Hormone surges and imbalances are well-known at puberty and menopause. However, everyone experiences fluctuations all the time. It’s a question of balance and rhythm, as if the human body were a symphony orchestra with melody, harmony, and interactions among many players — hopefully under the guidance of an excellent conductor.
When we feel good, we are making beautiful music ourselves, and we are participating in the beautiful music all around us in the form of loved ones, our work, our communities, and Nature itself.
On the other hand, feeling crummy, getting off-key, having disrupted rhythms, or otherwise falling out of harmony are all clues that something is wrong with our internal hormone symphony. This is where self-assessment, laboratory testing, and professional consultation come into play.
The single most common hormone imbalance today is low thyroid function. It is also the single most under-diagnosed and under-treated endocrine problem. Symptoms may include depression, cold hands or feet, thinning or dryness of hair-skin-nails, trouble with memory or concentration, and heavy or frequent menstrual cycles.
Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy is the term for the treatment of symptoms and conditions caused by the effects of aging and hormone deficiencies resulting from menopause and andropause (male menopause). Bioidentical Hormone Replacement uses hormones that are identical in their mollecular structure to the hormones produced naturally within the human body.
Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy is used more generally to describe the practice of using only bioidentical hormones in the treatment of all hormone deficiencies, not just menopause. These include perimenopause, andropause, thyroid, adrenal fatigue and weight loss.
Optimized and balanced hormones are essential to good health and a feeling of well-being. In both men and women, hormones decrease with age causing a wide range of symptoms such as fatigue, weight gain, loss of sex drive depression and disrupted sleep patterns (insomnia).
Holistic healthcare refers to treating the whole person. Discomfort and fatigue are related to sleep and nutrition, which in turn are related to hormone balance and environmental factors, while every body system is affected by emotional and biological stress… you get the picture! In true holistic healthcare, patients actively participate in their own healing, while the physician offers insightful coaching, counseling, teaching and prioritizing. And in an integrative medical practice such as Dr. McKay’s, prescriptions and other mainstream recommendations are utilized whenever appropriate.
Dr. McKay balances the best of modern science with traditional wisdom, always seeking new ways to improve patient satisfaction. From well-researched pharmaceutical prescriptions to ancient water therapy, from high-precision instruments to herbalist folklore, Dr McKay’s interests range wide and far, but always with a healing intention and intellectual integrity. With a degree in Philosophy, she is not one to skip over important questions.
The Hormones and Holistic Healthcare Clinic is devoted to making the world a better place by getting good people back on their feet, fully engaged in life. It just makes sense to work with the body instead of against it; hence, our preference for all-natural, restorative, gentle, nourishing types of treatment — rather than toxic or harsh modalities. This doesn’t mean total avoidance of prescription medications; it does mean that we look for the best approach at this moment, and then move on as needed.
Each person is unique and each circumstance requires thoughtful intervention; no two cases will be the same. Highly individualized treatment plans are the norm. There is no room for cookie-cutter medicine in the whole-person approach.
Please call Deborah McKay, N.D. directly at 800-775-4902 Ext. 164 to schedule your initial appointment, discuss your symptoms and decide on a course of treatment for your specific needs.
Congratulations on taking charge of your health and we look forward to speaking with you!
