Changes in estrogen levels, even as early as peri-menopause causes a disruption in chemicals in our brain. These chemicals include Serotonin, Dopamine and Gaba and are all diminished when estrogen levels decline. These chemicals are critical in maintaining mood, energy levels, sexual function, improving sleep…and decrease stress.

Estrogen’s effect on mood is due to its ability to decrease serotonin levels and endorphins when levels are low. When estrogen levels are balanced women experience a dramatic improvement in mood. Estrogen protects nerves in your brain and encourages the formation of new communications between nerves.

The primary role of estrogen for women is to stimulate growth, sexual characteristics and reproduction. Estrogen is responsible for hundreds of functions in a women’s body, including the very critical role of protecting them from heart disease, colon cancer and strokes. It also is involved with bone growth and cholesterol.

In Men, estrogen is also important, not only is it responsible for changes in puberty, including facial and chest hair, but also muscle development…and as men age it helps protect their bones and brain.

Having trouble sleeping? It could be your progesterone levels. Progesterone is vital for regulating sleep for both men and women, as well as boosting the immune system and increasing brain function.
Many women will experience a fluctuation of progesterone levels and these changes lead to the classic aging symptoms, including insomnia, mood swings, and brain fog.
An imbalance of progesterone and estrogen versus a deficiency could be the problem. Progesterone, like estrogen, causes multiple effects throughout the body. Many of the effects of progesterone can be credited to its ability to counter-balance the action of estrogen. Multiple physical and psychological problems at midlife are often caused by an imbalance between progesterone and estrogen, rather than a specific deficiency.

DHEA is produced from cholesterol by the adrenal glands. This hormone plays an important role in the creating of the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone, as well as helps the transformation of the body as it grows and matures.

Why DHEA gets so much attention, is because beginning in your late twenties DHEA starts to decline which contributes to the aging process in both men and women. By the age of 70 you have lost over 80% of your DHEA. Balancing your DHEA levels can help with obesity, brain fog, dementia, osteoporosis, loss of energy and chronic fatigue.

Why do hormone levels decrease as you age?

To put it bluntly, aging is not supposed to be good for us! Aging is a pre-programmed and genetic process to get us out of the picture, and the reduction of hormones is one of those processes. The truth is, in this day and age, we outlive our hormone supply.

Eating right and exercising helps maintain better levels of some hormones, but it cannot stop age-related hormone loss. Our productions of essential hormones starts to diminish as early as the age 25, and by 80 we have lost 50%-80%. By the age of 50 we have had over 20 years of hormone deficiencies.

To put it bluntly, aging is not supposed to be good for us! Aging is a pre-programmed and genetic process to get us out of the picture, and the reduction of hormones is one of those processes. The truth is, in this day and age, we outlive our hormone supply.
Eating right and exercising helps maintain better levels of some hormones, but it cannot stop age-related hormone loss. Our productions of essential hormones starts to diminish as early as the age 25, and by 80 we have lost 50%-80%. By the age of 50 we have had over 20 years of hormone deficiencies.

The term “bioidentical hormones” refers to hormones that are exactly the same in structure and function as those produced by the human body. Substances derived from plant or animal tissues are modified on a molecular level in a laboratory until they precisely match and mimic natural human hormones.
Synthetic hormones, in contrast, are not identical in structure and function to those produced by the human body. Synthetic hormones are made to be completely different…and done so on purpose. Drug companies aren’t allowed to patent a bio-identical structure, so they invent synthetic hormones that are patentable.
Up until 2002, women going to conventional doctors were prescribed Premarin, an FDA-approved synthetic hormone derived from the urine of pregnant horses. Premarin was the best selling drug in the U.S. and generated $2 billion dollars a year for the pharmaceutical company that produced it.
In 1994 a study called the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) was started with the plan to establish that Premarin would not only relive symptoms of menopause, but would also protect aging women from heart attacks, strokes and cancer. But that study was abruptly stopped because overwhelming evidence was found that the drugs were unsafe, and increased the risk of heart attacks, strokes and breast cancer. That of course led doctors to systematically take millions of women off of hormones overnight.
Because Bioidentical Hormones precisely match the hormones produced by the human body there are few undesirable side effects and the therapy is effective for both men and women. However the delivery method of taking bioidentical hormones is also important and should be administered in a natural way and monitored by a qualified hormone replacement physician.

Restoring hormone balance has been shown to have a beneficial effect on quality of life for both men and women. For women, estrogen and progesterone therapies are believed to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, significantly protect from heart attack, and reduce the bone loss associated with osteoporosis. For men, testosterone therapy can reduce risk for chronic diseases. Low testosterone has and has been linked to diabetes, heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, and prostate cancer.