Before we go on to discuss hormone modulation, I invite you to visit the link below for fundamental information about hormones. Then return to this page to understand the connection between these concepts.
In this post, I'm sharing a series of videos and texts to introduce you to the fascinating world of Hormone Modulation and its impact on hormones.
VIDEO 1 - Hormone Modulation: What it is, what it's for, how it works, myths and truths
VIDEO 2 - THE DANGERS OF EXCESSIVE HORMONE USE
VIDEO 3 - Hormones - Most important topics from Dr. Frank Shallenberger's video November 2018
VIDEO 4 - Questions and answers about the video above: Questions and Answers about HORMONES, Replenishment and Modulation - November 2018
What is Hormone Modulation?
By Dr. Ícaro Alves Alcântara - icaro.med.br
For a long time, the most common term in relation to hormones was Hormone Replacement (or Hormone Replacement Therapy), which means raising the levels of hormones that are deficient in an organism to the desired levels: in other words, replenishing because it presupposes making up for hormone deficiencies by supplying the organism in need with the necessary hormones, in the quantity and for the time required to maintain blood levels within acceptable parameters - an example of this is levothyroxine replacement for patients with hypothyroidism.
The problem is that often some hormones are in excess and therefore need to be reduced. In other situations, the patient's lifestyle habits are bad, causing an imbalance in the action and production of hormones. In other cases, there are problems with the hormone receptors or with the way in which some hormones are transformed by the body into others, or act on each other, either at the level of production or action on the receptors, so attention to the hormonal issue needs to be “indirect”, i.e. in the supply of precursors for their production or in the causal factors of the disorders. In these cases, hormonal “adjustment” (restoring balance) is necessary, but it would be wrong to talk about hormone replacement, since what needs to be done here is NOT merely administering or replacing hormones. For example, elevated cortisol can be modulated (reduced) with the use of Rhodiola Rosea, Ashwagandha, Phellodendron, Magnolia, Licorice, among others, or better levels of GH (growth hormone) can be obtained through the proper administration of some amino acids, promotion of adequate sleep, etc.
For this reason, anyone who works seriously with hormones (details here: https://icaro.med.br/hormonios/) often uses the label “HORMONE MODULATION” to define what it does when it aims to REBALANCE hormones beyond the mere administration of ready-made hormones. Hormonal modulation, therefore, is seeking to restore good general hormone levels in the patient without necessarily doing so through the replacement of ready-made hormones, which is often not even the focus of those who modulate with due knowledge and rationality, always together with the promotion of healthy lifestyle habits on the part of the patient.
Only a doctor can prescribe and monitor the use of hormones. However, every health professional who, through their daily practice, aims to help patients regain their hormonal balance (as the main purpose of their work with them or as one of their objectives), is “modulating the hormones” of their patients, through the use of nutrients, exercise prescriptions, substances or treatments in general, acting indirectly on the patient's hormones. To reiterate, however: if the prescription and administration of hormones becomes necessary, only the doctor can do it, as he or she usually has the necessary knowledge - so, patient, always look for good professionals with a good theoretical background in the subject, but also experience, without radicalism or prejudice, and who are really interested in your case.
And, of course, there are people misusing this “label” of Hormone Modulation, apparently for commercial purposes and/or defending their own interests, often through undue propaganda and self-promotion. However, there are good and bad professionals, better and worse informed and well-intentioned in any field, right? In other words, it's not because there are some physical education professionals out there defending myths and/or unreasonable radicalism, with no theoretical or practical background, that therefore ALL professionals in the field are bad. Nor is it because there are nutritionists out there defending “that eggs are bad for you”, “that margarine is absolutely good for your health” (etc), that all nutritionists are bad; and so on. In fact, I work very well with hundreds of good professionals all over Brazil, recommending them and being recommended by them, and many of them know a lot more than many doctors out there. But that's not why they recommend hormones. They modulate, within their competencies, helping patients and working well as part of a team, with obvious traits that I see in all really good health professionals: being up-to-date, without prejudice, working well in a multidisciplinary environment and being humble. HORMONAL MODULATION, therefore (a label, to make it easier to understand), as I explained well above, means directly or indirectly seeking to HELP, to restore the patient's hormonal balance, both by supplying deficiencies and reducing excesses, either by administering hormones, or by indicating nutrients, prescribing exercises, substances or treatments in general that make it possible to regulate the circulating levels and in the target tissues of the patient's hormones.
Below is a series of posts on Instagram @dricaroalves that I made to provide clarification of QUALITY on the subject.
THE 10 MANDATES OF proper HORMONAL MODULATION:
Commandment 1: NEVER use hormones on anyone with bad LIFE HABITS.
Those with poor lifestyle habits often have hormonal imbalances because, due to poor habits (diet, water intake, lack of exercise, breathing patterns, sleep quality, stress levels, among others), they are unable to produce hormones properly, don't have enough receptors or can't transport these hormones to the appropriate places. What's worse, the hormones will often send signals to cells and tissues which, due to the absence of good habits, will carry out these orders irregularly or even inappropriately, resulting in disorders, diseases, tumors, etc.
THESE are the fundamental Life Habits:
Commandment 2: Nobody is made up of just one hormone. Evaluate and treat the body as a whole.
If everyone depends on VARIOUS hormones from the moment they are born until the moment they die, both to wake up and to sleep, do you really think that, when it comes to hormones, you're just a “walking thyroid” (the only gland assessed, and incompletely, in many check-ups out there)? Of course not.
And if hormones act on each other and many results are interactions between the actions of hormones, neurotransmitters, cytokines and so on, doesn't it seem incomplete to think of acting on just one and leaving the others without evaluation or action? This is one of the causes of the complications often wrongly attributed to hormones in general (including the dreaded tumors): incorrect and/or incomplete replacement!
Not taking into account “the whole” is like trying to bake a cake only at the expense of one or other ingredient that you think is “more important”: it's simply impossible to get the right/desired results! Proper hormonal modulation.
Commandment 3: Only those with chemical structures identical to the hormones produced by the body have the same action - use only BIOIDENTICALS.
The action of any hormone depends on 3 basic factors: the availability/quality of hormones, the availability/quality of specific receptors for them and the availability/quality of the hormones fitting into their receptors. That's why not just any key will open a lock, no matter how much it might get into the hole, don't you agree? And keys that aren't identical, no matter how “good looking” they may be, can even break the lock over time. That's why hormones that aren't bioidentical (with the same molecular structure as those they were developed to replace) will trigger actions that are quantitatively and qualitatively different, and sometimes even undesirable. And if hormones are just messengers and the message they transmit also depends on their structure, let this be the ideal one for everyone!
Commandment 4: Hormones do NOT cause cancer, heart attacks or strokes (they usually even help prevent and treat them): if they are bioidentical and WELL indicated, used and monitored, in patients who improve their lifestyle habits.
If hormones caused cancer and other diseases, they would appear in greater quantity and severity around the age of 25, which is when our hormones are at their highest levels in general. In other words, what causes tumors, heart attacks and strokes is a set of factors of IMBALANCE, which includes disorders and a lack of hormones. But it is clear that if hormones are used in excess and/or in poor quality and/or unnecessarily and/or together with bad lifestyle habits, the chances of disorders increase. In other words, the rational use of bioidentical hormones, with competent monitoring, is generally also beneficial for the immune system, and there are already current studies on this (old studies, many poorly conducted and/or biased and/or without taking into account the aspects I have discussed, also exist and are therefore unreliable).
Commandment 5: A person whose glands are already “failing” will continue to need the hormones they used to produce while they are alive.
When the glands are still anatomically and functionally intact, good lifestyle habits, detoxification and the right nutrients (among other things) can even restore sufficient or even optimal hormone production. The problem arises when there is no longer enough glandular tissue to produce what is needed. In this case, depending on the clinical picture, symptoms and illnesses, it may be necessary to replace/modulate hormones, in the legitimate interest of the patient's well-being. This is where prejudices against hormones are of little help or even hindrance.
Commandment 6: Your lifestyle habits are fundamental to the proper production and action of hormones and neurotransmitters. Take care of them properly or you will certainly have “hormone problems”.
I keep saying this, but it bears repeating to reinforce it: anyone who doesn't want hormonal disorders MUST take care of their lifestyle habits, especially in relation to water, food, breathing, physical exercise, sleep and stress. If you don't observe these points, you will develop hormonal disorders that may not even respond to the replacement of your own hormones, if necessary, or you may have problems with this replacement. Lifestyle habits can either correct hormone levels or damage them. It all depends on how you lead your life and how YOU look after yourself! *Neurotransmitters are hormones that act mainly on the nervous system.
Commandment 7: Your GENETICS determine your tendencies, not your sentences: it's not because your family has several cases of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, autoimmune or other diseases that you will necessarily have them too, if you take good care of yourself.
This story that “Dr., even my mother has had breast cancer in my family, I've had lumps and that's why I've been told I can never use hormones” is total bullshit, a big myth: your chance of developing CANCER and diseases in general is NOT determined solely by hereditary (inherited) factors, and in fact, genetics contributes less than 30% of your tendencies, especially when your lifestyle habits, environmental factors and GOOD balance of hormones and neurotransmitters are OK. It's these factors, above all lifestyle habits, that determine your present and future. As for nodules and cysts, we all develop hundreds during our lives, and the vast majority don't respond disproportionately to hormones alone. They often disappear on their own or accompany us without complications throughout our lives.
Finally, remember that those who don't take proper care of themselves WILL develop a more serious illness, even cancer, if they live long enough to do so. On the other hand, those who take real care of themselves, in all their habits and are well monitored, rarely develop serious illnesses, whatever their genetics. In other words, to blame genetics and hormones alone for your disorders is often to “hide the sun with a sieve”, since even your brain and immune system depend on their balance to function properly!
Commandment 8: Using one hormone or another in isolation “to get strong”, “to rip”, “to lock” or “to gain muscle” rarely works in a healthy way and often brings problems, even if these only appear in the medium or long term - even worse if it's done without COMPETENT monitoring.
Reflect: Hormones only “command” your cells to produce lean mass... The material for this still comes from your diet and breathing (also fuels) and from the production/growth sites of good exercise routines. In other words, without associated good lifestyle habits, you can clog yourself up with hormones without getting the expected results or having unwanted effects. NEVER replace/modulate just one hormone without making sure that the others are OK. Address and treat all possible deficiencies! Since hormones act together in most cells and act “on each other” (or affect each other's actions), replenishing just one when others also deserve attention can lead to incomplete or even dangerous side-effects. Think about it: if a car doesn't run properly because it's out of gas and has flat tires, is there any point in trying to solve the problem by just putting the best tires in the world on it? Something's missing, isn't it? Look for HEALTH alongside any AESTHETIC effect you want: it's not worth sacrificing your health for beauty; the effect of some abuse and neglect today may only appear in a few months or years, but last a lifetime. For example, when high loads (and/or for a long time) of non-bioidentical hormones are used (including contraceptives and poorly conducted hormone replacements), the bad effects may only appear a long time after use, and so the patient doesn't even associate their disorders with the bad hormones used... In addition, non-bioidentical hormones can overload the liver and accumulate in the body for months, making it more difficult to detoxify and eliminate them. Common sense, people!
Commandment 9: Don't start taking hormones or stop taking prescribed ones “on your own”. The competent doctor who prescribed them is the one who can tell you the details and duration of use.
The proper, rational use of hormones presupposes careful observation of various aspects, such as their chemical structure (bioidenticals are ideal, as I've said in other posts), receptors, their availability, fit, form of use, the patient's lifestyle habits, time of use, periodic reassessment (via detailed anamnesis and tests), interactions between the different hormones and neurotransmitters, metabolization, excretion. Let's be reasonable: monitoring all this properly on your own is difficult, isn't it? Therefore, take proper care of your own health, respect skills, competent monitoring and, therefore, the highest and best chances of good results in your treatments.
Commandment 10: Aging well and living longer is only possible when you have good lifestyle habits and a good overall balance of hormones and neurotransmitters.
In order to function well and for longer, your body needs you to have well-defined goals, focus and discipline. It also needs proper care for the health of your body, mind and spirit. But what affects you most on an organic level, without a doubt, is what you provide for your body in terms of structure, fuel and communication: the first two come from good lifestyle habits, as they allow the body to build and repair itself whenever necessary and to have the energy to function (and every day it does this, constantly); communication comes from hormones and neurotransmitters which, as the messengers they are, tell every cell in your body what it should do/make for the duration of its existence. Do you understand the importance of harmony as a whole? Modulating hormones is necessary whenever there are symptoms due to a lack of hormones... But do you know anyone out there who is completely symptom-free, especially as they get older? Common sense, people: why is it acceptable to straighten something that's crooked, but adjusting missing hormones is so “reprehensible” for some? Have a good week!
Know that:
1️⃣ To help you understand, think of hormones as being “as bad” as water: you need it to live, but you can get sick if you drink too much of it, if it gets into the wrong place (for example, in the case of drowning, flooding your lungs) or if it's poisoned; hormones are fundamental to human survival, but they can be bad if they're misused, in excess or of poor quality.
2️⃣ We ALL need different hormones, with different functions and complementary actions, throughout our lives: one affects/helps the function of several others - Hormones are ALWAYS fundamental to the lives of babies, children, adolescents, adults and the elderly. And the human body continually produces dozens of them.
3️⃣ Many symptoms are due to (or made worse by) imbalances in your hormone levels - for example: tiredness, headaches, dizziness, memory problems, insomnia, pain, weak nails, etc. In these cases, just using symptomatic remedies won't treat the causes (which are likely to continue getting worse) and will become less and less effective over time.
4️⃣ Many illnesses are caused (or aggravated) by hormonal imbalances - for example: overweight, obesity, PMS, anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, hair loss, among others. In these cases, using medication alone will not treat the causes (which are likely to continue to worsen) and will become less and less effective over time.
5️⃣ Many people out there need it more REBALANCE YOUR HORMONES than medicines.
6️⃣ The 13 main hormones that everyone should assess periodically (but most don't) are: Insulin, Pregnenolone, DHEA, Progesterone, Testosterone, Estradiol, Cortisol, T4, T3, GH, PTH, Serotonin, Dopamine.
7️⃣ Most people over the age of 30 have deficiencies in at least 2 of these hormones (even earlier, in over-stressed people and/or contraceptive users) and the symptoms and illnesses associated with these deficiencies tend to get worse and worse if investments/care with good aging are not better and better.
8️⃣ This story that “hormones cause cancer, heart attacks, strokes, thrombosis and so on" is a myth, a rumor, a lie - these are all multifactorial diseases: in other words, they are very rarely caused by one factor alone.
Clarify your main questions about hormones:
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