I've been considering starting bioidentical hormones. Ever since my mid 40's, I've been experiencing difficulty sleeping and on night's that I actually I do manage to fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the night, I wake up the next day feeling fatigued and lethargic. A girlfriend of mine told me that it could my hormones. I've been Googling a lot lately and a lot of the information on the internet doesn't really address the basics. My question is what exactly are hormones and how do they work?
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May 18, 2011
Stroke victims could benefit from hormone therapy
A new Swedish study accepted for publication by the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolis — a publication of The Endocrine Society — reported on 407 patients that had experienced a stroke in their lifetime. These patients have been followed for a period of two years after the stroke. Levels of a hormone called IGF-1 have been shown to be elevated in the patients who had the best recovery after stroke.
April 25, 2011
Medical Mondays: What is leaky gut syndrome?
It has been suggested to my wife by her primary care doctor that the symptoms she's been experiencing as of late are likely the result of leaky gut syndrome. I've never heard of this condition and I was hoping that you could elaborate on what it means to have a leaky gut.
April 18, 2011
Medical Mondays: How are hormones and stress related?
I’m 47-years-old and I’ve been researching natural hormone replacement options to help me find some relief from my hot flashes and moodiness. Another big issue I’ve been dealing with is stress. I’ve always been high-strung, but lately I’ve noticed that I fly off the handle over the smallest of things. Is it true that hormones or lack thereof can make stress worse? Also, what are some things that I can do that might help me de-stress?
April 13, 2011
How Stress, Relationships and Alcohol Impact Libido
Hormone imbalances aren’t the only causes for a loss of libido — stress is another important factor. Cortisol, often referred to as the stress hormone, dramatically increases when you under stress. This increase in cortisol can interfere with the binding of testosterone to its receptor sites, which renders the testosterone ineffective.
Here is another part of the story from the famed Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) trials which were prematurely discontinued when it was found that women using a combination of conjugated equine estrogens (CEE) and the progestin, medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) increased the likelihood of breast cancer and heart disease.
April 6, 2011
The Hormones Behind Your Libido
Has your sex drive been declining as you’ve been getting older? If so, you’re not alone. Low libido is a common complaint for both men and women, but it’s not an inevitable consequence of aging. There’s a lot you can do to increase your libido, especially when you know what’s going on in your body.
March 10, 2011
There's No Magic Pill for Weight Loss!
I was on vacation last week and read in More Magazine about the increasing popularity of combo-pilling. Then, this morning I saw a segment on the Today Show with the editor-in-chief of More Magazine and Nancy Snyderman, MD discussing combo-pilling again. This is a down-right scary practice that is undertaken by many women in their desperate fight to get control of their weight. Patients are looking for combinations of different weight loss pills to try to mimic the effects of the drug combination Phen-fen (Phentermine-Fenfluramine). Phen- fen was a very successful combination of weight loss pills that did lead to more weight loss than either pill alone, but Fenfluramine was ultimately taken off the market because of an increase in fatal pulmonary hypertension and valvular heart problems. Phentermine has not been shown to have harmful effects and is still on the market. Unfortunately for women, Phentermine doesn’t work as well by itself.
I myself am a big fan of TheRealCougarWoman blog. It has been and continues to be a great source for Real Cougars who want to stay on the top of their game. And as a new 5-Carat expert, I’m very excited to share what valuable information I can to help Real Cougars continue to maintain a well-rounded and perfectly cut, diamond lifestyle.
January 31, 2011
Medical Mondays: How can I improve my sex life?
I saw a recent video that Dr. Landa posted called "Libido Reboot." With Valentine's Day coming up, I was hoping that Dr. Landa could offer some advice on what I can do to spice things up in the romance department. I eat well, exercise four days a week and recently started taking bioidentical hormones. Outside of that, what can my husband and I do to spruce up our sex life? Any advice is much appreciated.
January 17, 2011
Medical Mondays: How can I reboot my libido?
I’m still getting my period, but I feel like menopause is on the horizon. I used to have an excellent sex life and great sex drive, but now I feel like my libido is just gone. I’m 40 years old and I can care less about having sex. Is this normal for a woman my age? Is there anything I can do to jump-start my libido?
January 12, 2011
Bioidentical Hormones May Prevent Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is on the rise in America, but new evidence reveals there is hope. The Shriver Report, published by Maria Shriver with the backing of the Alzheimer’s Association, took an up close and disturbing look at the dreaded disease’s impact on women—and estrogen’s possible role in preventing it.
December 15, 2010
Weighing the risks and benefits of hormone therapy
Finally, authors who are willing to look at the “good news” results from the WHI and to look at the hormone that is actually causing the increase in breast cancer – it’s the progestin, not the estrogen. As the authors state this is old news, in the WHI it was clearly shown that women who took estrogen only did have a decreased risk of breast cancer. Even though as the authors state that overall the reduction did not reach clinical significance, the message that is important is that estrogen alone did not INCREASE the risk of breast cancer. The only group that showed an increased risk of breast cancer was the group where estrogens were combined with progestin (an artificial form of progesterone).
December 13, 2010
Medical Mondays: How do I know if I'm going through perimenopause?
The only real symptoms I have is an irregular menstrual cycle and fatigue that get progressively worsens throughout the day. I work with menopausal women that say I am about to go through the change. I am only 42. No night sweats, hot flashes or changes in libido. How do I know for sure if I'm going through perimenopause?