Frequently Asked Questions about:
Hormones

More detailed discussion can be found in my book Sexual Health for Men: The Complete Guide- Published 2000-Perseus Press.

Note:  Information provided below is intended as a source of information and a guide.  For specific details about your own health, speak to  your doctor. 

(Revised 4/23/2001)

1.  What are hormones?  
2.  How do hormones affect my health? 
3.  What happens when my hormones are more or less than our body needs?
4. Hormone problems of the rich and famous 

Answer:

1.  Your body orchestrates your hormones like a symphony

2.   Every day healthy bodies depend on periodic fluctuations in blood hormone levels .so that you can stay well and fit.  Different hormones help regulate and facilitate everything we do even when we are just eating, sleeping, staying alert, coping with stress, growing up, having sex and a family as well as  growing old gracefully.  For example

a.   Eating: Insulin levels increase after every meal so that you can derive nourishment from your food. Diabetes mellitus develops when insulin production fails to keep pace with the food we eat and hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) occurs when our insulin production is more than our body needs.

b.   Sleeping: A brain based hormone melatonin helps us get a good night’s sleep. When melatonin release is out of synch, as it often is in insomniacs and when we travel through different time zones across the country or to Europe or the Far East,  we sleep poorly.   

c.   Staying alert requires a rested body as well as full quotient of thyroid hormone.  With below normal thyroid hormone levels (hypothyroidism) we become sluggish apathetic and do not think clearly whereas with too much thyroid hormone (hyperthyroidism) we tend to become irritable, cranky and too agitated to concentrate.

d.   Working:  Your hormone levels remain steady during a normal work day, but during stress two adrenal gland hormones Cortisol and adrenaline help you cope effectively.

e.   Growing up: Three hormones growth hormone, plus  estrogen (in women) and testosterone (in men) help determine how tall we will grow. You grow tall during your pre-teen years under the influence of growth hormone but you only achieve your maximum height because during this time your body holds your sex hormones (testosterone and estradiol) in check.  When testosterone or estrogens appear too early your growth is stunted.  Reining in testosterone and estrogens during the pre-teen years helps you can grow tall.  As soon as adolescent boys testosterone and  teen age girls’ estrogen secretion picks up their growth stops. When testosterone or estrogen hormones are released before or after the body is ready for these powerful sex hormones problems –either premature or delayed puberty-can occur and have dire consequences on the young boy or girl’s height, health and fertility.

f.    A healthy sexual and reproductive life i.e. making love and starting a family requires not just testosterone in men and estrogen in women but also a well timed sequencing of the pituitary gland hormones FSH and LH to guarantee normal ovulation in women and sperm production in men.  Disruption in the normal ebb and flow of  estrogens in women , testosterone in men or FSH, and LH in either sex can lead to impotence in men low sexual desire in women and male as well as female infertility.  

g.   Growing old gracefully: As your birthdays increase your hormones decrease. Growth hormone, estrogen, testosterone output declines whereas   insulin,  cortisol and thyroid hormones remain fairly stable throughout life. Doctors are just now trying to determine what would happen if we kept all hormone levels stable throughout life.  If  we gave older men and women a full ration of youthful hormone would they stop aging and become young again?

Table 1. How Does Your Body Respond When the Daily Hormone Supply is Less or More than You Need?

Hormone

Too Little

What Happens?

Too Much

What Happens?

Insulin

Diabetes Mellitus

Increased thirst, urination, weight loss, coma

Hypoglycemia

Anxiety, tremors, hunger, weight gain, coma

Estrogen

Infertility, menopause

No ovulation, hot flashes

Birth control pills

Contraception, Infertility

Testosterone

Impotence, infertility

No sex drive
Low sperm count

Abuse by athletes

Muscles grow, testicles shrink

Cortisol

Adrenal insufficiency

Low BP, weight loss fatigue

Cushing’s Syndrome

Weight gain, HBP, Diabetes

Thyroid hormone

Hypo-thyroidism

Weight gain, fatigue, sluggishness

Hyper-thyroidism

Weight loss, anxiety, double vision

Parathyroid hormone

Low blood calcium

Numbness, tingling

High blood calcium

Kidney stones, broken bones

HGH

Dwarfism

Short stature

Acromegaly

Tall, weak

Answer:  We do not hear about hormones unless someone we know or love has been diagnosed with a common hormone problem like diabetes or a thyroid problem.  No one, no matter how rich or famous is immune from hormone problems. Once someone who has achieved celebrity status as a politician, performer or writer develops a hormonal imbalance that information becomes public knowledge. 

Occasionally people are embarrassed by their hormone problems and try to hide it from the public.  Such was the case with John F. Kennedy who had Addison’s Disease a deficiency of the adrenal gland hormones which was diagnosed when he was a Congressman.  He and his family believing that this hormone deficiency was a “sign of weakness” prevailed upon their contacts in the media to hush it up.  Those who knew about Kennedy’s adrenal insufficiency chose not to inform the public. 

Times change and years later when President George Bush had hyperthyroidism an excess of thyroid hormones, it was front page news.

Table 2. Hormone Problems of the Rich and Famous