Hormone Help for Men

That’s right guys – it’s not just us ladies who get hormonal!

Male testosterone levels start to decline beginning in their 30's, and drop steadily at approximately 1% per year. Testosterone is not just important for libido, but is also essential for heart health, proper brain function, maintaining muscle tone and bone density, mood and more. Low testosterone levels are a symptom as well as the primary cause of metabolic syndrome and diabetes. But what about other hormones levels for men?

While evaluating and treating suboptimal or low testosterone levels is important, the function of other hormones should not be overlooked. Estradiol and progesterone levels also play an important role, and like testosterone their levels change with age. Male estradiol levels increase in older men because body composition shifts and higher levels of adipose tissue can convert testosterone into estradiol. Increasing estradiol levels often cause a rise in SHBG, a glycoprotein that binds to sex hormones, specifically testosterone and estradiol, but preferentially to testosterone. This amplifies a testosterone deficiency as more of the testosterone becomes bound, rendering less of it "free" or bioavailable to interact with target tissues.

Additionally, a recent Italian study found that estradiol levels are independently associated with metabolic syndrome. A group of 452 men ages 65-69 were evaluated for free and total estradiol levels and markers of metabolic syndrome. The data was adjusted to account for additional variables including smoking history, alcohol consumption, physical activity and BMI, however the results indicate a high estradiol level is an independent risk factor for metabolic syndrome.

As estradiol levels are increasing, progesterone, like testosterone levels, are declining, establishing an estrogen dominant state. This imbalance influences prostate health as estrogen causes the prostate cells to grow in size and in number. Progesterone helps to balance this proliferation and is protective to the prostate. The risk of prostate cancer is growing and the incidence of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) is remarkable. Approximately 80% of men over the age of 80report some hypertrophy of their prostate! The symptoms associated with BPH include urinary retention and urgency that can result in an increased likelihood of infection as well as disrupted sleep pattern.

Men are certainly not exempt to the stressors of life. In addition, adrenal dysfunction is likely a factor in their symptoms and the pathophysiology of endocrine imbalances so it is prudent to evaluate cortisol and DHEA levels. The best way to test for adrenal exhaustion and DHEA levels is through an ASI Stress Test, which I offer to my clients in my health coaching practice.

Shocked? Don’t be. I have a lot of men coming to me these days who are feeling out of sorts, overly emotional, and downright depressed, and it can almost always be linked to a hormonal imbalance.

The good news is that if you take a holistic approach to balancing your hormones, you can restore function to your endocrine system without harsh medications that only exacerbate the problem.

Hallelujah! Take that Big Pharma ;)

Wanna know more? Contact me for a FREE Strategy Session to discuss your healthy history and strategize ways to set you on the straight and narrow. E mail me at angela@wellnesswithangela.com to set it up.

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What Would You Do If You Could Do Anything?

Most of us have pretty big dreams. The problem is very few of us are living them. We're too afraid of the "what if's" going on our heads to even begin to think about pursuing them. We can think of every excuse in the book as to why we can't go after them, and refuse to think of ways we can.

That used to be me. I used to think that way when I had a regular 9-5, or more like 7-11, going to work every day...shuffling through life like a heard of cattle. But I always had 1 foot in and 1 foot out of my jobs because I never wanted to be there, not even for a minute. I refused to acknowledge any of them as a career because that meant it was for life. And I knew I wasn't lifer. I just didn't know what else to do. Sound familiar?

We tend to get stuck in these mindsets that the only source of income available to us is through a J-O-B. One with "good benefits" (as if those exist anymore) and a "good company" (ditto). But the truth is that that job isn't paying you. In fact, it's not in control of your finances at all. No matter how good the retirement package is, or the company picnics, or the office parties, none of that comes from that company.

So where does it come from you ask? I'll be happy to share. It comes from the Universe. Your Source Energy. Your connection to who you really are, before you were even here. Your job may appear to be the one in control of the cash flow in your life, kinda like a wolf in sheep's clothing, however it's just your chosen source of income. Because the reality is that the money in your life comes from the Powers That Be that you are connected to, whether you realize it or not.

I used to say to myself, "I can't quit my job!!! What would I do for money???" As if there aren't a million and one ways out there to make money. Even if you're married. Even if you have kids. There are STILL a million and one ways to make money that don't require the standard-issue corporate career that is so uninspring you'd rather jab your eye out with an icepick.

If you're reading this, I'm talking to YOU! I'll never buy the fact that anyone working for someone else is truly happy or in a career they love. Never. When I interview my clients about why their weight is stuck, or why they have no energy, or why they eat sugar by the mounds, the #1 reason goes back to either an unhealthy realtionship or an unsastifying job. And usually the unhealthy relationship is WITH the job.

We've been conditioned to think that we go to school, then we get a job. Yet we're poorly advised that misery goes hand in hand. No one ever clearly communicates, except through dire negativity and year after year of declining health, just how miserable we'll be slaving away for a corporate giant the rest of our lives, accepting that our measly little retirement package was worth it in the end.

Get real! Times have changed. Big time. If you think that company you're working for has your back when it comes to the next round of layoffs, think again. They'll drop you like a hot potato no matter how many years you've been working for them. Regardless if you're a teacher, a steel worker, or the CEO. You're just as disposable as the rest of them and they know it.

And if you do get laid off, it could be the best thing that ever happened to you. I was laid off once and I parlayed it into a huge stepping stone into another job I wanted but that had eluded me. The funny thing is that I actually made more money after the layoff than while I was working there between my severance and bonuses. It was the best thing that ever happened to me after all because it got me out of a job that bored me to tears but that I would've stayed in because it was paying me. The problem is that it put me into another job that I couldn't stand and DID stay in for the same reason. From day 1, I knew that job wasn't right for me, yet I stayed put for 14 years.

When I left my corporate gig in March, 2009, to pursue my health coaching business full time, I was shocked at the lack of well wishes I got. I barely got any at all to be honest. People I had known all those years didn't even so much as send me an e mail or call, and they knew I was leaving. Bosses and managers that I thought respected me hardly even said good luck. After being a loyal, dedicated employee for almost half my life, I didn't even so much as get a handshake. What a fine how-do-you-do that turned out to be.

My rationalization was that because they're all so miserable, it makes it hard for them to be happy for anyone else. While I believe that to be true, it still sucked. But it proved my point which is that YOU ARE NOT IMPORTANT TO THEM. You are a number. No matter how secure you think your job is.

I see so many people stuck in the same place I was. If they only knew. I was recently in San Francisco visiting a dear friend who happens to still work for the same company I did. One morning during my visit while she was on a conference call for work, I listened in and overheard the callers discussing statistics and goals, and it was then that I realized how grateful I was for the courage I had to leave.

Speaking of statistics, did you know that every Alzheimer's patient on the planet neglected to follow their own dreams and passions? It's true. That's how powerful it is to use your mind for what it was meant for, whatever that may be, and only you know.

I'm no different than you. I'm not rich, I'm from a middle class family in Cleveland, Ohio, which is consistently ranked as the worst city to live in, and I'm single. I've got the odds stacked against me in other words. And yet I broke convention in one of the worst economies we've seen since the Great Depression to pursue my passion and my dreams. I left a job making close to $200,000 a year - by choice. I had a company car, a cell and I worked from home. And I hated it. And I wasn't downsized, I wasn't laid off, nor was I fired. On top of that, when I left, I ranked 3rd in my zone, which, according to their inane ranking system, is not easy to do.

But I threw caution to the wind and went for it! I didn't know how to make it happen, or even if it was going to happen. I just knew I wanted it.

Even though my gremlins like to rear their ugly heads once in a while, I still know there is nothing I'd rather be doing and that I'll never go back. I love the freedom and the creativity my career (yes, CAREER!) now affords me. I ignored my inner longing for too long that now, I'll never give it up and I protect it at every turn.

Oh, and let me tell you that being single doesn't make it any easier either. So if that's the story that you're telling yourself, you're wrong.

I attached a photo of me in Italy last fall, enjoying my new life! Now, the question is - what would you do if you could anything? Because the truth is YOU CAN. And everything you need to support you along the way will be there for you too.

Leave me a comment and let me know because I'd love to hear it ;)