Fresno Chiropractor and Natural Health Doctor Comments:
At my Fresno Functional Endocrinology Center, we use functional endocrinology to naturally treat male and female hormone problems, thyroid disorders, adrenal disorders, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome. The goal of functional endocrinology is to assess the endocrine system and find the mechanisms for imbalance. If a patient presents with a hormone imbalance, my first step is to find the mechanism.
Let's consider a 28 year old female that presents with depressed progesterone levels. With my functional endocrinology approach, I am going to look for the mechanism for the progesterone deficiency, instead of immediately considering progresterone replacement.
A female with low progesterone may have depressed levels of LH (luteinizing hormone), the hormone that signals to the ovaries to produce progresterone. She could also have defects in the corpeus luteum of the ovaries, diminished estrogen output, depressed FSH (follicle stimulating hormone), or even an autoimmune response against her follicles. There are many possibilities for low progresterone....to immediately start with replacement is a recipe for disaster.
Let's say we determine through lab testing that the LH is low...resulting in the low progesterone. Now we must find out why the LH is low...what is the mechanism? LH is triggered by a healthy estradiol peak prior to a womens mid-cycle.
If lab testing reveals the estradiol peak is normal, then we must focus on why the pituitary is failing to produce LH. We must determine what is causing the depression of LH output, THEN employ natural strategies to increase LH output.
LH is most commonly suppressed by inflammatory cytokines released by the stress response. It can also be suppressed by previous overload of topical progesterone cream.
In our patient we determine that there is an active chronic stress response. Again we must ask, "what is the mechanism?" We may determine from lab testing that she is a hypoglycemic and has adrenal exhaustion. Our clinical management is going to include lifestyle changes to stabilize blood sugar imbalances and supplements to help support adrenal function and blood sugar stability. We must eliminate the process that is driving the stress response if we hope to naturally increase LH output.
Once we have identified the mechanism for the LH suppression, we support it, naturally. Through follow up lab procedures we can measure change and make modifications, until the pattern is normalized.
This is why the functional endocrinology approach is so important. If we would have just given replacement progesterone, LH would have been further suppressed. This would have resulted is loss of feedback coordination and long term dependence on replacement progesterone. The long term outcome of this may be infertility and inability to have healthy and normally sequenced menstrual cycles.
Another outcome of the replacement protocol is that the adrenal dysfunction and blood sugar problems would not have been addressed. This could lead to different imbalances down the road.
If you suffer with a female hormone imbalance and you would like to become a patient at the Boydston Institute in Fresno, CA, call us at 559-297-9218. If you have a question then Contact Us.
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