The BioBalance Healthcast

One of the hormones you probably have not heard of is PREGNENOLONE (P). It is a hormone made in the adrenal gland and is considered the mother of steroid hormones because it is the precursor or the first hormone that then becomes the hormones testosterone, DHEA, estradiol, cortisol and progesterone. The physiologic effects of these hormones are dependent on the amount of Pregnenolone in the body.

As we age Pregnenolone decreases as do the other hormones it produces. Why don’t we just take pregnenolone then? Because it is a complex system that requires many enzyme reactions and the presence of other glands to process pregnenolone into other hormones!

Almost four in ten females and one in ten males will suffer from an eating disorder. Statistically, 4% of the females will die from complications from eating disorders. This is a dangerous and statistically common set of disorders. One in ten of us have the disorder or know someone who does. This week we will discuss eating disorders. We will look at causation, treatment, and symptoms of eating disorders.

Some individuals have issues that arise from chronic weight problems or from disfigurement of one kind or another, or from social-cultural expectations of beauty and attractiveness. Many of these can be neutralized by diet and exercise, by spending time learning how to dress and apply makeup in ways that cosmetically show you to your best advantage and make the problem manageable. Others require more extensive, expensive and elaborate interventions. Many of these interventions require surgery and if not, still require externally obtained help.

People who are obese suffer from social, psychological, and physiological issues that can destroy their ability to live healthy and happy lives. There are levels of obesity and each of them have interventions and treatments that are known to be of benefit.

If you have a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or above, and do not have any other medical conditions, it is recommended that you have a bariatric surgery. If your BMI is 30 or above, and you have another medical problem such as diabetes, it is recommended that you have bariatric surgery. These surgeries require the services of a specialist who has been trained and has expertise in the study of these issues and interventions. In most cases, you will also need the follow-up attention of a plastic surgeon and a nutritional specialist.

I diagnose women with testosterone deficiency (TDS) only when they have both symptoms and low blood levels of free (active) testosterone. Prior to the first appointment, I evaluate a new patient’s lab work and medical history. This process allows me to make logical medical decisions without pressure from patients who want testosterone even if it is not medically necessary for their particular problems. When I see new patients, I make sure both of us make the most of our time and their money. As with everything in medicine, I not only look for and diagnose the hormone deficiency I look for other illnesses that may masquerade as testosterone deficiency, and for those patients, I meet with them but give them the option to see their primary care doctor about the other diagnoses. I don’t treat them with testosterone unless that is also evident.

There are some men whose low testosterone symptoms are not severe enough to require replacement but instead need to have their own production of testosterone stimulated. Men in this situation with borderline blood levels like 405 Total Testosterone and 130 Free Testosterone may be symptomatic and may benefit from treatment.

References are made in this episode to Dr. Maupin's book, The Secret Female Hormone: How Testosterone Replacement Can Change Your Life

The loss of testosterone, estradiol in women, and growth hormone in both sexes robs us of restful sleep. The symptoms all follow the same pattern: “I can fall asleep easily, but I wake up multiple times in the early morning and eventually can’t go back to sleep, or if I do, I wake up exhausted.” When these hormones (T for men and T & E2 for women) are adequately replaced, 90% of insomniacs begin to sleep restfully.

Two very common causes of difficulties with sleep are anxiety and stress. If you are facing some impending event that is important to you, your adrenal glands will put you in a state of hypervigilance: flight or fight awareness, even when you are sleeping (in this case trying to sleep). It can cause you to have difficulty falling asleep or it can cause you to awaken frequently during your sleep period. If there is some worry or stress that you are experiencing beyond your normal concerns you will have the same reaction.

The decision to treat a man with testosterone (T) is not a slam dunk decision based on one test like the commercials for low T depict. Men come to me at any age over 40 (usually) with various levels of testosterone, medications that may affect testosterone levels, other illnesses that interfere with sexuality and T levels, as well as various viewpoints on taking a hormone or a “medication” to replace what they used to make naturally. The initial decision to treat is dependent on his symptoms, blood levels of T and Free T, and levels of other hormones that affect T levels.

If you suffer from headaches at the moment of orgasmic release, it is necessary to discuss it with your doctor and let them evaluate you for risks. You need to get a CT scan to assess this to rule out tumors and vascular abnormality. This conversation might just save your life or at the very least the quality of life you want to have.

Both men and women can experience headaches associated with sexual activity (HSA), but some studies indicate a ratio of 3×1 male over female. They are more likely to occur in people who have migraine headaches, tension headaches, or exertional headaches. Alcohol use and medications used to reduce erectile dysfunction may cause headaches but these are not classified as HSA headaches.

Parkinson’s is a slowly progressing disease that causes changes in the brain leading to low dopamine levels. The decrease causes tremors and loss of balance, stiffness of limbs, and loss of facial expression. Parkinson’s disease affects about 1.2 million people in the United States.

In a study conducted by Dr. Pahan, of Rush University, mice with Parkinson’s pathology were given testosterone pellets and the Parkinson’s symptoms reversed. This study was funded by the NIH, and further studies will be forthcoming to see if comparable results can be expected or identified among humans.

We are discussing tremors because they are a warning sign that observers notice them often before the person who has them. If you're observant, you can help your friends and family with early detection.

There are many kinds of tremors, and each indicates different things and need to be treated differently from a medical or health standpoint.

The use of lab tests to measure cholesterol as a predictive measure for future heart attack and stroke is important, but not sufficient to truly predict the occurrence of heart disease. All individual responses cannot just be tied to just one piece of data, like cholesterol level, because there are many factors that lead to heart disease. We need more information and we need strategies that encompass the every factor that increase the incidence of heart disease, not just one score such as a high cholesterol level, to determine whether someone should take a statin drug for the rest of their lives.

In medical school we are taught that there is one dose of a medication that will treat any patient, no matter how tall, how thin or fat, male or female, 18 to 90 years of age. For a profession that prides itself on training very intelligent people this dictum seems ridiculous!

Medical Professionals learn, observe, and use the body language of their patients to diagnose and treat what is really going on. Body language, medical history, and verbal communication combine to present a more accurate picture than any single element doctors use to diagnose or treat.

Endometriosis is a common disease that affects women of childbearing age and is the most common reason for women to have their ovaries removed. Endometriosis is hard to describe, but it is implants of the same tissue that normally lines the uterus and bleeds monthly for a period, but it is found in the wrong place—on the outside of the uterus, tubes and ovaries, and the intestines. When this tissue is located in the abdomen, without the protection of the uterus, it swells and bleeds monthly causing intra-abdominal bleeding experienced as severe abdominal pain. This tissue also excretes estrogens and prostaglandins that cause inflammation and prevent pregnancy. Eventually, these implants cause scarring of the tubes, uterus and the bowel that causes pain other than during a period.

If Testosterone replacement can make us live longer, decrease insulin resistance and the incidence of diabetes by 44%, decrease the thickness of the intima of arteries (plaque), decrease LDL (the bad one) cholesterol levels, decrease the rate of heart disease, and stroke, suppress inflammation (it decreases cytokine production), reduce the adhesiveness of platelets as well as decreases fibrinogen levels, both of which can cause cause blood clots, is a vasodilator and improves erections in men and vaginal wetness in women, improves cardiac output for those with heart failure, increases muscle mass in both sexes which prevents frailty, decreases the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease by increasing Dopamine, decreases obesity by increasing  lean body mass (muscle), improves our sexual desire and treats depression at the same time, improves our overall immunity and finally decreases mortality from all causes, why does organized medicine and those agencies that serve it (the government, FDA, NIH, Specialty Boards) continue to repeat the cry of caution and fear to men and women when it comes to testosterone?

Women have a greater capacity than men for orgasm and ejaculation when they are in the right relationship, and are in possession of normal youthful female hormones, estradiol and testosterone. These hormones decrease with age over 40 and with them go our amazing sexual drive, climax and pleasure. The presence of excellent sexual response reflects a youthful level of both hormones.

Oxytocin is one of the most important hormones when it comes to both ejaculation and orgasm in men. In this week’s podcast we are going to speak separately about the two processes. They are, indeed, separate, but often simultaneous processes.

Hormones involved in the process are primarily Oxytocin and testosterone, MSH (melanin stimulating hormone). As men age, all three of these hormones diminish. They are each manufactured in various organs of the body in differing amounts. These hormones work together to stimulate the ejaculatory fluid and expulsion that we call ejaculation. They also need to be present to stimulate orgasm. It is possible though to have orgasm without ejaculatory fluid or process.