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Weight management is a topic that generates a lot of questions and hormone imbalance is one of them, so I've answered 10 of the most frequently asked questions that arise when patients start to think about getting tested. Let's jump in... 1. Why do postmenopausal women gain weight? What are the hormone imbalances that trigger this?Women of any age can have a hormone imbalance that causes them to gain, but those over 50 often find that the end of periods marks the beginning of weight problems. In the absence of ovulation, deficiencies of progesterone create a relative surplus of estrogen...

By Dr. Alyssa Burns-Hill, ZRT Laboratory Many people assume that thyroid hormone deficiency or thyroid imbalance are to blame for weight loss failure, but there are some key factors to consider that might be affecting thyroid hormone function rather than focusing entirely on thyroid hormone levels: For a woman who has recently gone on the Birth Control Pill or HRT (or had her dose increased) it may be interfering with thyroid hormone availability causing a hypo-metabolic state. Higher estrogen may also increase her tendency to eat carbs, especially chocolate! (Remember the premenstrual chocolate munchies that many women succumb to!) The...

By Dr. Kate Placzek ZRT Laboratory As with any functional test that measures physiological function, the challenge lies in the interpretation of subclinical levels of measured parameters. However, it is within those subclinical levels that the neurotransmitter test becomes a powerful tool to identify what is contributing to a specific patient's health issues and how to map toward a successful outcome based on an individual treatment plan. Learning how to use a new test can be overwhelming, especially when it goes back to neurology which you might not have thought of since medical school. To assist health care providers in approaching neurotransmitter testing...

If you are experiencing infertility issues this blog is for you. The purpose of this blog is to explain what hormones are tested in Fertility Profile and why each one is important. LH & FSH are pituitary hormones, which means they affect the brain. Their communication with growing egg follicles in the ovaries is one of the only positive feedback loops in the body. On day three or four of the menstrual cycle (day one is the first day of the period) LH & FSH are at their lowest level. This relationship is normally a 1 to 1 function, but some women...

What is Cortisol? Cortisol is a steroid and a stress hormone. Production of cortisol is stimulated when stress is triggered.  Cortisol plays an important role in the different metabolic processes in the body. Through its increased distribution in stress situations, it is able to provide energy by consuming sugar, fat and protein reserves. By immune processes cortisol also helps with its anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effect, and has an important function in maintaining the health of the body. Excessively low cortisol levels It is well known that chronic stress is unhealthy – and stress is in turn the most important impulse that...