Steroid Hormones Part 4: Female and Male Life Cycles Before we look at hormonal imbalances, let’s get a quick understanding of the hormonal stages of the typical female and male life cycles. Female Life Cycle Once the female reaches puberty she has entered her reproductive years. To reach full reproductive [...]

Steroid Hormones Part 3: Introduction to Testosterone, Estrogen, and Progesterone Testosterone Testosterone is the main male and androgen hormone. It is produced in the testes (males) and in the ovaries and adrenal glands (females). It is also produced by the conversion of androstenedione and at times DHEA. It is a [...]

Steroid Hormones Part 2: Cortisol and Stress Cortisol Cortisol is made in the adrenal cortex. It is primarily known for its role in our stress response by engaging the sympathetic nervous system (better known as “fight or flight”). Here’s the basic mechanism: We see a tiger. We need to run. [...]

Steroid Hormones Part 1: Introduction, Cholesterol, Pregnenolone, and DHEA We now turn our attention to the steroid hormones, and particularly the sex hormones (a subset of the steroids). These hormones are made in a variety of organs and their production is linked with sex and life cycle. We will briefly [...]

There is an old saying that how well you live depends to a large extent upon how well your adrenal glands function. We have two adrenal glands, each about the size of a walnut, that sit on top of each kidney. The adrenals are best known as our stress handling [...]

Perhaps of all the endocrine glands in the body, the thyroid gets the most attention. And it well should. Many of us know someone who has been told they are “hypothyroid” or are on medications for low thyroid. Why is the thyroid so important? Its main function is to control [...]

In Part 1 of this article I introduced the endocrine system. The overview continues here. Following is a brief overview of the glands, the hormone(s) they produce, and the function of those hormones. Future articles will provide more details. Pineal gland Melatonin – sleep regulation, internal clock. Hypothalamus Produces several [...]

Steroid Hormones Part 5: Hormonal Imbalances At the core of many symptoms suffered by both men and women are hormonal imbalances. Imbalances occur several ways. There are deficiencies, there are excess, and there are relational imbalances. We have previously mentioned “estrogen dominance” which is an example of a relational imbalance. [...]