Blog

By Dr. Kate Placzek,  ZRT Laboratory. The diversity of the microbiome has profound implications for metabolic health. The micro-organisms that we host in our gastrointestinal tract maintain our gut integrity, break down complex carbohydrates to improve energy extraction from food, produce vitamins and minerals, aid in digestion and absorption, ferment dietary fibers and protect us against pathogens. Maintaining a delicate balance in the diversity of the host-microbiome relationship is crucial for disease prevention and healthy aging.  Studies on the microbiome are emerging as a new and exciting frontier of science. However, how the microbiome interacts with the endocrine system to modulate...

60 million American and nearly third of the UK population suffer symptoms of insomnia. Find out whether hormones contribute to your sleep loss. In a perfect world, the master stress hormone cortisol should be in sync with the master sleep hormone melatonin. Each hormone counter-balances the other in a precise rhythm – when cortisol is high melatonin should be low, and when melatonin is high cortisol should be low. For many, this rhythm is out of balance. With an estimated 60 million Americans suffering from some degree of sleep loss and *nearly a third of the UK population are suffering...

Now it is November, Daylight Savings looms and it brings darkness and rain for many months and for some of us, it brings seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Whether or not symptoms of SAD eclipse your normal disposition, there’s a good chance the sun's vacation this time of year will affect four key areas of your health. Vitamin D Ultraviolet rays from the sun catalyze the synthesis of vitamin D on contact in the human skin, and to a smaller degree we consume it in fish, eggs and mushrooms. This little hormone carries some big distinctions. It's been studied extensively in research for its...

One of the primary objectives of the Women's Health Initiative was to see if postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) improved long-term risk of coronary heart disease, among other chronic diseases. However, the combined estrogen/progestin (Prempro) arm was halted in 2002, citing that the participants’ risk of cardiovascular disease outweighed any potential benefit of HRT in the prevention of colorectal cancer and bone fracture [1]. The conjugated equine estrogen (CEE)-only arm was also halted in 2004 citing no improvement in heart disease risk but an increased incidence of stroke, and no benefit in terms of fractures, although there was a reduced breast...

                    This is according to a recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)  that casts a shadow on the common use of testosterone therapy in older men for boosting their energy and vitality.                      These unexpected negative results fly in the face of decades of good research on testosterone therapy in older men showing it to be beneficial to the cardiovascular system, and improve sexual function, mood, energy level, and muscle and bone mass and strength ....