Health Letter to Friend Hormone Problems. Who

Health Letter to Friend

Hormone problems. Who can't relate to those these days? People talk a lot about symptoms like high blood pressure, emotional ups and down, obesity, all of which might well be related to serious medical concerns that come with our age, or that might be caused by stress or junk food!

Which means you are right to have questions and a bit of anxiety. Some hormone conditions (minor or severe) need attention because they tell us how well the endocrine system is in balance -- and it's the endocrine system that influences how the body works and how different parts of our system function together. So the balance is important.

But hormone imbalances can vary a lot, and it takes information to figure out what's wrong. Diabetes (or being overweight), reproduction problems, infertility, thyroid conditions, high blood pressure, poor cholesterol levels and even lipids (not putting on weight properly) are associated with hormone irregularities. Blood pressure problems can make you feel dizzy. Fatigue (a lack of desire to do ordinary tasks), emotional swings, no interest in intimacy can be the result of medical problems, or they might not be.

Which means step number one is going to the doctor and taking the tests. [By the way, I am giving you a single source but you can find others online to learn more (Kemp, 2011).]

So rest easy. Your doctor will likely do the kinds of simple review that he or she always does: take your blood pressure, check for aches and pains, weigh you, measure your height, and talk with you about what's happening in your life. Only then MIGHT they decide if more specific, targeted tests are needed, and even these tests usually just require a needle poke.

Here are a couple examples of what you might hear if more tests are needed. The Oral Glucose Tolerance Test or the Fasting Blood Sugar Test. Each measures glucose after you have either been given a glass of sweetener or through regular blood draws following fasting (they want to make sure nothing is contamination the process). The OGTT is more ordinary. You swallow the glucose drink and have blood measures taken. The FBS is a series of tests as the fast continues but most people aren't fasting so that option isn't used as much. If serious problems are detected, you could be given an ITT, or Insulin Tolerance Test. This is your doctor checking to see how you react to one solution (the Insulin) as that response says how the body is functioning.

Similarly, a Total Calcium assessment looks at how this nutrient moves in the blood. Many organs and bones use calcium, and it is vital for sending brain (neurological) signals. The TC is a multi-level assessment and belongs in a family of other complex reviews like Protein-bound Iodine injections or Thyroid Function Tests. Like CMPs (Comprehensive Metabolic Panels), these tests promise deeper understandings about how even little imbalances may tell what could come without help. All of which means they get lots of information at once.