Willow Farm Clinic

Hormones Impact Health Too…

 

Hormones play a powerful role in your body’s regulatory system, proper hormonal balance is essential to maintain optimal health. Certain hormones play a crucial role in how you feel. Testosterone, for example, enhances your sex drive, strengthens bone and muscle tissue, and reduces fat production. In addition, it is a natural energy booster that protects against the onset of depression and heart disease. Other hormonal deficiencies or excesses affect sleep, metabolism and the ability to fight disease. Throughout your life, and particularly when you enter middle age, information about your body’s hormone production provides keen insights to help maintain a healthy and vigorous life.

MALE HORMONES

Testosterone levels peak in most men during their early to mid 20s.  Between the ages of 40 to 70, the hormone producing cells begin to wear away, causing men to lose nearly 60 percent of peak levels. Key symptoms of testosterone deficiency include depression, fatigue, low sex drive, irritability, hair loss, thinning and wrinkling of the skin, weight gain and weakening of bone and muscle tissue. Eventually, hormone imbalances can set the stage for the development of more serious conditions like heart disease, osteoporosis, pre-diabetes and erectile dysfunction. While many popular medications are available to help sustain an erection, none of these drugs work effectively without adequate testos-terone. Women are not the only ones taking an active role in managing their quality of life. Men have the same opportunity to benefit from hormonal testing with Willow Farm Clinics’ Male Hormone tests.

FEMALE HORMONES

Hormones are tremendously complex. During the pre-menopausal years, imbalanced hormones can pose challenges with mood stabilisation, conception and regulation of your menstrual cycle.

Many women entering their 40s or 50s experience a range of symptoms from hormonal imbalance, including loss of sex drive, “brain fog”, weight gain, hot flushes, irregular menstrual cycles, vaginal dryness, urinary incontinence, depression and/or changes in sleep patterns.

From the onset of your period through menopause and beyond, proper hormone balance affects many of the issues most important to you: sex, fertility, relationships and even your outlook on life. Establishing baseline measures is essential to determining the need for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or other means of balancing hormones. With proper insights, your practitioner can advise on dietary, lifestyle, and supplemental changes to regulate hormone production.

THYROID FUNCTION

The thyroid gland secretes hormones that regulate your metabolism. Disruptions can slow down or speed up your body, producing unpleasant symptoms and health-threatening conditions from fatigue, hair loss and weight gain or loss, to high blood pressure and heart problems. Genova Diagnostics

ADRENAL FUNCTION

The adrenal glands produce several hormones, including DHEA and cortisol. When out of sync due to stress or other influences, these hormonal imbalances can cause weakness, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, obesity, and reduced sense of well-being. A prolonged imbalance can impact the immune system, trigger premature aging and set the stage for chronic illness. Testing provides information to help restore hormones to optimal levels.

MELATONIN PRODUCTION

Melatonin possesses powerful anti-aging and anti-cancer properties, and enhances sleep. Low levels are associated with insomnia or infertility. High levels may be associated with depression. Willow Farm Clinic testing facilitates measurement throughout the day to provide a comprehensive look at this fluctuating hormone.