Hormonal imbalance patients are generally 80 percent women and 20 percent men. Although women are affected at a higher rate, it doesn’t make men’s cases any less important.
Unfortunately for either sex, identifying the cause of the imbalance is not always easy. When a doctor refers to a hormonal imbalance, it could mean many different things.
To learn more about common causes of hormonal imbalance, check out the guide below.
What Do Hormones Do?
Hormones are molecules produced by different glands in your body. The circulatory system helps them move to different organs and help regulate their functions. They serve many physiological and behavioral purposes.
Hormones help with sleep, digestion, growth and development, respiration, metabolism, mood, movement, reproduction, and more. A hormone imbalance occurs when there are too many or too few hormones in the circulatory system. It can affect the accuracy of the messages they send to other organs.
Symptoms of Hormonal Imbalance
Hormonal imbalance can cause a litany of side effects in the body. These include:
- Deeper voice
- Neck bulges
- Sensitivity to heat or cold
- Blood sugar concentration changes
- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Bloating
- Appetite changes
- Lower sex drive
- Tender breasts
- Weight gain
- Weight loss
- Dry skin
- Skin rashes
- Excessive sweating
- Long-term fatigue
- Thinning hair
- Brittle hair
- Infertility
- Depression
- Increased thirst
- Insomnia
- Headache
- Blurred vision
- Heartrate changes
- Swollen face
- Brittle bones
- Blood pressure changes
Clearly, there are many symptoms associated with hormonal imbalance. This is because hormones affect many different glands and organs.
Causes of Hormonal Imbalance
Some hormonal fluctuations inevitably occur at specific times of physiological transformation, like during puberty. Sometimes, however, it can mean endocrine glands have an issue that needs to be addressed.
First, a physician needs to identify the gland that is affected. This could be the adrenal glands, hypothalamus gland, pineal gland, pituitary gland, thyroid gland, parathyroid gland, gonads, or pancreatic islets.
There are specific conditions that affect these glands. These conditions include:
- Chemotherapy
- Poor nutrition
- Extreme stress
- Goiters
- Turner syndrome
- Phytoestrogen
- Diabetes
- Cancer
- Addison’s disease
- Excessive weight
- Pituitary tumor
- Pancreatitis
- Hormonal replacement
- Prader-Willi syndrome
- Cushing’s syndrome
- Anorexia
- Birth control
- Hypoglycemia
- Hypoglycemia
- Low cortisol levels
- Allergic reactions
- An underactive or overactive thyroid
Treating a Hormonal Imbalance
The treatment for this medical issue depends on the source of the issue. Once the cause is identified, you can use one of the following as a treatment method.
The medication Metformin can help individuals with Type 2 diabetes manage their blood sugar, and thus their hormones. Individuals with hypothyroidism can use Levothyroxine, which also helps the hormones.
For women specifically, they can use in vitro fertilization, eflornithine, clomiphene, letrozole, hormone replacement therapy, vaginal estrogen, or birth control to manage different aspects of hormonal imbalance.
Men, however, only have testosterone medications to treat their issues.
More Useful Health Advice
No one wants to develop a hormonal imbalance, but unfortunately, it’s often a part of the aging process. For some unlucky patients, it might begin even earlier. The good news is that this is not a fatal condition and it is manageable.
For more helpful health advice, make sure to browse the lifestyle section of our page.
