If you are experiencing issues with your mind or body, then your hormones could be the culprit. At Premiere Center for Health and Wellness in Cincinnati, OH, we can help you improve your hormone health for a more fulfilling life.
Why Is Hormone Health So Important?
Your hormones are responsible for many of your body’s functions. If your Hormone Health isn’t at appropriate levels or isn’t working the way they should, you could run into a variety of different issues. These can affect you on both a physical and mental level.
This is why it’s so important to maintain your hormone health. Part of taking good care of your hormones means understanding why they’re so crucial for your body in the first place. There are several things that you should know about your hormones and what they do for you.
What Exactly Are Hormones?
Your hormones work as messengers for your body. They are chemicals that travel through your bloodstream to various locations in your body. Different glands produce different types of hormones and perform different tasks.
Essentially, your hormones tell your body what it needs to be doing and when. They control and regulate things like your body’s development and reactions to certain stimuli, and they play important roles in major milestones of your life.
What Do Hormones Do?
Your hormones are produced by a collection of glands in what’s called your endocrine system. This system includes glands like your hypothalamus, pituitary gland, pancreas, thyroid, adrenal glands, ovaries, and testes.
As your body produces these hormones, they take control of several functions including the following.
Metabolism
One of the major things that your hormones are responsible for is your metabolism. Your metabolism is what provides your body with the energy required to perform a range of bodily functions.
To produce this energy effectively, your body requires a minimum number of calories. Your metabolism combines these calories with oxygen to create and release energy. It fuels functions like digestion, breathing, and the circulatory system, managing other hormone levels, regulating body temperature, and growing and repairing cells.
Homeostasis
Another important part of your body’s endocrine system is homeostasis. This is how your body regulates the conditions within your cells. This includes monitoring and regulating things like your temperature, water, and sugar levels. Two major hormones are responsible for your body’s homeostasis.
Insulin and glucagon are important for maintaining appropriate levels of glucose. Insulin controls the uptake of glucose by certain cells, while glucagon controls the release of this glucose. If your hormones are imbalanced and your body cannot perform these processes properly, then you could run into conditions like diabetes.
Development and Growth
There are several different hormones involved in maintaining and encouraging your body’s growth and development. This includes your pituitary hormone, thyroid hormone, and the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone. Together, these hormones work in your youth to help your body grow as well as to develop your reproductive system.
When these hormones aren’t functioning properly, this can affect your development during and after puberty. This is why it’s so important to make sure that your children are getting regular check-ups as they grow up. If there are any issues, a doctor can catch them early and offer effective treatment and management options.
Sexual Function
Your libido, or your desire and the energy required to have sex, is controlled and regulated by several different hormones in your body. This includes hormones like progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, and oxytocin. If these hormones aren’t at appropriate levels, then you may notice a major drop in your libido. This is especially common in women who enter menopause.
Professionals used to believe that a drop in libido was inevitable with age. Today, however, we know that that isn’t true. Older people can still enjoy a healthy and active sex life by taking good care of their hormonal health.
Reproduction
Along with your libido, your hormones are also responsible for your body’s reproductive system. Many of the hormones used for sexual function are used by your body’s reproductive system. This includes estrogen and testosterone as well as progesterone. These hormones are responsible for puberty, pregnancy, menstruation, sperm production, and more.
A woman’s reproductive system in particular will go through a lot of changes as she ages. When women enter perimenopause and menopause, they will see some drastic changes in the ways their bodies work. As hormones begin to change, women will stop menstruating and lose the ability to become pregnant.
Sleep-Wake Cycle
Sleep is an important part of your overall health. When you sleep, it gives your mind and body time to rest and regenerate. If you’re not getting healthy, restful sleep, you’ll likely find your mood and overall health are both affected. Two hormone-related body processes control your sleep-wake cycle.
These processes are your circadian biological clock and your sleep/wake homeostasis. Your circadian biological clock triggers sleepiness at different points throughout the day. Meanwhile, your sleep/wake homeostasis makes your body feel a greater need to sleep the longer that you’re awake.
Mood
As with your physical health, your hormones are also responsible for many key elements of your mental health. Hormones like dopamine, serotonin, and cortisol are all responsible for maintaining your mood as well as for reactions that you might experience to certain stimuli. Many mental health disorders are caused by imbalances in a person’s hormones.
For instance, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and many others are caused by improper levels of important hormones in your brain. Taking medications or finding other ways to regulate your hormones to level them out can be an effective way of managing and treating mental illnesses.
Why Are Women More Affected by Hormones?
Women tend to experience greater fluctuations in their hormones than men do. Men and women have all the same hormones, but these hormones vary in levels and intensity. Women naturally have higher levels of estrogen, and they tend to have more frequent and sudden changes in their hormones.
For instance, women may experience premenstrual syndrome or PMS which causes issues like mood swings, cramping, and discomfort in the week or days leading up to a woman’s period. When women enter menopause, they’ll notice other big changes like hot flashes, mood swings, and difficulty sleeping as their hormones fluctuate again.
What Causes Hormonal Imbalances?
For women, the natural process of aging can cause a lot of hormonal issues. But both men and women can experience hormonal problems caused by a range of different conditions. There are several major things that could potentially cause hormonal problems.
Tumors and other growths are one example. Hormonal imbalances can also because by autoimmune disorders or injuries or damages to your endocrine gland. These issues can also be genetic—if you have a family history of hormonal problems, then it’s likely that you’ll run into problems with your hormones at some point, too.
How Do I Know If I Have a Hormonal Imbalance?
It’s generally easy to tell when something in your body is off. When your hormones are all at the appropriate levels, you’ll look and feel your best, and processes like your sleep cycle, metabolism, and mood will all be regular.
However, if you start to notice changes like unexplained weight gain, a loss of libido, sleeplessness, or your mood dropping or swinging, that could indicate that you have some hormonal issues. If you believe that you might have a hormonal imbalance, our clinic is here to help.
What Can I Do About a Hormonal Imbalance?
Each person’s body is different, which means that treatments for issues like poor hormone health need to be different too. When you visit our clinic, we’ll discuss your problems and concerns and come up with the most effective treatment plan to manage them.
For some people, a few simple lifestyle changes might be all they need to start feeling normal again. However, others could require something like hormone replacement therapy to help hormones that are too low get back to the right levels and allow your body to function as normally.
Learn More About Us
If you are struggling with your hormone health, it’s important to have the right team on your side. We’ll be more than happy and willing to welcome you to our clinic and ensure that you get the help you need. To learn more, get in touch with us at Premiere Center for Health and Wellness in Cincinnati, OH.