Mark Corson

By N. Rozhov. Simmons College. 2018.

She and her husband have learned to take advantage of every morsel of increased interest colchicine 0.5mg without a prescription. It’s more complicated discount 0.5 mg colchicine free shipping, as I described earlier colchicine 0.5mg for sale, and relates to progesterone “resistance. Magnesium, 200 mg/day, helps with bloating, as does vitamin B6, 50 to 100 43 mg/day. B is involved in the production of many neurotransmitters, including serotonin, which controls mood, sleep, and appetite, and dopamine, which controls pleasure and satisfaction. Consumption of excess refined carbohydrates causes loss of magnesium through the urine. I’m not sure why this works, but it may reduce cortisol—less stress, more progesterone. Homeopathy is a form of complementary medicine in which clinicians treat clients with diluted preparations called remedies. You would need to see a homeopath for this individualized therapy, which might be worthwhile and confers little risk. For two cycles, fourteen women sat in front of a bright light (10,000 1x cool-white fluorescent light), compared with dim red light, for two weeks before their period. John’s wort is superior to placebo for depression, based on a review of twenty- three randomized trials 54 of 1,757 patients. But consult with your doctor if you already are taking an antidepressant or antipsychotic medication. However, bioidentical hormone replacement can be useful for irregular menstrual cycles once you’ve been thoroughly evaluated by your local physician, and it improves sleep in perimenopause. Progesterone in Balance When you’ve got your progesterone at its proper level—not too little and not too much—you feel like Goldilocks in the just-right bed: sleepy at the right times, triumphant, and content. I blamed estrogen for many of my new physical quirks: painful periods that interrupted my childhood at age ten; breasts and hips that grew too fast and caused stretch marks; and breakouts that perplexed even my dermatologist. Hormones in general, and estrogen in particular, felt inscrutable, volatile, and beyond my comprehension. I mentioned this in the last chapter, but it’s worth repeating: estrogen is the hormone that most defines you as a woman. In fact, estrogen is the primary female sex hormone, made by all animals with a spine (“Mom, duh! In humans, the female brain becomes exquisitely sensitive to estrogen at puberty, and this continues until about your mid-forties, when the brain becomes less sensitive again —that is, the ovary is increasingly numb to the admonitions of the ovaries, and vice versa. At puberty, release of estrogen increases the feel- good chemicals of oxytocin, the arbiter of love and affiliation, and dopamine, the neurotransmitter of pleasure, satisfaction, and reward- based learning. With its biochemical girlfriends, oxytocin and dopamine, estrogen kick-starts your period at around age ten to fifteen. Estrogen: Archetype of Femininity Here’s the short version of what estrogen does: • Externally, estrogen gives you hips and breasts. Estrogen is nature’s Prozac, adjusting the level of available serotonin—another important neurotransmitter—so that it’s in more ready supply. Serotonin regulates your mood, sleep, and appetite, and acts as a general gatekeeper of other neurotransmitters in your brain. If conception does not occur, the lining is released about every twenty- eight days as your period. If conception does occur, estrogen, combined with progesterone, thickens and deepens that lining for the fertilized egg to settle into and grow. Ideally, you have a rhythm between these two hormones, which should function like well-matched dance partners. Estrogen is the flirtatious, curvy member of the team; progesterone plays a less dramatic, supportive role. Balance is crucial because estrogen and progesterone have opposing yet interdependent effects, similar to the Chinese concept of yin and yang. Estrogen stimulates the lining of the uterus to grow; progesterone stops the growth, stabilizes it, and then releases it in a coordinated fashion called menstruation. Estrogen stimulates breast cells to grow; progesterone prevents cysts from developing in painful breasts. Estrogen creates progesterone receptors, the locks on a cell’s nucleus into which a hormone inserts like a key; progesterone makes estrogen receptors jam and shut down. When they work in tandem, maintaining the body’s delicate equilibrium, you dance to a passionate rhythm. When your estrogen and progesterone are synchronized, your bones are strong, dense, and pliable. Your cardiovascular system stays clear of meddlesome debris, like clots and plaque. You know that you have reached this balanced state when you measure your levels of estradiol (the main estrogen of the reproductive years) and progesterone in saliva on Day 21 of the menstrual cycle, and the ratio of progesterone to estrogen is 100 to 500, and optimally 300. Estrogen as Dominatrix: Background on Estrogen Dominance Just like couples on a dance floor, problems can arise when one partner dominates. Excess estrogen can lead to a host of annoying ailments: water retention and its first cousin, breast tenderness; painful periods, perhaps endometriosis; mood swings, or your garden- variety free-floating irritability —take this a step further, and you have full-fledged anxiety or depression. Maybe you’ve noticed that you have more headaches, or that your face is redder than you want it to be. When estrogen levels are high in relation to progesterone, women often experience a wild ride of emotions before their periods. Beyond mood swings, symptoms can include hair loss, headaches, breast tenderness, bloating, difficulty losing weight, depression, fatigue, insomnia, decreased libido, foggy brain, and/or memory loss. Studies on rats show that high estrogen can interfere with the ability to learn and pay attention. The Highs and Lows of Estrogen Dominance Because estrogen and progesterone levels are so entwined, let’s look at the different combinations that relate to high estrogen: 1.

Then you can rely on her advice about what will be safest and what will work best for you individually buy colchicine 0.5mg fast delivery. Postpartum When it comes to women’s hormonal health after pregnancy order colchicine 0.5 mg online, postpartum is a menopausal state order colchicine 0.5mg with mastercard. You enter the birth experience with sky- high hormones, especially estrogen and progesterone, and when you deliver your placenta, your hormones drop to the floor. I recommend continuing most of the food and lifestyle changes you implemented before and during your pregnancy, but you can now push yourself harder with exercise once you pass your six-week checkup with your clinician. In fact, I work with a psychiatrist who prescribes an estrogen patch as a first line of therapy. The tricky part of being a new mom is the sleep deprivation—lack of sleep alone can tip the best of us toward the blues, even depression. Because supplementation is a bit of a minefield and the quality of safety data is sparse at best, I encourage new mothers to focus on food- based nutritional healing. We know that women under stress do best when they are with their girlfriends, so I suggest very strongly that new moms join a postpartum yoga class or baby boot camp. Additionally, I recommend essential oils for pregnant and nursing women, and all of the stress reduction techniques listed below. Science hasn’t yet nailed down the exact reason for this gap, but there are about two hundred genes involved in your metabolic set point, and the hormones that determine whether you have more “thrifty” genes, which are the genes that allow you to survive a famine, are complex. I imagine that women who lose weight rapidly have more of the “skinny” genes than “thrifty” genes. Overall, most of us have about 100x more thrifty genes than skinny genes, which can make all the difference. Following a low-carb, high- fiber, and veggie diet mixed with moderate exercise and hormone-balancing supplements will keep your metabolism running at a healthy speed. Sara: I was absolutely thrilled by the reception to my first book, The Hormone Cure. I heard from thousands of readers who found the balance, energy, and vitality they were seeking by following The Gottfried Protocol to balance their hormones naturally and effectively. We’ve decided to put the most frequently asked questions here, in the paperback edition of The Hormone Cure, because I am committed to getting you the answers you deserve. You can find out what the root cause of your multiple hormone imbalances is by completing my questionnaire either in The Hormone Cure or online at www. Here’s a hint: start with the issue that has been plaguing you the longest and shows up with the greatest number of symptoms. If cortisol is one of your problems, then begin there with Gottfried Protocol Step 1 (see page 17). Once your hormones are back on track, I recommend assessing yourself at least two to four times per year to make sure you’re maintaining that balance. Simply checking in and measuring your own progress will cause improvement because you’re paying attention to your body and its needs. You can monitor yourself quantitatively with my questionnaires, lab testing, or both. I recommend performing a laboratory test for certain hormones if you have three or more symptoms (based on my questionnaire on page 24 —look for the pages with a gray color on the edges) or as identified by my online quiz. I encourage younger women to perform a baseline test in their twenties or thirties, and for women aged 35 or older to track these symptoms with lab tests at regular intervals. Ideally, perform the tests with your local clinician (see Appendix D, page 335), but if your doctor declines your request or wants more information, you have several options: • Work with one of the three-hundred-plus collaborative and smart practitioners that I have trained personally in the Hormone Cure. Even if you’ve visited the practitioner page before, go again, because we keep adding new practitioners. Because of space limitations in this book, we offer the complete list of references for your doctor (and you) to review at http://thehormonecurebook. If you’re experiencing symptoms of high and low cortisol, don’t stress (pun intended): I’ve got a plan for you. Learning to manage your stress response, tweaking your diet, and getting the right kind of exercise will get you back on track to hormonal harmony. It’s not uncommon for women to experience symptoms of high and low cortisol simultaneously, but it is a major red flag that you need to manage your cortisol as if your life depends on it— which it does! Here’s my three-step action plan (and see the “Why” explanation following): • Start first with targeted lifestyle changes: yoga, meditation, or some other way to observe yourself and improve your perceived stress. Even when a scary situation arises, your goal should be to process and deal with the issue without letting it take over your body and mind. At the same time, cut out coffee and alcohol because they tax your adrenals—and your poor, cute adrenals need a break. Getting rid of these two faves is a crucial part of returning to a healthy cortisol pattern, because caffeine and alcohol rob you of restorative sleep. Then add the supplements I mentioned in the previous Q&A— phosphatidylserine (400 mg per day) and omega-3s (4,000 mg per day). Finally, eat a small square of dark chocolate, have an orgasm, and call me in the morning. I only recommend supplements that have serious science backing up their effectiveness. When it comes to cortisol, ginseng and rhodiola have been shown to help with stress- 1 related fatigue. When you have both high and low cortisol within the same day, I recommend ashwagandha. When you have symptoms of high and low cortisol, what’s typically happened is that chronically high cortisol (or some other traumatic event or condition) has maxed out your adrenals, causing your cortisol to drop.

Much of the early work on these transporters was carried out on the chromaffin granules of the bovine adrenal medulla order 0.5mg colchicine amex. There are 12 transmembrane segments with both the N- and C-termini projecting towards the neuronal cytosol generic colchicine 0.5mg visa. In fact generic colchicine 0.5mg free shipping, the expression of these proteins in individual cells might be mutually exclusive. They also differ in their sensitivity to the reversible uptake inhibitor, tetrabenazine, and their affinity for substrates such as amphetamine and histamine. Landmark studies carried out in the 1960s, using the perfused cat spleen preparation, showed that stimulation of the splenic nerve not only led to the detection of noradrenaline in the effluent perfusate but the vesicular enzyme, DbH, was also present. As mentioned above, this enzyme is found only within the noradrenaline storage vesicles and so its appearance along with noradrenaline indicated that both these factors were released from the vesicles. By contrast, there was no sign in the perfusate of any lactate dehydrogenase, an enzyme that is found only in the cell cytosol. The processes by which neuronal excitation increases transmitter release were described in Chapter 4. While the amount of noradrenaline released from the terminals can be increased by nerve stimulation, it can be increased much more by drugs, like phenoxybenzamine, which block presynaptic a-adrenoceptors. These presynaptic autoreceptors play an important part in ensuring that transmitter stores are conserved and preventing excessive stimulation of the postsynaptic cells. Pharmacological characterisation of this receptor revealed that it was unlike classic a-adrenoceptors found on smooth muscle. In particular, receptors modulating noradrenaline release have a higher affinity for the agonist, clonidine, and the antagonist, yohimbine. This distinctive pharmacology led to the subdivision of a-adrenoceptors into the a1- and the a2-subtypes. Although the latter is the subtype responsible for feedback inhibition of noradrenaline release, the majority of a2-adrenoceptors are actually found postsynaptically in some brain regions. There is still some debate over the identity of the subtype of a2-adrenoceptors responsible for feedback inhibition of transmitter release. However, most studies agree that the a2A/D-subtype has the major role, although the a2B-anda2C-subtypes might contribute to this action. Species differences in the relative contributions of these different receptors are also possible. Itisa2A-adrenoceptors that are found on cell bodies of noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus. Whichever of these release- controlling processes predominates is uncertain but it is likely that their relative importance depends on the type (or location) of the neuron. The precise role of these receptors in regulation of noradrenaline release in vivo is uncertain because noradrenaline has a relatively low affinity for these receptors. However, one suggestion is that, in the periphery, they are preferentially activated by circulating adrenaline which has a relatively high affinity for these receptors. This activation could enable circulating adrenaline to augment neuronal release of noradrenaline and thereby effect a functional link between these different elements of the sympathoadrenal system. However, the extent to which this actually happens is uncertain as is a physiological role for b-adrenoceptors in regulation of nor- adrenaline release in the brain. A further possible mechanism, that would enable different types of neurons to modify noradrenaline release, is suggested by recent in vitro studies of brain slices. There is no doubt that this form of release depends on vesicular exocytosis because it is Ca2‡-dependent, sensitive to tetrodotoxin and, like impulse- dependent release, it is attenuated by a2-adrenoceptor agonists (see above). The extent to which this process occurs under normal physiological conditions in vivo remains to be seen. This uptake process relies on membrane-bound noradrenaline transporters which are glycoproteins closely related Figure 8. Binding domains for specific ligands are thought to be within regions indicated by the solid bars. The hypothetical structure of the noradrenaline transporter is illustrated in Fig. Because co-transport of both Cl7 and Na‡ is required for the uptake of noradrenaline, this is regarded as one of the family of Na‡/Cl7 transporters. Exactly how this transporter carries noradrenaline across the neuronal membrane is not known but one popular model proposes that it can exist in two interchangeable states. This process enables the translocation of noradrenaline from the extracellular space towards the neuronal cytosol. Point-mutation and splicing studies indicate that different zones of the transporter determine its substrate affinity and selectivity, ionic dependence, Vmax, and the binding site for uptake inhibitors such as desipramine (Povlock and Amara 1997). Because the cloned transporter is a target for the reuptake inhibitor, desipramine, it is thought to reflect the native transporter in the brain and peripheral tissues. These are quite distinct uptake mechanisms because they have different substrate affinities and antagonist sensitivities. At the very least, intracellular messengers could modify substrate affinity of the transporter, by causing its phosphorylation or glycosylation (Bonisch, Hammermann and Bruss 1998), and so markedly affect its function. Whether or not there are different gene products, splice variants, or posttranslational changes, it has been suggested that abnormal distributions of functionally distinctive noradrena- line transporters could underlie some psychiatric and neurological disorders. The metabolic pathway for noradrenaline follows a complex sequence of alternatives because the metabolic product of each of these enzymes can act as a substrate for the other (Fig 8. This could enable one of these enzymes to compensate for a deficiency in the other to some extent. Certainly, such a complex system for metabolism of noradrenaline (which is shared with the other catecholamines) strongly suggests that its function extends beyond that of merely destroying transmitter sequestered from the synapse. However, as yet, little is known about the regulation of this pathway and any influence it might have on noradrenergic transmission. Its predominantly intraneur- onal location would suggest that its primary function is to ensure that there is always a low concentration of cytoplasmic noradrenaline.

If there isn’t a practitioner or coach in your region 0.5mg colchicine, get in touch with one of the talented practitioners who offers online consultation proven colchicine 0.5mg. An estrogen imbalance often results in symptoms of both high and low estrogen cheap 0.5 mg colchicine with amex, which may sound like I’ve lost my mind (and estrogen), but honestly, you can simultaneously experience both. Here’s the deal— symptoms of estrogen excess are relative to progesterone, but symptoms of low estrogen are simply relative to your own personal baseline (which is established when you’re in your twenties and thirties). So you can have low estrogen—indicated by low sex drive, vaginal dryness, flat mood, pancakelike breasts— but relative to a low level of progesterone, you may still have symptoms of excess estrogen (cystic breast tenderness, abnormal Pap smears, difficulty with weight loss). If you’re not sure what is going on, you can always get your levels clinically tested. It’s much more common to have high estrogen than low estrogen, and many of the symptoms are difficult to differentiate. Excess estrogen suppresses your thyroid activity, which can lead to signs of low thyroid. Too much estrogen can also reduce the quality or frequency of orgasm, and because it lowers your testosterone levels, it also diminishes sex drive. Once you know whether you’re high or low in estrogen (whether that’s determined by lab testing or through a deeper dive into the self- assessment [pages 24–31] to find the root cause of your problems), you can start following The Gottfried Protocol to treat it. Maca, in capsule or liquid form, has been shown to improve libido and to lower anxiety and depression, all of which are symptoms of low 7 estrogen. The Gottfried Protocol (find the root cause, treat first with lifestyle changes, then herbal remedies, then bioidentical hormones) does work for men, but the advice and treatment strategies in The Hormone Cure are geared toward women. In the meantime, another excellent source of information on balancing male hormones is http://thehormonecurebook. The site includes my recent interviews with a few male health experts, including Abel James (“Fat Burning Man”) and Dr. What foods boost serotonin, the brain chemical that helps my mood, sleep, and appetite? If you want to increase your serotonin production through diet, there is no one “magic bullet” food. As always, a high-fiber diet that includes lots of organic veggies is the best way to love up your hormones. You can start to improve your serotonin situation by reducing your daily intake of sugar, refined carbohydrates, and caffeine. All of these foods make you feel good in the short term—they give you a quick boost, but then your serotonin levels will begin to drop just as quickly. Instead, aim for a pound of veggies per day, and consider a daily fish oil and vitamin B 6 supplement—both are important precursors to healthy neurotransmitters. A fiber-and-nutrient-filled diet will not only help your serotonin but it will also boost your maxed-out adrenals, your insulin sensitivity, and your cortisol levels. Also consider your methylation, as you may be undermethylating and may need more methylators (betaine, magnesium, etc. My recommendation is to work collaboratively with your doctor or to find a new one on my practitioner page (again, http://thehor monecurebook/practiioners/). Test yourself by checking out one of the labs that I recommend in Appendix E— many allow you to order your own hormone tests. I’ve also added several new labs in addition to those listed in the appendix; for a complete list go to: http://thehormonecurebook. The Gottfried Protocol is a wonderful resource for breast cancer survivors who want to improve their hormonal balance, reclaim their vitality, and develop a cancer- preventing lifestyle. Women with breast cancer often face the issue of low thyroid function, low vitamin D, and energy problems, which can be safely addressed even for people currently on protocols to address hormone imbalance such as tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors. It is completely safe to check your thyroid function and vitamin D, and apply the protocols in my book for these specific problems. Women on aromatase inhibitors commonly experience joint pain, which I like to address with glucosamine, omega-3s, and other inflammation-reducing strategies. You can find my recommendations about reducing the inflammation associated with breast cancer and read more about cancer and hormonal balance, plus get my interview with breast cancer surgeon and advocate Dr. Estrogen metabolism In order to maintain a healthy estrogen balance, your body has to break down, convert, and dispose of the estrogen building blocks it naturally produces. Healthy, well- balanced bodies metabolize estrogen by the forms that begin with the number 2: 2- hydroxy-estradiol or 2- hydroxy-estrone. Women who have or are at high risk of developing breast and endometrial cancer have been found to make too much of the bad estrogens, such as 16- alpha-hydroxy-estrone. Many factors can interfere with normal estrogen metabolism, causing you to produce or accumulate too much of the “less good” estrogens or too much estrogen relative to progesterone. They include the aging ovary, wayward cortisol levels, exposure to xenoestrogens, and nutritional factors such as fat, fiber, and alcohol. Are you making more of the good, protective estrogens or more of the bad guys that increase your risk of breast cancer? The data support the 2/16 ratio as a key marker of your risk of breast cancer, making it a good one to measure periodically (roughly every 8 three to six months). Here’s how it works: • Eat 100 percent organic produce, and aim for seven servings of fruits and vegetables daily. If seven servings seems out of reach for you right now, order a greens powder to get a head start nutrient-wise. One study showed that more than three servings of alcohol per week was linked to an increase in breast cancer risk. In fact, say “no” to all white foods: white flour, sugar, and simple carbs such as white rice are all on the naughty list.