Compounding of Hormones
What are Hormones and why the compounding of hormones?
The word “hormone” is derived from Greek, which means “to set in motion”. Hormones are chemical messengers in the body that tells our cells what to do.
Essentially, there are two primary communication systems within our body the nervous and the humoral systems. The analogy for this is like the telecommunication systems we are familiar with the former is akin to the wired telephone lines while the latter is similar to the wireless mobile phone system. The interplay between these two systems is vital for the proper functioning of our body.
Hormones regulate virtually every bodily function, from the manufacture and organisation of thoughts in our brains to the beating of our hearts and even our physical shape. Hormones are produced in one part of our body, but exert its action in some other part of the body, usually remote to the site of its production. An example of this is the hormone oxytocin which is produced in the brain but its action is on the uterus, allowing for uterine contractions during childbirth. Growth hormone is produced by the pituitary gland in our brain but exerts its actions on our skeletal system, allowing us to grow in height. For hormones to move around in our body, they are carried within the circulatory system, our blood.
Naturally, the production of hormones and it’s secretion, increases gradually from the time of birth, accelerates upon us reaching puberty and reaches maximal levels around the age of the midthirties. Thereafter, a period of gradual decline occurs and by the time we are in the midfifties, low hormone levels are generally the case and this leads to an increased rate of tissue degeneration. Eventually, our body begins to physically break down, our immune system becomes weaker and our chances of getting cardiovascular diseases and cancer generally increase.
A most obvious representation of this state is best illustrated by the onset of menopause, seen in women in their fifth decade of life, often characterized by uncomfortable symptoms such as restlessness, irritability and a feeling of ‘heatiness’. Besides these uncomfortable symptoms, however, is the more ominous risk of contracting severe and debilitating chronic diseases such as high blood pressure (hypertension), high blood sugars (diabetes mellitus), strokes, heart failures and the like, all of which were not seen at their younger age ranges, partly because of the protective effects of their hormones.
Although less obviously, men also go through the same changes towards low hormonal levels, leading to a state that is termed as Andropause.