Hormone Health Hub: Expert Insights on Testing, Balance & Better Living — Insulin Resistance

Insulin resistance is a growing metabolic concern linked to type 2 diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome. Learn how to recognise the key symptoms, discover how dried blood spot testing offers a convenient at-home diagnostic option, and explore effective treatment strategies to restore insulin sensitivity.

By Dr. Tracy Tranchitella, ND Acute inflammation has a purpose and occurs when we are injured or sick and need to mobilize an efficient immune response to heal an injury or attack an infection. When all goes well, the response of the immune system is swift and complete. The job is done, the immune cells recede, and the clean-up crew disposes of the debris. Chronic inflammation, on the other hand, tends to linger without purpose or resolution. It may be the leftover remnant of an acute inflammatory process that never fully resolved, or it may exist as its own process...

When a patient with PCOS or weight issues is told “your blood sugar is normal,” the story is far from over. In this clinical article, Dr. Alison McAllister of ZRT Laboratory explains why insulin — not glucose — is the primary driver of PCOS symptoms, weight gain, testosterone and DHEAS excess, and cortisol dysfunction. Understanding the progression from insulin resistance to hyperinsulinemia to type 2 diabetes is essential for identifying and treating PCOS at the earliest possible stage.

Obesity is not simply a matter of calories in versus calories out. Chronic stress triggers a cascade of hormonal changes — elevated cortisol, depleted DHEA, disrupted leptin signalling and imbalanced sex hormones — that actively drive visceral fat storage and metabolic dysfunction. This article explains the biochemistry of stress-related weight gain and why understanding your hormone levels is key to breaking the cycle.

Perimenopause is far more than a reproductive transition — it is fundamentally neurological. As oestradiol declines, the brain’s bioenergetic system becomes compromised, neurotransmitter balance shifts, and the thermoneutral zone narrows, giving rise to hot flashes, mood instability, memory changes and sleep disruption. This article explores the neuroscience behind the menopausal transition and why hormone replacement therapy — timed correctly — may be the most effective intervention.