Many chronic symptoms such as fatigue, mood issues, anxiety, skin problems and weight gain etc can be linked to the endocrine system. If your endocrine system is not functionally optimally, it’s very often the reason for poor health and lack of vitality.

The glands and organs that are responsible for producing and secreting hormones have a significant impact on almost all processes and functions in the body. Key components include the thyroid and parathyroid glands, pineal gland, pituitary gland, adrenal glands, hypothalamus gland, the ovaries, the testes, and the pancreas.

The endocrine system monitors the level of hormones in the blood and is constantly aiming for balance and even slight imbalances in the production and secretion of key hormones can affect health and vitality.

Diseases linked to hormonal function include:

• Metabolic syndrome
• Diabetes
• Thyroid problems
• Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)/PCOD
• Low testosterone
• Increased risk for cardiovascular diseases
• Cancer and fatty liver - NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease)

Getting to the root cause of disruption to endocrine health can help to resolve symptoms. It can also address imbalances in the endocrine system that have not yet progressed to a disease state.

Conventional medicine will usually only act when a gland isn’t producing the right amount of a particular hormone and counteract this with treating the deficiency, often through synthetic hormones. While the body is technically receiving the correct balance of hormone, the gland is still dysfunctional and the root cause of this has not been addressed. Even though the hormone imbalance is being “treated”, symptoms can remain because of this.

Many patients turn to functional medicine after years of being treated by the doctors. If you’ve been told that your symptoms are “all in your head” or “just a normal part of getting older”, we understand your frustration and desire to feel better.

In functional medicine, we want to know why the gland is not functioning optimally and why hormone production is compromized. It’s only then that we can resolve symptoms and you can feel healthy and full of vitality.

The functional medicine approach uses food as medicine, supplements and herbs to restore endocrine health. Because we are getting to the heart of the dysfunction in the endocrine system, we can support optimal hormone production and encourage balance.