by Elyse Tursi, DC
Ten out of 10 women that were asked what they believe is the root cause of their symptoms—weight gain, mood 
swings, hot flashes, headaches, low libido and crazy appetite cravings—stated a hormone imbalance was the likely culprit. These same women underwent extensive bloodwork and metabolic testing only to find out they were absolutely right; hormones were to blame for the unwanted symptoms.
Hormones act as tiny messengers that deliver information between cells and organ systems. When the messengers can’t deliver or deliver the wrong information, noticeable problems arise. The reason that these women were right in alluding to the fact that they have dysregulation in their hormones is because of the direct feedback system’s effect. Hormones like cortisol, adrenalin and insulin act instantaneously, delivering their message second by second to other slower-acting hormones, like thyroid hormones, growth hormones and sex hormones, including estrogen and testosterone. It is because of this overlap that one dysregulated hormone starts to affect a multitude of other hormones. Think of hormones as having a domino effect within the body.
Hormones have a profound effect on our physical body in terms of pain presentations, joint movement, muscle aches, low libido, sugar cravings, and even alter our mental state of mind, regarding anxiety, depression, energy and sleep.
Let’s look at an example of how vastly interconnected every single hormone is. For example, an estrogen and progesterone imbalance can create hormonal cancers, uterine tumors, fibrocystic breasts, endometriosis, hot flashes, joint pain, anxiety and more. These two sex hormones are directly influenced by a peptide hormone called insulin. Insulin is an anabolic hormone that stimulates a wide array of responses, like causing weight gain, fatty liver disease and creating severe nutritional cravings for sugar. It is visible from this example that estrogen affected progesterone and progesterone affected insulin, and now multiple organs and hormones are involved. If you’re experiencing weight fluctuations, belly bloat, mood swings, muscle pain, PMS (premenstrual syndrome), PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder) and depression, it may be time to get your hormones evaluated.
Dr. Elyse Tursi is a doctor of chiropractic and a nutritionist at Pollack Wellness Institute, located at 100 Manetto Hill Rd., Ste. 307, in Plainview. For more information, call 516-299-9313 or visit https://www.pollackwellness.com/.
