You and Your Hormones

We are driven by hormones. Each step and each action we do are a result of their activity. Therefore, it is good to know how they function to understand yourself better.

Hormones Affect Everything

Hormones are signaling molecules that are synthesized in organs of your body and secreted into your bloodstream. Cells with specific receptors to these hormones Catch them out from there. Everything works by the Key and Lock rule, where hormones play the role of tiny keys, which move with the blood flow and open only those locks where they fit. 

Here is only a small list of processes that hormones did recently.

• Digestion
• Metabolism
• Sensory perception
• Sleep
• Breathing
• Lactation
• Stress
• Growth
• Development
• Sex
• Childbirth
• Menstruation
• Mood, and everything that happened behind the closed toilet door

Hormones are the key to our survival.

How do your Hormones Work?

Female Hormones — Estrogen and Progesterone

In women, sex hormones such as estrogen and progesterone predominate. Oestrogen is responsible for most signs that make a woman a woman — development of mammary glands, feminine figure outlines, formation and regulation of the reproductive system. It is responsible for the monthly preparation of the body for a possible pregnancy. It encourages the types of behavior that are most likely to lead to this fact.

And progesterone is mostly the maternity hormone, a synonym for kind, caring, tender and comforting mother. Progesterone encourages a woman to behave in a way that helps to prepare her body for pregnancy.

Male Hormone — Testosterone

The primary male hormone is testosterone. It is fickle and capricious. For example, its level in males is confirmed by changes in age, time of the day, time of marriage and becoming parents, presence of beautiful women around, win or loss of a politician he voted for, or even a favorite football team. And even (this is not fiction) the presence of firearms around. And this is not even a complete list.

Testosterone is a powerful motivator for sexual behaviors and many maneuvers preceding it. For example, relatively high testosterone levels often push men to perform dangerous feats to grow in the eyes of a potential sexual partner. Because of the increased levels of this hormone, men think about sex so often that these thoughts make a mental background in their brains. Moreover, evolution has laid a deep meaning in this property. As we know, genes cannot be transmitted by themselves. Men with higher sexual motivation levels are more prone to trying harder to impress more women. If they succeed, they will pass more copies of their genes to the next generations than men with lower sexual motivation.

But there is a No. The male brain has a craving for caring for its offspring. And the testosterone level changes the brain from searching for a partner to parenting.

Apparently, the male destiny is not only in transferring their genes but also in creating a stable (family) couple and caring for offspring. Therefore, when a male enters a long-term relationship, his brain tells his testes to keep testosterone in check. And to decrease it even more when small children are born, which are a severe object of concern.

Of course, levels of sex hormones do not drop as low to let the man feel weak. No, the brain plays back testosterone production just enough to decrease the father of the family's interest in new alluring sexual opportunities.

This way, men and women have hormonal changes, which is good for them and us. These changes are part of the biological wisdom that we inherited from our relatives. And, therefore, there is no truth in saying that female hormones change-making women stupid or irrational, but male hormones do not. 

But a severe and robust deficiency of hormones means that the endocrine system is not working correctly. These dysfunctions cause increased tiredness and drowsiness. With time there can be philosophical problems, tearfulness, touchiness. Despite this, skin and hair state worsens, nails break. There can also be a problem with fertility, etc.

For example, excess cortisol, a hormone related to stress and metabolic regulation, can cause Cushing's disease. The disease is characterized by obesity and muscle atrophy. Despite this, women start to have growing mustaches and beards related to the increased production of other hormones. Supporting complications of Cushing's disease are bone fragility that can bring osteoporosis, dysfunction of insulin sensitivity, and, as a result, diabetes development. 

To overcome these symptoms, you can use a special treatment – hormonal therapy.

There are Three Types of Hormonal Therapies

• Replacement hormonal therapy – used in pathologies of endocrine glands. This therapy type is prescribed when the hormone is not delivered to the body (insulin in diabetes). This type of therapy is lifelong. 
• Stimulating hormonal therapy – prescribed when it is needed to activate the endocrine glands. This therapy type is usually short-term and in courses. 
• Blocking (inhibitory) therapy is done when the gland is very active and therapy of different types of malignancies (hormone-related). Then, the hormone-antagonist of that, which is in excess, is introduced. This type is not as effective when given on its own. 

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More Information about Hormones

• Male Hormone Imbalance
• Lake Conway Hormone Therapies