Category: Hormones

Hormones and hormonal issues to be addressed and education upon.

Daily habits that decrease testosterone level

The moment we heard the word testosterone generally, the image of a man flashes in our mind. Though we will talk about those daily habits that decrease testosterone levels in men’s body, testosterone is produced both men and women. So now you might ask why we only talk about male while talking about testosterone. The answer is that testosterone is the primary male sex hormone.

What is testosterone hormone?

It is produced by the testicles of a man’s body because the pituitary gland in our brain tells our testicles to do so. Now the production of testosterone hormone increases in puberty or adolescence period and decreases as we age. As we have already said that testosterone is a primary sex hormone for men; it helps in sperm production in men genitalia.

What is its influence on a man’s body? 

It also increases muscle and bone mass of men as men enter puberty, the growth of body hair increases due to the secretion of testosterone hormone. But the essential thing that testosterone is responsible for is that it stimulates sex drive in men. So to put it, the low testosterone level in the body means low sex drive, and high testosterone level in the body means high sex drive. Apart from the physical influence of testosterone in a man’s body, it is also responsible for man’s mood along with his psychological and mental health. Testosterone also influences the brain and makes it bigger than women. Brain function and memory are also affected by testosterone. So to sum it up, testosterone hormone is essential for the overall sexual, physical, and mental wellbeing of men. So if a balanced level of testosterone is maintained in a man’s body that means it caters to a healthier life for him.

Causes of low testosterone level in a man’s body

Stress:

Well, this point is put at the top as a cause of low testosterone levels in a man’s body because the 21st-century lifestyle has made every single human being in this world more stressed, be it physically or mentally. Not to mention that both physical and emotional stress are the primary causes of the reduction of testosterone. So how it happens? The answer is that if you are unnecessarily stressed, then your brain releases cortisol. Cortisol has an inverse relationship with testosterone. If the level of cortisol increases in your body, the level of testosterone decreases.

Lack of sleep:

Though we all know that an eight-hour rest is essential for our health, yet we unnecessarily stay up late at night for work purposes or to watch NETFLIX or movies or to surf the internet or to play android games in our mobile. Whatever may be the cause, staying up late at night is one of the most critical factors that results in the imbalance of all the hormonal levels in a man’s body. Now, if you continue to stay awake late every night, your hormonal imbalance may cause the drastic dropping of testosterone levels.

Unhealthy diet:

Because of our daily busy modern life, we hardly pay any attention to what we are consuming in a day. We often satiate our appetite by only eating unhealthy roadside deep-fried fast foods or foods that contain a lot of carbs. It directly affects your testosterone level. To be specific foods that contain soy-based products, dairy products can negatively affect a man’s testosterone level.

Alcohol:

Alcohol is highly associated with the decrease in testosterone levels in a man’s body. Studies have shown that if you daily consume alcohol, then it can lower your testosterone level by 6.8 percent in three weeks.

Processed foods and fried foods:

Again, our over-reliance to Dominos, Pizza Hut, KFC, or Subway has made us consume processed food. While we all know that over-consuming of these processed foods that contain trans fats are directly related to heart problems and diabetes, it is also known for reducing testosterone levels in a man’s body.

Sugar:

Sugar is an element that is used in almost everything. Be it medicine or food. Studies have shown that we consume 19 spoons of sugar every day. Sugar is another prime culprit for the lowering of testosterone levels in your body.

Increasing belly fat:

If you have a tire of fat around your waist, then my friend, it is causing the lowering of your testosterone level. Why? It is so simply because belly fat is responsible for the conversion of testosterone into estrogen hormones. As testosterone level gets lower and lower in your body, and estrogen level gets higher and higher in your body fat starts to build up in your breasts, resulting in man boobs and also in your hips.

Use of drugs:

To say it, any type of intoxication is harmful to your health as well as for your testosterone buddy. Studies have shown that if you use drugs or marijuana for a long time, then it results in the imbalance of your brain signals and cause in the lowering of testosterone levels in your body.

Mobile in the pocket:

Yes! Yes! We know that almost every man put smartphones in their pocket. But dear men, we hate to break it that it is hampering your testosterone level in your body. Studies have shown that smartphones in pocket daily can reduce testosterone levels. Mobile phone radiations are not suitable for your testosterone.

Taking long hot baths:

It is a well-known fact that we all love long hot showers. But without your knowledge, these fantastic hot baths are slowly draining your testosterone level. The heat of boiling water hurts your testosterone.

Use of laptops:

As the days are passing by, and we are becoming more and more the slave of modern technologies, specifically of electronic devices. Applications of laptops have increased at a significant level for the past decade. Along with it, the past decade has also seen a considerable amount of lowering of testosterone levels in a man’s body. As a laptop is designed to put on laps, the heat of the computer is hampering the production of testosterone in your testicles.

So, the bottom line is to avoid those, as mentioned above, daily bad habits that are affecting your testosterone level.

The Pros And Cons Of Using Transdermal Patches

Transdermal Drug Delivery

A transdermal drug delivery is accomplished with the use of a transdermal patch. There are both advantages and disadvantages to this method. In most cases, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The transdermal patch manufacturer makes the patch using a medical grade adhesive. This enables a specific dosage of medication to be delivered through the skin and directly into the bloodstream of the patient. The patch must be placed on the patient’s skin for this method to be effective. This helps the part of the body impacted recover.

Mental Health Conditions and Transdermal Patches

It is critically important all prescribed non-psychiatric and psychiatric medication is adhered to when used or individuals with a mental health issue. If the prescribed recommendations are not followed, this can lead to a poor health outcome and serious issues. Adherence includes alerting the patient to the possible side effects of the drug, ensuring the patch contains the prescribed dosage and showing the patient how to use the patch correctly. Both adherence to the prescribed treatment and safety must be addressed by the mental care provider to ensure efficient care of the patient.

The interest in safety has led to using alternative methods of delivering the medication in an innovative manner to resolve some of the issues common with mental health patients. Unfortunately, there have not been many clinical studies or research conducted in the area of using transdermal patches for the psychiatric field. Although there has not been much literature published on this subject, it is apparent specific key principles must be followed to prevent the patient from receiving too much of the prescribed medication simply by using additional patches. This is one of the key disadvantages. In some cases, a caretaker must have control over the patches.

Patches and Topical Creams

Patches and topical creams provide an alternate means of controlling the amount of medication received by the patient. The traditional pill is taken once per day. This makes the concept easier to understand and remember. This concept changes if there are side effects, the metabolism is fast which makes a continuous release drug difficult to control or if the plasma concentrations are high. In these instances, the drug may have to be ingested three or four times each day. This is often easy to forget, annoying or not effective for overnight situations.

Both the timing and the dosage can be effectively controlled with the transdermal patch or cream. Of the two, the patch is easier to control. The larger the patch, the bigger the dosage. If the patient needs to discontinue the drug, they can simply remove the patch. Even though some of the drugs will remain in the patient’s system, the plasma concentration is on the low side. This is the reason the nicotine dose can be controlled by smokers using a nicotine patch. Both transdermal patches and creams enable continuous release. The difference is the cream cannot be removed once it has been fully absorbed into the skin.

The way the drug is delivered is through the diffusion of the medication. The patch delivers the drug into the bloodstream through the skin. This is completely different than an IV injection which provides an immediate dose. A pill is often concentrated or time delayed. This affects the way the body absorbs the drug. Transdermal patches enable the individual to maintain a low concentration of plasma. This helps eliminate any side effects. The continuous release also provides a longer period of time for effective dosing. One of the most ideal drugs for a patch are opioids such as morphine.

The Disadvantages of Transdermal Patches

Despite the fact a transdermal patch manufacturer follows all safety precautions, the skin of the patient can be irritated or sensitized by the patch. There are specific drugs that cannot be delivered using this method for this reason. The permeability of the skin naturally limits how much of the drug is able to enter at any given time. Many of the most potent of drugs can only be effectively given using transdermal delivery. There can also be issues caused by the environmental impact on the adhesion of the patch due to the different types of skin.

The Advantages of Transdermal Patches

Transdermal patches have a lot of advantages including avoiding gastrointestinal tract difficulties while being absorbed due to drug interactions with food and enzymes. If the individual has diarrhea or is vomiting, anything taken orally is not advisable. The patch also prevents the drug from passing through the portal and systemic circulation. Therapy multiple times each day is much easier with a transdermal patch because only one application is necessary. This has been shown to improve patient compliance.

Some drugs have a shorter half-life. The activity of these drugs is extended due to the reservoir of the drug within the delivery system and the controlled form of release. It is easy to stop the therapy by simply removing the patch. In case of an emergency, the medication is easy to identify for comatose, unconscious or non-responsive patients. The chances of under or overdosing are decreased due to the pre-programmed and prolonged delivery of the drug at the prescribed therapeutic rate.

ETS Therapy

ETS is a fairly new type of transdermal hormone replacement therapy. This therapy supplies a low dosage of estrogen and is both safe and convenient. The patch is applied to the skin once each week and provides numerous benefits as opposed to the more traditional treatment. The dose of the hormone is low, eliminates the hepatic first pass, manages and prevents post-menopausal symptoms including anxiety, depression, cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis and vaginal dryness with the treatment only required once per week.

The Specifics of the Transdermal Drug Delivery

The transdermal patches can be administered safely and effectively and are extremely simple and easy to use. The largest organ of the human body is the skin. The skin acts as a protective layer because it covers the entire body. The skin has the ability to redevelop and offers limited but critical penetration. The type of permeation provided by the skin is extremely important. This permeation is necessary for the transdermal patches to work properly. Skin covers the body with three layers of protection. The first layer of skin is referred to as the epidermis. This is the layer the transdermal patch is placed on.

The patch must be placed in a specific way. The side containing the required medication must come in contact with the epidermis or the first layer of skin. Once the medication contained in the patch has reached the second layer of the skin, it is transferred to the deepest or third layer of the skin. The third layer of the skin contains the blood vessels needed for the medication to then be passed into the bloodstream. The only way for the medication to reach the bloodstream is to pass through all three layers of skin and reach the blood vessels.

This application ensures the medication is transferred into the blood. The blood circulates the medication throughout the entire body of the patient using the circulatory system. This direct circulation through the bloodstream ensures the medication will be effective with a significantly reduced chance of any side effects.

How to Use Herbs and Vitamins for HGH Deficiency

Growth hormone, once abundant in youth, begins to decline towards the end of one’s twenties. The ability to slow the decline comes in many forms, including the use of herbs and vitamins for HGH deficiency. The best time to incorporate these natural supplements into your health regimen is before growth hormone levels decline. Once you are dealing with growth hormone deficiency, it is harder to increase what is already low. For that, you may need HGH therapy.

The standard American diet (SAD) is deficient in many vitamins. Our meals are processed, our foods are increasingly genetically modified (GMOs), and half the time we cannot pronounce the chemical ingredients. Except for organic fruits and vegetables, our foods are devoid of nutritional vitamins for HGH benefits. Even the fertilizers and pesticides used today pose a health concern and can decrease hormone production.

By selecting organic foods and natural herbs for HGH improvement, you can easily increase your growth hormone secretion. Natural enhancement of growth hormone levels will impact every cell in your body. If you do not get the vitamins and minerals needed from your diet, choose from the lists below to improve HGH secretion.

How to Choose Herbs to Increase HGH Levels

The best herbs for HGH secretion can have a significant impact on hormone production. These herbs stimulate the pituitary gland to increase its production of HGH. Herbs have additional benefits for different functions in the body besides improving HGH secretion. You want to choose the herbs that will have the most significant impact on the areas you need to see improvement.

Taking herbs with HGH can also help boost growth hormone’s performance. Our list of the 5 top herbs with human growth hormone boosting properties include:

  • Agnus Castus – this herb improves pituitary gland functions for better HGH secretion.
  • Gingko Biloba – in addition to boosting HGH levels, this herb improves blood flow, oxygen levels, and electrical activity in the brain.
  • Ginseng – this natural HGH booster increases energy and helps reduce stress.
  • Licorice root – besides increasing human growth hormone production, licorice root boosts the immune system and helps decrease coughs. It may also help fight cancer.
  • Mucuna Prurien – velvet bean, as it is also called, improves neurotransmitter production that then increases pituitary gland release of HGH.

Using herbs and vitamins for HGH deficiency can help restore hormonal balance to the body.

Why Some Vitamins Boost HGH Production

Our bodies need certain vitamins for HGH production. When we look at our poor dietary habits, lack of exercise, high-stressed lives, and not getting enough sleep, we have a dangerous mix that inhibits proper HGH secretion.

You can take vitamins with HGH therapy to help improve overall results. What is HGH Therapy and how to start treatment you can learn here.   The same vitamins that can boost HGH production can also help enhance the benefits of HGH treatment.

The best vitamins for HGH production include:

  • Vitamin B12 – essential to healthy nerves and blood cells, B12 provides energy that can help you increase exercise capacity – a natural HGH booster.
  • Vitamin C – especially important for overweight adults and those with heart disease, vitamin C helps boost HGH production. Vitamin C also encourages collagen production.
  • Vitamin D – vitamin D helps increase insulin growth factor 1 levels which aid HGH in cellular regeneration. Vitamin D is necessary for strong

Some additional supplements to consider when looking at herbs and vitamins for HGH deficiency include:

  • L-arginine – take before bed
  • L-glutamine – use before bed or after exercise
  • Melatonin – take at bedtime to help improve sleep

Remember, more than half the daily allotment of human growth hormone production occurs during sleep. Supplements that will help you get to sleep quicker and stay asleep longer will benefit HGH secretion.

How Do Hormones Affect The Body?

The human body is incredibly complex. There are hundreds of different chemical interactions which take place every day; it is these which allow you to function properly and fight off disease. But, it is also very easy for your hormone levels to become unbalanced which can lead to an array of problems.

This is why it is essential to use a hormone checking service regularly, such as testochecker to ensure your body is functioning at its best.

What Are Hormones?

The easiest way to understand what a hormone is can be to imagine lots of tiny messengers running round inside your body. Most of the messengers are sent by the brain and go directly to specific organs, telling them what to do.

For example, when you are low on glucose your brain will increase the production of ghrelin. This is known as the hunger hormone and tells you to eat. If you don’t eat, then the brain will tell your body to create energy by either converting your fat stores into glucose or using the protein from your muscles.

Hormones affect every part of your body, from your sex drive, metabolism and growth to your mood.

Hormones are released in bulk when you hit adolescence they cause changes in your skin, mood, weight and even your energy levels. This is true for men and women.

Aging has different effects on your hormones, it can often lead to a reduced libido, decreased muscle and bone mass and an increased risk of osteoporosis.

In men, testosterone is a key hormone that contributes to the quality and quantity of sperm production as well as libido, energy levels and low levels are even linked with hair loss. Testosterone levels start to decline from the age of 30, at a rate of 1% per year so it is never too soon to start having your hormones tested.

Interestingly, women suffer a similar issue as they age, often referred to as the menopause. The hormone levels change to prevent pregnancy but, in the process, women will often experience mood swings, low energy levels and have difficulty sleeping.

The simple fact is that hormones are an essential part of your body.

Low levels will prevent you body from functioning properly and is one of the first things you should have checked if you are experiencing any issues.

Keep Your Hormones Balanced

Have regular tests will help you to know how balanced your hormones are but you need to work a little to help achieve this.

A healthy diet is essential. This means balancing your intake of carbohydrates, proteins and fat. All are essential but in moderation. In addition you should monitor your calorie count and make sure you consume your maintenance level or less on a regular basis. This will help to prevent you carrying excess weight and ensure your body is working at peak efficiency.

Exercise is also a good idea, just 30 minutes per day of moderate activity is enough to ensure all your body systems are working correctly. This can help to ensure your hormones remain balanced.

10 Signs of a Thyroid Problem

Hypothyroidism affects as many as 25 million Americans, and many of them have no idea they are living with the condition. 90% of all thyroid imbalances are related to an under-active thyroid, if your thyroid is not functioning correctly, you will experience a multitude of adverse health effects.

The thyroid is a gland situated in the center of your neck. This butterfly-shaped master gland controls many metabolic functions in the body. Here are ten common signs of hypothyroidism that you may be experiencing.

10 Symptoms of Thyroid Problems:

#1 The inability to manage your weight. People suffering from hypothyroidism find it challenging to lose weight, while others may experience a rapid increase in their Body Mass Index (BMI).

#2 Extreme fatigue, even after receiving a full night’s rest. People with hypothyroidism tend to need naps during the day as a result of a slowed metabolism. This fatigue can be mistaken for a blood sugar imbalance, if you feel fatigued regularly, then it may as a result of an under-active thyroid.

#3 The inability to manage your emotions. If you are finding it hard to control your mood and experience wild swings in the state of your mental health, you may have a thyroid imbalance. Other emotional and psychological cues to watch for are an increase in anxiety and frequent bouts of depression.

#4 Estrogen, testosterone, prolactin, and progesterone are all types of hormones that can be affected by an under-active thyroid. A hormone imbalance may lead to a weakened sex drive, depression, and anxiety.

#5 Low thyroid activity can also affect the muscular and skeletal system causing joint pain, tendonitis, or other advanced conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome.

#6 If you are experiencing a loss of cognitive function that may include symptoms such as foggy thinking, low concentration and reduced levels of focus, then you may have hypothyroidism to thank for this low level of brain function.

#7 People living with hypothyroidism may also have issues regulating their body temperature above 98.5. This lowered body temperature results in the feeling of coldness in their extremities. An underactive thyroid can leave your fingertips, nose, and toes feeling cold or numb.

#8 Hypothyroidism also affects the skin, hair, and nails. In severe cases, hypothyroidism may result in cracked skin or eczema, hair loss, and brittle nails.

#9 Hypothyroidism affects the digestive system, and you may find that you are frequently constipated as your gut loses the ability to assimilate and metabolize your food efficiently.

#10 Since the thyroid is situated in the neck; you may discover that the gland is swollen, resulting in a hoarse voice and pain in the throat.

If you are experiencing any of the symptoms mentioned, then it will be best for you to visit a medical practitioner for testing. Your doctor will order a battery of blood tests, including a full hormone panel, to determine whether or not your thyroid is functioning correctly. Your lab work will include the following tests (at a minimum). Check out dysport for amazing rejuvenating effects.

  • Free T4
  • TSH
  • Free T3
  • Reverse T3
  • TgAb – Thyroglobulin Antibodies
  • TPOAb – Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies

Your doctor will be able to draw a blood sample from you and send it to the local pathology lab for testing. Your results may take anywhere up to a week to return to the doctor’s office. If there is an issue, your doctor will arrange a follow-up consultation with you to discuss the treatment of the under-active thyroid with lifestyle changes and medication from the Thyroid Pharmacist.

Here are seven ideas you can use to improve your thyroid function and ensure that you do not develop hypothyroidism.

#1 Use a tyrosine supplement, it assists the body with converting FT4 to FT3.

#2 Take a high-quality, chelated multi-vitamin with a broad spectrum of vitamins and minerals.

#3 Check your gut health. Your gut biomes are responsible for assimilating the energy and nutrients from your food. Healing your gut will enhance your metabolism and improve your energy.

#4 Remove any fluoride, bromide or chlorine from your diet or environment.

#5 Sleep is an essential recovery tool you can use for your thyroid. Make sure that you are getting at least eight to ten hours of sleep every night.

#6 Reduce stress wherever you can. Try drinking some chamomile tea when you feel stressed and use a GABA supplement before you sleep to relax your mind.

#7 There has been some evidence in nutritional studies that show a link between gluten consumption and hypothyroidism. Try going gluten free by avoiding refined carbohydrates and sugar. Replace them with quality, low-GI carbohydrate sources such as sprouts and whole-grains.