Blog

 By Amen Clinics, ZRT Laboratory Your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland located in the lower front part of your neck. Its job is to secrete hormones that control growth/development during childhood, regulate your metabolism and body temperature, and drive the production of many neurotransmitters in your brain. Specifically, the ones that help you feel good and enough have motivation to accomplish your goals: serotonin, dopamine, adrenaline, and noradrenaline. It’s estimated that tens of millions of people worldwide have thyroid problems—anywhere from 5-25% of the world’s population. In the book, Thyroid Mind Power, it’s reported that, “the last 40 years have witnessed...

By Dr. Kate Placzek, ZRT Laboratory I was so tired. I needed a new word for tired. I felt exhausted and incapacitated, utterly drained and hollowed out. It was like my brain and body were fading. And yet, these words are still not descriptive enough to relate how I felt. Getting out of bed felt grueling, punishing. I was 24 at the time, in my 4th year of my PhD program at Purdue University. I was newly engaged and so in love with my soon-to-be husband. Really good things were happening in my life. And I could barely function. On the...

            By Margaret Groves, ZRT Laboratory Hormones are involved with processes affecting the maintenance of skin health, such as collagen content, skin lipid levels, elasticity, wound healing, glycoaminoglycan content, and facial hair patterns. A major culprit for the skin thinning, wrinkling, and dryness associated with aging is the decline in hormones such as estrogen and progesterone in women, and testosterone in men.  Therefore, it's no coincidence that the decline in hormone levels as people age parallels the decline in skin properties frequently associated with aging. And, with skin health being such a major concern especially in...

  In this blog, I want to focus mainly on how cannabis can affect your hormones, primarily through the pituitary, thyroid, and adrenal glands, and the reproductive system.               While cannabis is being legalized in more and more states, both the adverse and beneficial effects of its use are starting to be better understood. The active compound in cannabis, THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is widely known to have effects on the brain, producing the “high” that many users are seeking. However, the other more adverse effects cannabis can have on the body are less widely known....

By Dr. Ted Zava, ZRT Laboratory. Have you considered what metals make up jewellery when shopping for jewellery.  Especially what metals make up earrings, bracelets, rings, and other shiny items? A report by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) in California detailed that cadmium was present in numerous jewellery items tested from stores [1]. The amount of cadmium, a toxic heavy metal, ranged from 40-100% in the items testing positive. Is Cadmium Allowed in Jewellery? Surprisingly, there are no restrictions on the amount of cadmium allowed in adult jewellery in the United States. There is a limit of 0.03% cadmium in children’s jewellery...