Naturopathy

Naturopathy removes the obstacles that interfere with our ability to heal, so you get out of the way of your body’s attempts to fix things. Symptoms are a physiological means to get your attention. They signal something is missing, or too much of something is getting in the way of healthy function. The endocrine system operates in the same way. It performs very well on its own, measuring, calculating, and balancing to maintain physiological homeostasis: if it has the raw materials it needs, if pathways are accessible for circulation, and if receptors are free for binding. It works for both your structure and your brain. The endocrine system is a vast network producing, sending, and receiving chemical messengers to and from cells. As in any network, if any single part is out of balance or not functioning correctly, it will throw off the entire system. Hormones aren’t just produced in glands but also in a variety of tissues. Making sure you have the right materials to make hormones is crucial. This fact is often overlooked, and unfortunately, the reason why people are taking synthetic hormones to address symptoms of hormonal imbalance instead of figuring out what is preventing them from making their very own hormones as needed.

My focus is on making sure you can make your own hormones and the amount you need to feel optimum. This doesn’t mean enough to keep you alive, but enough to make you feel your best, mentally and physically. The hormones your own body makes don’t come with a metabolic serial number or side effects. I can help you figure out what is missing in your diet and your lifestyle that may be preventing your endocrine system from functioning at its best.

Except for in very rare cases of being born without reproductive organs, the illnesses associated with being a woman have unfortunately created a huge market in synthetic hormones. From menstruation to menopause, women are subject to a barrage of syndromes and illnesses –PMS, and as of the 1990s, PMDD, PCOS, endometriosis, fibroids. Women are prescribed more medications than men to treat these illnesses– anti-depressants, anxiolytics, birth control pills to treat menstrual issues, hormone replacement therapy. More surgeries are performed on women than men–gallbladder removal, hysterectomy, thyroidectomy, mastectomy. It seems being born female is a health hazard. It should not be. Menstruation is a natural event that should not bring with it pain and discomfort. Menopause is a natural event that should not herald pain and discomfort.

Recently men have been targets of hormone replacement theory prescriptions. In the 1880s, when the physiologist and neurologist Charles Brown-Séquard attempted to “rejuvenate” sexual prowess in men with subcutaneous injections of extracts created from the testes of dogs, rabbits and guinea pigs, he was ostracized and ridiculed. Hormone replacement therapy has historically been directed at women because men do not go into menopause. However, in the last 20 years, more men have been prescribed testosterone therapy for fatigue, muscle mass, bone density, and insulin sensitivity—symptoms for which doctors advise women to take estrogen therapy. Synthetic testosterone therapy has side effects and does not treat what causes the symptoms of “manopause,” just as estrogen therapy does not treat the cause of the symptoms associated with menopause.

I specialize in balancing hormones naturopathically by identifying the cause and what will restore balance without pharmaceuticals. Medicines do not treat the cause but silence the body’s expression of imbalance.