Stress is a normal part of our life. Yet, in the modern world, feeling “stressed out” every day is increasingly common. In fact, modern life is beyond stressful. In this modern age, up to 99% of the time in our lives we have to be in a state of overstimulation or stress, it may be due to the heart having to work too hard, the diet. high in starch and sugar, drinking too much coffee or alcohol, lack of sleep, using electronic devices for too long, affected by negative social relationships.
Feeling slightly stressed on occasion is normal, having heightened levels for extended periods of time is detrimental to your health. chronic Stress can drastically disrupt your body’s natural hormone balance, causing serious health issues.
Those who are chronically stressed are at a higher risk of hormonal disorders, includes, chronic fatigue, pain, infertility, PCOS, weight gain, insomnia, high blood pressure, thyroid issues and higher risks for infection, depression, anxiety and gastrointestinal problems such as diarrhea and constipation. Overall, when stress creates a hormonal imbalance, it’s capable of negatively affecting your entire life.
What is the Connection between stress & Hormonal Imbalance?
Hormones are important for every bodily function. They are the chemical messengers that coordinate the many different metabolic processes that take place in the body throughout the day, and they exist within a delicate balance. During stress when your endocrine system produces too much or too less hormone in your blood stream, hormonal imbalance occurs.
When you get stressed, the hormone that increases as a result is cortisol. Cortisol is our survival hormone and it takes precedence over all the other hormones in stressful situations. When cortisol undergoes an abnormal increase through extreme stress, all other bodily processes are compromised. The body goes into fight or flight mode, which means that all of its energy goes into supporting cortisol, while all other hormones are out of balance, put on the backburner.
How Does Stress Disrupt Our Hormones?
Clinical research has proved that stress is the root cause of hormonal imbalance. When you get stressed, the body has too much of the hormone cortisol, which causes other hormones in the body to change, including sex and thyroid hormones.
During stress, your body naturally releases stress hormones. Produced by the endocrine system, these hormones including cortisol and adrenaline help you react to the stressful situations that require a quick increase of energy and attention. Whether you’re worried about missing your flight or about to deliver a presentation to a room full of executives.
Normally, after the threat is gone, our cortisol and adrenaline levels go back to normal. But prolonged periods of stress can cause cortisol and adrenaline to remain elevated. This can result in a hormonal imbalance that can have a profound effect on our overall health and wellbeing, particularly for women. unfortunately, without stress management, in other words, addressing the root cause, fixing the complex conditions of hormonal disorders is almost impossible.
What is Functional medicine approach?
According to the functional medicine approach, stress is the root cause of hormonal imbalance . Each hormone in the body has an optimal level in order to maintain hormonal balance. When there is a rise in cortisol as a result of high amounts of stress, other hormones such as progesterone, thyroid stimulating hormone, insulin, and sex hormones may deplete. This can trigger a range of physical and mental health issues. While raised cortisol does no harm to the body in the short term, prolonged or high levels of stress can lead to hormone imbalance which can in turn lead to serious medical conditions.
In women, hormonal imbalances can have many different causes. Short-term hormonal imbalances can be simply a normal part of a woman’s reproductive life cycle such as pregnancy, breastfeeding, premature menopause, and menopause. Other cases of hormonal imbalance caused by reproductive hormones include the use of birth control pills, ovarian insufficiency, and polycystic ovarian syndrome.
Still, there can be other medical conditions that may be responsible for a hormonal imbalance. Therefore, it is important to discuss the possibility of an imbalance with your doctor if you are experiencing any symptoms. In most cases, a blood test can be used to assess the levels of certain hormones, however further testing may be needed to determine the exact cause.
The good news is that this can be addressed with a combination of cutting edge Anti-aging & Functional medicine with personalized health care approach and positive lifestyle changes to restore natural balance and create harmony within the body.
Dr. Sadia ,board certified Anti-aging medicine & hormone specialist explains ,finding and addressing the root cause is the staple part of functional medicine ,when it comes to deal with any medical condition specially, hormonal imbalance. Functional medicine is a comprehensive, system oriented and personalized medical health care that always focus on the underlying cause of disease, look at the big picture including your diet, your hormone health, gut health, and a full medical history including immune function, genetic predisposition to disease, mental wellbeing, and lifestyle.
Request for consultation with our Board certified Anti-Aging medicine & Hormone Specialist.
To schedule your consultation, call (0301-6616063) or contact us online today!
