Blog

Infertility is a heart breaking condition that affects millions of people around the world or approximately 8-12% of couples. When a couple has been trying over a year (under the age of 35) or over 6 months (over the age of 35) screening for hormonal causes is one of the first recommended steps. This is because sometimes simple adjustments to thyroid and/or progesterone can result in fertility. Fertility testing screens for numerous problems found in those with infertility. ZRT’s Fertility Profile looks at all the sex hormones and includes the recommended panel of tests by Resolve™, the national infertility association: Estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone –...

Despite your best efforts to eat right, exercise, and take your vitamins every morning, If you cannot figure out why you are gaining weight or can no longer shed pounds easily like you used to – you might be walking around with a hormone imbalance that has you hardwired to put on pounds. Even when we think we’re being healthy, hormonal triggers to unwanted weight gain are too often neglected or overlooked. Testing can help you find the answer. But in the meantime, let’s boil this down to the collective wisdom on eight big culprits behind unwanted weight gain. 1. You have an...

Melatonin is a ubiquitous little hormone that comes in an indolamine package similar to serotonin, its precursor. Thanks to its unique structure, it can travel easily through the blood stream and readily crosses the blood-brain and placental barriers. It is synthesized and used all over the body to perform a number of indispensable roles. It’s the main reason our bodies know what time it is and what it’s supposed to be doing at any given moment. It signals the transcription of genes that regulate the cell cycle, neutralize free radicals, and decrease inflammation. Its claim to fame, however, is its role in promoting sleep. Melatonin's Daily...

Over 25 million women a year worldwide will enter menopause and make a decision about hormone replacement therapy. For healthcare practitioners, what dosage and what formulation these hormones take is open to debate. After many years of teaching and talking to practitioners, I’ve learned that: there are many strategies for approaching dosages, everyone thinks that theirs is the best, most of them work well for many patients but not all, and that we really, really need more research. There is very little to no research on different dosing strategies. Standard bioidentical hormones have research behind them, but they are looking at serum testing and...

Estrogen dominance refers to an excess of estrogen when progesterone levels are inadequate. This condition can occur in women during the reproductive years, but tends to be particularly symptomatic for women during perimenopause and in menopause. Estrogen dominance is worsened by women not ovulating, women being exposed to synthetic estrogens and/or women not metabolizing estrogens correctly. Estrogen dominance is a term coined by John Lee, M.D. in the book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause. The Problem Scientific studies link high estrogen or estrogen imbalance with a wide range of symptoms and conditions, from hot flashes, night sweats, low...