pros and cons, and your doctor can help you decide which will work best for you. If you’re interested in learning more about HRT, contact Renewed Vitality to schedule an appointment today!
Now that summer has finally arrived, vacation destinations are going to start calling your name! Whether you’re taking a quick weekend getaway to a nearby beach or lake, heading to an exciting new city, or taking a special trip to a beautiful resort, traveling is one of the best parts of the season. However, traveling can still be stressful, and it becomes even more difficult to deal with if you’re traveling during menopause or perimenopause, the time leading up to the stop of your period. Hot flashes, sleep problems, mood changes, and other challenging symptoms can make everyday tasks difficult during this time in your life, and it makes traveling look very different from what it looked like when you were a bit younger. However, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t get to enjoy your vacation this summer! Here are some tips to help you deal with the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause while traveling.
Know Your Triggers
While some symptoms of menopause are unavoidable, you may find that certain things can make them a lot worse. Common triggers include alcohol, caffeine, sweets, and spicy foods. As much as you enjoy these things, they can trigger your symptoms in an unpleasant way, so if you’re able to avoid them completely, it will make a big difference. You might not be able to completely do away with your favorite drinks and foods– after all, you are on vacation! But if you try to be conscious of when you encounter a trigger, you can plan for ways to help alleviate your symptoms later on.
Prepare for Hot Flashes
Hot flashes are one of the most common symptoms of menopause and perimenopause, and also one of the most annoying. Between trains, planes, buses, and hotel rooms, traveling already forces you to deal with extreme temperature changes, and adding hot flashes to the mix just makes it even worse. When traveling in menopause, packing with hot flashes in mind is one of the best ways you can help yourself. Layering clothes to allow you to adjust for temperature is always a good tip, and you can throw small battery-operated fans or refreshing facial mists into a carryon or purse as well. If you’re in a bus or train, try to claim a window seat so that you can give yourself a breeze if you need it.
Stay Active
A vacation is a time for resting and relaxing, which is absolutely essential to dealing with something stressful like menopause. However, you should still look for places to get in some physical activity, because it will really help to boost your mood, improve your energy levels, and blow off stress. This doesn’t mean that you need to spend hours of your day in the hotel gym! Take a few brisk laps in the pool, enjoy a nice scenic walk, or go through some gentle yoga stretches when you get up in the morning, and you’re sure to find yourself feeling better.
Be Ready for Your Period
Menopause occurs after your period has been absent for more than twelve months, but in perimenopause, you get all the symptoms like hot flashes and mood swings with the additional stress of an unpredictable period. Even if you haven’t had your period for a few months or you’re pretty sure that you won’t be getting it around the time of your trip, it’s good to be prepared just in case it decides to pop up unexpectedly. Make sure you pack a few pads or tampons. Even adding a small bottle of painkillers and a heating pad to your suitcase won’t take up that much extra room, and if you end up needing them, you’ll be grateful you thought to bring them!
Prioritize Sleep
Menopause can make getting enough quality sleep a challenge, and lack of sleep can exacerbate the problems you experience, so make sure you set yourself up for success as much as possible while on vacation. Try to stick to your regular sleep schedule as much as you can to avoid disrupting your circadian rhythm, and if you need to bring things that are a part of your routine like your own pillowcase, relaxing aromatherapy products, or anything else that helps you drift off at home, make sure you add them to your bag!
Consider HRT
If you find you’re still struggling to deal with the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause while you travel or at any other time, hormone replacement therapy might be a good option to help you find some relief. If you’re interested in learning more, contact Renewed Vitality to learn more about our treatments today!
Your hormones are the chemical messengers of your body, and they affect just about every process that goes on inside your body, not just your reproductive system. Weight, sleep, appetite, growth, even body temperature– all of these things are affected by changing levels of hormones in your system. You might’ve known this fact already, and maybe you’re familiar with other bodily processes that your hormones affect, but did you know that your hormones also play a role in your cardiac health? The different levels of estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone in your system can change how your heart functions and can even raise or lower your risk of cardiovascular disease. Let’s take a look at how your hormones can affect your heart health.
Estrogen
While estrogen’s primary function is as the female sex hormone, it has a surpisingly strong effect on cardiovascular health. Studies show that leading cause of death in postmenopausal women is heart disease. Although this connection is still being studied, the evidence suggests a correlation between the increased risk of heart disease following menopause and the dropping estrogen levels that occur at the same time, which seems to line up with the various functions of the hormone. Estrogen can improve the ability of your blood vessels to dilate and respond to changes in blood pressure, and they also help you to avoid clots.
There have been some studies that would seem to disprove the theory that dropping estrogen levels are bad for your heart, where postmenopausal women who were undergoing hormone replacement therapy didn’t see any benefits from increased estrogen. However, in these studies, the women were taking orally-dosed estrogen that affects cardiovascular health in different ways and can sometimes cause more harm than good. Naturally derived estrogen that is delivered percutaneously (under the skin) like the kind offered by Renewed Vitality has been shown to have more positive effects on heart health.
Testosterone
Lower levels of testosterone are not only associated with cardiovascular disease, they’re associated with other conditions that can eventually lead to cardiovascular disease, such as insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and diabetes. Between 27 and 36 percent of men who experience heart failure are also testosterone deficient, so much like estrogen, the connection is still being studied, but a correlation between testosterone levels and heart health is certainly present.
Testosterone has some vasodilatory effects (the dilation of veins) just like estrogen, and also plays a role in fighting inflammation and influencing muscular strength. Because of all of these things, testosterone replacement therapy has been shown to have positive effects for heart failure patients, including female patients, increasing functional capacity and decreasing other heart failure symptoms without major side effects.
Progesterone
Progesterone’s relationship to heart health is a little complicated. Part of this is due to the role progesterone plays in the production of cortisol, the body’s stress hormone that also acts as an anti-inflammatory agent. Heart disease means lots of inflammation, so cortisol is one of the tools the body uses to fight back The body uses progesterone to make cortisol, and in times of stress where lots of cortisol is needed, your body could become deficient in progesterone and experience a hormonal imbalance.
The other part of progesterone’s relationship to heart health has to do with a confusion in terms between natural and synthetic progesterone. The naturally occurring hormone has no negative effects on the cardiovascular system, but synthetic progesterone, or progestin, can be detrimental to the blood vessel walls and may increase clotting. This poses a problem, especially when a heart issue creates a progesterone imbalance due to high cortisol production. However, it’s been found that bioidentical progesterone hormone replacement treatment, like the kind offered by Renewed Vitality, doesn’t share the same risks as progestin and can be a useful treatment to help these imbalances.
As you can see, the relationship between your hormones and your heart is complicated and interconnected, with lots of studies still being conducted today. However, reliable bioidentical hormone replacement therapy has been well-established as helpful in cases of cardiovascular disease, so if you’re interested in learning more about how Renewed Vitality can help you, don’t hesitate to contact us.
