Hormone Therapy

Self-medication is not the best way of dealing with a severe form of depression. Various psychoactive natural compounds are typically used in this potentially harmful practice. These compounds range from alcohol to over-the-counter products including the hormone melatonin. Hormonal therapies are best suited for the replacement of pathologically low or missing levels of endogenous hormones; using insulin to treat diabetes is a good example. It's difficult to make a simple and convincing case for the use of melatonin replacement therapy - too many miracle cures have already been associated with melatonin. Possibly the best use of this hormone would be to regulate sleep patterns or to prevent jet lag. But could melatonin be therapeutic for conditions such as severe depression? No clinical data are available to conclusively support the use of melatonin in antidepressant therapy. However, clinical results suggest that melatonin receptors may be involved.

A search for clinical trials with melatonin in the U.S. Government-sponsored database called ClinicalTrials.gov on June 7, 2011 revealed 128 studies. Most of these trials have been designed to explore the effects of melatonin supplementation on sleep. None of them investigated melatonin supplementation in the treatment of depression. One study measured melatonin levels in the blood of patients with major depressive disorder, and a couple of studies investigated the effects of light therapy in depression and measured melatonin levels in treated subjects. This is in a stark contrast to the number of clinical trials with a drug that stimulates melatonin receptors, a target considered to be specific for the cellular actions of melatonin. The compound in case, agomelatine, has been approved in Europe for treatment of depression and is now being investigated in the U.S.

How would melatonin receptors work to alleviate symptoms of severe depression? Imagine for a moment you've just won a huge Mega Millions jackpot and you've bought yourself a mansion. It's a huge castle with lots of doors, each with at least one lock and some with several. These locks are the melatonin receptors. There are two main types of these receptors, MT1 and MT2. You've also got the master key, melatonin, which opens both types of locks. To the in-laws who poured in to visit as soon as they'd heard of your fortune you only give keys to certain locks, the MT1 or the MT2, so you can keep some privacy. For the special room in which you keep your most valued possessions, you have an additional layer of security, a door equipped not only with both MT1 and MT2 locks, but also with an unusual lock, the serotonin receptor called 5-HT2C. To open this door, the 5-HT2C lock must be locked at the same time you are using the master key to unlock the MT1 and MT2 locks. Quite a task!

Apparently, you can do the same to your brain 5-HT2C, MT1, and MT2 receptors by taking agomelatine, a drug that acts simultaneously on the MT1 and MT2 melatonin receptors (as their agonist) and on the 5-HT2C serotonin receptors (as their antagonist). Scientists believed that this simultaneous manipulation of brain melatonin and 5-HT2C serotonin receptors reduces the symptoms of major depression. According to this concept, using melatonin only would not produce the same effect.

In their article The Pattern of Melatonin Receptor Expression in the Brain may Influence Antidepressant Treatment, Dr. Eric Hirsch-Rodriguez and colleagues from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago described how the presence of melatonin receptors such as MT1 and MT2 in different brain areas changes over time and can be affected by illness and drug treatment. For example, prolonged treatment with classical antidepressants changes the content of the MT1 and MT receptors. These investigators suggested that melatonin or drugs based on melatonin would produce antidepressant effects only if an optimal amount and brain distribution of melatonin receptors are available for drug action and that clinical trials with such drugs would need to take into consideration the characterization of patients' melatonin receptors.

With increasing life expectancies and more technology at our fingertips it is only expectedly natural that people everywhere are searching for a healthy but effective way to feel and live better. Sermorelin acetate is a safe avenue in an emerging world of natural age remedies. The purpose of Sermorelin Acetate Therapy is to cause the pituitary gland to increase growth hormone production in humans. The purpose of adult Sermorelin growth hormone therapy is to reverse the effects of aging. This revolutionary hormone therapy is a biological active analog of growth hormone releasing factor (GRF 1-44) which is a growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) that is naturally produced by the human brain to stimulate production and secretion of human growth hormone (HGH) by the pituitary gland. Sermorelin stimulates the pituitary gland by binding to specific receptors to increase the production and secretion of HGH. With GHRH therapy, the pituitary gland increases its growth hormone production which is converted by the liver into IGF-1 and released into the blood stream. This means increased metabolism and the growth of new cells within the body's organs and bones. New cells equal healthy young tissue and chance to greatly improve your quality of life.

As a youth, ample amounts of GHRH are produced so that the pituitary gland is able to provide the body with sufficient growth hormone to sustain health, vitality and otherwise normal aspects of human form and function. In some people, GHRH stops working and does not release the signal like it should. When this happens, premature aging sets in. During aging, a decline in GHRH causes reduced production of pituitary HGH and thereby increasing growth hormone insufficiencies that erode health, stamina and vitality during later life.

Sermorelin acetate is approved for use in children and is considered safe for use in adults with deficient growth hormone. The FDA has recently approved Sermorelin treatment in adults who experience premature aging. Typically injected at bedtime, Sermorelin dosing is based on gender and the severity of the hormone deficiency. As always, it is imperative that adults seeking this (keyword) first have their blood test results reviewed by the supervising physician working with the organization offering the treatment.

What are the benefits?

Sermorelin has been proven to increase energy and endurance, break down body fat, improve heart function, increase lean muscle mass, enhance the immune system, accelerate healing from surgery or wounds, promote non-REM restful slow wave sleep, and increase calcium retention which strengthens and increases bone density. It has also been shown to reduce liver uptake of glucose, play a role in fuel homeostasis, increase protein synthesis and stimulate the growth of internal organs (except the brain) and contribute to the maintenance and function of pancreatic islets.

Hormone therapy is definitely a good hair replacement treatment for all kinds of women, especially women who have reached and surpassed the age of menopause. At this point, their bodies may start to secrete a lot more testosterone than is needed, which often leads to hair loss. With the hormone therapy, you can keep the testosterone levels within limits and prevent the formation of DHT - dihydrtestosterone - that causes skin cell death and loss of hair.

Most kinds of hair replacement surgeries are wonderful treatments for women who are suffering from hair loss. Often, most females prefer to go for the more common type of hair-replacement surgery, which is hair transplantation.

It is a simple but protracted process of conscientiously removing skin with live follicles from the back of the head and grafting it over the infected area. It could take months before the results are seen, but they are most often remarkable. Other forms of hair replacement surgery that a woman may opt for, or may be advised to undergo, are balloon inflation, scalp reduction, and tissue expansion.

If the hair loss is not too severe, most women can actually achieve replacement by the right use of several hair care products. Before embarking on this, though, permission should be sought and obtained from a licensed dermatologist. As a matter of fact, the woman is better off if this treatment is prescribed by the specialist. Then she can go into some cosmetic store and pick out a cream or lotion that has specific ingredients for her hair type, and nutrients that can nurture her scalp back to soundness to stimulate hair re growth.

Question:
I've been taking HRT- Prempak-C -for ten years. In view of the recent research, I've decided to come off it. I tried just stopping taking it but have felt dreadful, with hot flushes after only a few weeks. Have you any advice to help me come off HRT?

Answer:
Firstly, it's vital that - unless you have a severe complication, which it doesn't sound as if you do - you come off HRT slowly, over several months. I do advise you to talk to your doctor about this.

Now a little about hormone replacement therapy in general... As women come to the end of their reproductive life, the activity in their ovaries declines because the eggs they are born with run our As this happens, the levels of the female hormone oestrogen drop. (There is always some oestrogen in the body because the ovaries go on producing a little; even if the ovaries are removed, the adrenal gland produces a hormone called androstenedione, which is converted to a form of oestrogen.)

If you are living with the awful symptoms of PCOS then discovering techniques to cure this condition is essential which is where PCOS Natural Cures come in.

Natural remedies are the most effective ways to reverse PCOS because they treat the root cause of PCOS. natural cures also have a number of benefits compared to traditional ways of managing the condition.

Hormone Therapy - Some doctors get the wrong impression and believe that PCOS can be managed with hormone therapy. This is not only wrong but it also can destroy a woman's health! Hormone therapy basically tries to normalize hormone levels espeially estrogen because the symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome are caused by unbalanced hormones. This is not as good as it sounds however as the hormonal imbalance is just a symptom of a deeper problem. Also, HRT has been known to increase risks of stroke, blood clots and breast cancer.

Drugs - Like hormone therapy other drug based solutions miss the point because they try to stop PCOS symptoms not the root cause of PCOS. Some drugs do recognize that the base problems need to be addressed but do not end the problem but instead only temporarily relieve the problem... this means it is STILL THERE! As soon as you stop taking the drugs the menstrual pain, infertility, hair, weight gain and all the other PCOS problems will return. Not to mentaion many women suffer terrible side effects when on certain drugs.

So what is the root cause of PCOS you are probably wondering and how do you fix it.

Cachexia is a wasting condition that may have terrible repercussions if not detected and treated early in its development. Cachexia is a deadly cocktail of involuntary rapid weight loss, muscle atrophy, fatigue, weakness and significant loss of appetite. Not quite a "permanent" medical condition, Cachexia is rather a very prominent sign of various underlying disorders that the person may be undergoing. Some known causes of this wasting condition includes: AIDS, cancer, tuberculosis, and a host of autoimmune disorders - one of which is severe rheumatoid arthritis. If not treated in its earliest stage, Cachexia will inevitably lead to a state of immobility, anemia and multiple organ failure due to malnutrition. This is often exhibited with patients who undergo full body wasting, wherein skeletal muscles are made useless resulting in muscle atrophy. Patients with severe conditions finally succumb to death.

Often, doctors detect this wasting condition in the end-stage of cancer; in which case, it is classified as cancer Cachexia. It is also prevalent in AIDS patients, especially those who do not have access to the AIDS triple therapy treatment. It can also be seen in other types of medical conditions like COPD or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and congestive heart failure.

Fasting, to the point of being skeletal looking should not be mistaken as Cachexia. Fasting or excessive dieting is voluntary, with the person involved knowingly controls his calorie intake. This condition can easily be reversed or stopped by eating again. Cachexia, though, is involuntary. It is a classic sign of terminal illness, of which reversal or the outright stoppage of the condition cannot be solved by merely regaining the consumption of a balanced diet.

Many medical practitioners are now setting their sights unto non-conventional means to help slow down (and ultimately, reverse) the process of Cachexia. Although the primary concern would have to be the treatment of the actual underlying disease or medical condition, any aid to ease the suffering of the disease-stricken patient and aid in the said patient's recovery is more than welcomed. Human growth hormone treatment offers a way of building up or re-building muscles and bones. It is particularly helpful in the development of skeletal muscles: the one type of muscle group that Cachexia actually destroys.

Although human growth hormone treatment is not considered as the end-all medication for Cachexia, it offers patients the time and needed energy to regain a foothold on their strength by slowing down the wasting process. By re-introducing a healthy supply of growth hormones in the system, skeletal muscles are healed, rebuilt and strengthened, making mobility possible.

Midlife, Perimenopause, and Menopause

The transition from midlife to menopause is especially difficult for the migraine sufferer. No one knows for sure why migraines start to increase in frequency and severity as one approaches midlife. Perhaps it is simply due to increased stress and responsibility. Be sure to take time for yourself and take your own medical concerns seriously (meaning treat your condition according to whatever method you feel is right for you be that a western medicine approach, alternative therapies, or wellness - or any blend of the three.)

Perimenopause

Many women start to experience the transition towards menopause in their 40's. During this time periods become very unpredictable due to the fact that your hormone levels are dropping but are still prone to unpredictable surges. This can result in periods that last longer than usual (sometimes weeks or months) or periods that are simply skipped. Likewise, the erratic hormone fluctuation can also increase migraine frequency and severity.

Treating Hormone-Related Migraines

Female infertility is fairly common nowadays. There are many causes of female infertility which are quite easily diagnosed. With the correct diagnosis of female infertility, it can be tackled successfully. If you suspect that you have female infertility, the first step is to understand the various causes of female infertility, so that you can determine whether to seek the appropriate treatment. Most doctors will recommend that if you are under the age of 39 and you have been trying to get conceive unsuccessfully for a year, it is time to consult a medical doctor.

The Causes of Female Infertility

There are many factors that contribute to female infertility. One is hormonal disorder that can affect the ovulation process. If hormonal problems are the cause of female infertility, the treatment options include taking hormones orally. There are numerous test kits available that can detect hormonal problems, including the basal body temperature chart, an ovulation predictor test and blood tests that can measure the hormone levels at different times during the monthly cycle.

Another cause of infertility is due damaged or blocked fallopian tubes. The fallopian tubes are the means through which an egg will descend from the ovaries to the uterus. If an egg cannot travel through the fallopian tubes, it will not be accessible by the sperms and hence, conception cannot take place. Infections, endometriosis and surgeries can cause damage to the fallopian tubes. This condition can usually be diagnosed with a variety of tools. Sometimes, surgery can remedy this situation. In other cases, the treatment may involve bypassing the fallopian tubes by extracting the egg directly from the ovary, fertilizing it in a lab and then transplanting it back into the uterus.

In rare cases, the cause of the female infertility cannot be determined. In such case, you and your doctor will need to decide on whether to proceed with any of the female infertility treatment options available. Failing everything, adoption will be the only means of having a child. However, with so many female infertility treatments available today, your chances of successfully conceiving a healthy baby are greater than ever before.

It's no secret that menopause means you will be experiencing lots of bodily changes. But what you may not have been expecting is for menopause to cost you your hair! It is true though, that most women will experience thinning hair during menopause. How much loss you experience and how long the loss lasts depends on a number of factors including genetic propensity, lifestyle, diet, and health.

Even though it is by no means rare for a menopausal woman to suffer from alopecia, many doctors don't seem to have a solution and can be unsympathetic. The condition is often overlooked as a normal part of the aging process. Sometimes, Rogaine is suggested; but while Rogaine has the potential to enhance existing hair it does not offer a real solution to the original and underlying cause of your hair loss. And it cannot prevent future thinning.

Finding The Cause

Alopecia can be caused by many conditions but most alopecia in women (and men) can be attributed to hormonal factors. It has become obvious that hair is very sensitive to large hormonal shifts. Think about getting on and off birth control, pregnancy, and yes, menopause. Changes in your body's levels of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone can and will likely affect hair growth. So much so that if a woman is experiencing a significant amount of loss, the first thing to consider is whether there has been any significant hormonal changes.

This is why doctors will say that it is "normal" for women to start thinning as they head into menopause. A better way to put it is that it is understandable that a menopausal woman experience hair shed. One great misconception about menopause is that the symptoms of menopause are always caused by an estrogen deficiency. The symptoms of perimenopause and menopause are caused by changes and fluctuations of hormones. When it comes to hormones, balance is key. Estrogen levels do fall as women head into menopause, but the hormone progesterone falls much more.

It's big news when a favored medical treatment - HRT for menopausal women - is found to be harmful. But it's no news to those who have been blowing the whistle on both scientific and alternative treatments of menopause for nearly two decades. As recently quoted in Newsweek Magazine: "Menopause is not a 'pathology', but a passage to power. Like puberty, menopause is a natural - and healthy - change. Wise women the world over herald menopause as a health-promoting event. They see hot flashes as 'power surges' and menopause as an intense spiritual journey. Most treatments - including ERT, HRT, isoflavone, and progesterone creams - disrupt this process and can do severe damage to a woman's health."

MENOPAUSE IS ENLIGHTENMENT

The energy aspects of menopause are of special interest to me.

As a long-time student of yoga, I was struck by the many similarities between menopausal symptoms and the well-known esoteric goal of "awakening of the kundalini." Though the ideas presented in this section may seem strange or difficult to comprehend, they contain powerful messages about menopause, which lie at the heart of the Wise Woman approach.

Kundalini [is] the root [of] all spiritual experiences... Kundalini is a special kind of energy known in many cultures, including Tibetan, Indian, Sumerian, Chinese, Irish, Aztec, and Greek. Kundalini is said to be hot, fast, powerful, and large. It exists within the earth, within all life, and within each person. Psychoanalyst Carl G. Jung called kundalini anima. Kundalini is usually represented as a serpent coiled at the base of the spine, but women's mystery stories locate it in the uterus - or the area where the uterus was, if a hysterectomy has occurred. During both puberty and menopause, a woman's kundalini is difficult to control and may cause a great number of symptoms.

Hormone Replacement Theory (HRT)

The use of artificial instigation of replacement hormones in the woman's body during pre-menopause is said to reduce the symptoms to a very good extent. The treatment is usually taken for one or two years is almost like a painkiller which gets rid of the menopausal symptoms like mood swings, sudden sweating at nights, unexpected weight gain, etc. which is caused by the hormonal changes. Apart from the reprieve from menopausal, HRT may also treat reduced energy and protect against osteoporosis after menopause. The appropriate mixtures of conjugated equine estrogens that are derived from the urine of pregnant horses are the most common prescribed form of HRT. All that said there is a lot of controversy over this treatment in itself.

The possible Risks

Though HRT might look very useful during pre-menopausal period, it comes along with a variety of risks. It can increase the risk of breast cancer, heart disease and stroke. Certain other types of HRT have a higher risk and the risk could also vary from each woman's health history and lifestyle. Always getting help from the health care specialist is essential in this case as it would be helpful to discuss the benefits and risks involved specifically for you. Beyond all that, if hormonal therapy is still preferred it should be the lowest dose and should be consumed only for the shortest period. Taking it should be re-evaluated every six months. Also certain women face side-effects after getting treated with the therapy. Some of the most common side effects that women face are headache, stomach cramps, diarrhea, appetite and weight changes, nervousness, acne, swelling of the limbs due to fluid retention, etc. Natural ways like eating a good healthy diet and exercising well during that menopausal time should be followed by women compulsorily. Most often women tend to put on weight around that time to an unbelievable extent because of which the healthy diet and exercise is compromised. Making an effort to lead a good lifestyle is very important during pre-menopausal and also throughout one's life.

With proper medical guidance, making use of Hormone Replacement Therapy should assist women to lead a peaceful lovely life during that pre-menopausal period.

If you are worried about being alone in the misery of stress and depression, don't be! Statistics say there are around 20 million Americans feeling the same way you are. Having such great numbers makes depression the most serious among other brain diseases. Annually, billions of dollars are spent by mentally distressed people to get out of this state. Large majority of the US population suffers from depression in one way or the other. It is interesting to note here that people of all ages including teens, adults, and oldies are affected by this mental disease.

There are many reasons of depression; loss in life, illness, loneliness, heredity, work load, blood deficiency, and brain weakness are among a few. Depression, if left untreated can become a permanent condition, interrupting the joys of your life. This matter should be looked into with a serious thought, but the tragedy is that only a one third of people facing depression consider having proper treatment to get rid of it. The rest are feared from the social responses they'll get from friends, coworkers and family.

Among the many symptoms of depression, the gravest one is the thought of attempting suicide by the depressed. Therefore, if you are facing depression yourself, or any of your loved one is going through it, be sure to get it treated on-time! Sadness and despair affects all body parts. The heart, the immune system, the lungs, the digestive system, the sensory organs, and the brain; all are endangered.

The proven and affordable method for curing this disease is through the use of HGH. Human Growth Hormone is the leading hormone controlling and managing the activities of various secondary hormones and metabolism levels in body. Growth hormone is excreted from the pituitary gland placed below the human brain. The excretion heightens during the early morning before waking up. There is an obvious decline in HGH discharge from mid-age onwards. This is also the same age at which biological depression also starts to show in a person.

Dr Ronald Klatz explains the role of human growth hormone in depression and stress in his book "Grow Young with GH":"If HGH has a natural antidepressant effect on the brain, it could be a major reason that we are so optimistic and resilient when we are young. With the decline of GH that comes with age, we not only lose muscle, bone, thymus tissue, body water, and cell division, we lose our joy for life. But with a program of Human Growth Hormone stimulation, we can have it all back again."