Do you have trouble falling asleep? There are many reasons that people have trouble falling asleep. Reasons for poor sleep quality vary from medications, menopause, chronic pain to travel. For this episode, we want to talk about stress and its effect on your sleep. Stress can come in many forms from physical to mental. Stress can include cardiovascular exercise to arguing with a family member. It can include planning a wedding or graduation party. We are always going to have stress, but stress can certainly have a negative impact on your sleep. It does this by increasing your cortisol at night. Cortisol is an essential hormone. Without it, we would not be able to live. Cortisol comes from your adrenal glands in a diurnal curve. Meaning, it is highest in the morning, so you wake up bright eyed and ready to start your day. And the levels drop in the evening and nighttime so that we can sleep and rest. During periods of stress, this diurnal curve becomes disrupted. The cortisol starts to rise at night, and that causes people to have trouble falling asleep. Not only do people have trouble falling asleep but the cortisol then will drop in the morning, which makes it hard to get out of bed in the morning. Of course, people end up pressing the snooze button over and over. Have you ever heard the term, I get a second wind at night?” This is the effect of cortisol being elevated at night. Many of our patients comment on how great they feel after 8:00 pm. How they finally feel like being productive, such as doing responding to emails, doing the laundry or washing the dishes. But will complain how tired and unproductive they feeling in the morning. Below are a few obvious ways to help reduce cortisol at night to help you fall asleep. Avoid the gym after 6:00 pm. Working out, especially intense cardiovascular exercise will raise cortisol. However, walking is a great way to get exercise at night, but should not increase cortisol excessively. Turn off the TV, Ipad, iPhone, computer and yes, turn off Netflix at night. The light from these devices will make your body think it’s daytime. And the exciting TV shows will get your cortisol rising as well. Reading is an excellent way to help you fall asleep. The eye movement of left to right actually helps people fall asleep. Avoid caffeine past 12:00 pm noon. Caffeine can stay in your system for 8 to 12 hours, causing you trouble falling asleep later that night. Supplements to help you fall asleep: We have developed sleep protocols for falling asleep and staying asleep. Click on the link to be directed to the Sleep Protocol I. Do you have trouble staying asleep? Having trouble staying asleep is one of the most common complaints I get from patients. They report having no trouble falling asleep the second their head hits the pillow. But from there, I see two common themes: Wake up 3 hours later, wide awake and will be up for 1-3 hours. And by the time they do fall back to sleep, it is time to wake up for the day. Fall asleep hard for 2-4 hours then waking multiple times for the rest of the night. There are many reasons people have trouble staying asleep, from health conditions to noisy neighbors. But in the case, it is from elevated levels of cortisol in the evening. Stress, whether it’s good stress from moving into your dream home or a new better paying job promotion. Or be it bad stress from having a conflict with family members. Or you have many responsibilities weighing on your shoulders. Stress causes cortisol levels to rise in the middle of the night, making it difficult to stay asleep. There are a few things you can do to help reduce the cortisol levels at night to stay asleep. Have a bedtime snack before bed. Eating something before bed will help to balance your blood sugar at night, so it does not drop in the middle of the night and wake you up. No caffeine after 12:00 pm noon. Caffeine has a surprisingly long half-life and can be in your system up to 10 hours. No intense cardiovascular exercise past 6:00 pm. Cardiovascular exercise does increase your cortisol. Walking, light stretching or light exercise will not raise your cortisol. Try to minimize alcohol intake.  Drinking wine in the evening can help you relax after a long day, but can backfire and keep you awake later during the night. Try to stay off your TV, Ipad, Phone, computer before bed. The light from these devices will make your body think it is daylight and raise your cortisol. We have developed sleep protocols for falling asleep and staying asleep. These are specific safe supplements that we use with our patients. Click the link to be directed to our Sleep Protocol II. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to leave a comment below.  Also, you can send us an email at [email protected]. The post Do You Have Trouble Sleeping? | PYHP 016 appeared first on .

As I mentioned, we recently moved to Washington state. It was a quick move to find a place to live, get an office and deal with some family drama. As well, we had to maintain our Las Vegas and California offices in the meantime. For me, it has been pretty stressful. I am certainly not complaining, as many other people have way more stress than me. But we all know that moving/family/business can be darn stressful. With that said, I want to talk about the effects of stress on your body. Stress and its impact on the body could be a 300-page blog. But for now, I am going to talk about stress and its effect on cortisol and insulin production. Stress can be many things, mentally or physically induced. Mental Stress Examples (to name a few): Rushing and running late Conflict with another person such as arguing with a co-worker Watching the news or TV shows like TheWalkingDead. Worrying Family Drama (been there, still there) Vacations, weddings, graduations: yes, happy stress can still affect your body Physical Stress Examples: Intense cardio exercise classes Long distance running Manual labor Drinking coffee Skipping meals, fasting, long period without food What does stress do? Below is a list of the effects of stress on your body: Weight Gain: Stress will cause your adrenals to produce more cortisol. Cortisol’s job is to maintain or raise blood sugar. When cortisol increases, it will mobilize muscle tissue to convert it to sugar. The rise in blood glucose will stimulate the pancreas to release Insulin is a fat-storing hormone. When insulin rises, your body will store the glucose as fat, predominantly in the torso or stomach. Many refer to this as belly fat or muffin top or back fat. Cortisol rising due to mental or physical stress can happen even if you have already eaten. Weight Distribution: As mentioned above, cortisol catabolizes muscle tissue into amino acids and turns it into sugar. Well, that sugar is then stored around your abdomen/belly. This is why people will complain that their weight is the same, but their bodies look different. They will have thin legs and larger stomach. Stress can cause you to lose muscle mass and replace it with belly fat. Cravings: Stress can cause sugar and carbohydrate cravings. These cravings are almost impossible to ignore. Because of cortisol’s impact on insulin, this creates ups and downs in your blood sugar. This can cause you to avoid eating healthy foods opting for sugary carbs. Don’t feel guilty because this is a biological process. Willpower never wins when competing against biology. I won’t lie, this happened to both Dr. Rob and I during our move. We both had dessert so frequently that it became more of a habit than a treat. Even though we know the impact sugar has on the body, and all the nasty things it can do. I still wanted to eat ice cream, and I am lactose intolerant! Biology always beats your willpower. Techniques to beat biology is another episode. But there are ways to curb sugar cravings while in the midst of stress. Because sometimes, there are stressors that we have no control over. Anxiety: Stress can cause or exacerbate anxiety. The rise in cortisol will reduce GABA. GABA is a hormone that makes us feel happy, relaxed and safe. Stress causes cortisol to rise and GABA to fall. The result is anxiety and overreacting to stress. Sleep: Stress will disrupt your sleep cycle. Cortisol is naturally secreted in a diurnal curve, which occurs over a 24 hour period. Our cortisol is highest in the morning, so we are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for the day. Over the day, cortisol will reduce so we can sleep at night. Stress can cause the cortisol to rise at night causing trouble falling asleep. And the cortisol can bounce up and down all night causing trouble staying asleep. Of course, this causes you not to feel rested upon waking and fatigue during the day. You might even feel tired or sleep in the afternoon between 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Lowered Thyroid Function: Stress can cause your thyroid function to drop. Your thyroid has many functions, which again is whole another topic for a future episode. But in short, lower thyroid function can cause: Fatigue Weight gain Hair loss Lowered stress tolerance Dry skin Digestive issues Lowered Immunity: Chronic stress will eventually cause lowered immune function. Elevated levels of cortisol over time, will show a reduction in white blood cells. White blood cells are one of the main sources of immune defense for us. Irregular Period: Stress can cause us ladies’ menstrual cycle to become disrupted. Most have heard of missing periods due to stress. But more commonly stress can cause more frequent periods, such as two periods in a month. Stress can cause heavier periods, more cramping, more PMS. Lower Fertility: The body is smart. But it doesn’t understand the difference between a bear chasing you or the 100 things on your plate for the day. In fact, being pursued by a bear would only last 15-30sec at the most. But chronic long-term stress, the body cannot figure out why you haven’t been eaten or got away. During extended periods of stress, the female body decides, ‘now would not be a good time to be fertile.’ Often high levels of chronic stress will turn off ovulation. As the body knows, times of stress, war, famine, fight/flight would not be conducive to gestation. Let alone raising babies. The world we live may not be fatally dangerous. But the constant barrage of life-stressors can have a lot of effects on our bodies. From weight gain to sleeplessness to anxiety and menstrual issues. If you have concerns/questions, feel free to leave a message in the comment box or contact us at [email protected]. The post What Are the Effects of Stress on the Body? | PYHP 015 appeared first on .

First, an apology is necessary because we have been away for so long.  Even though we have been away for some time,  we are glad to be back. The Progress Your Health Podcast and all our listeners are very important to us.  We enjoy providing you with hormone related information.   As our loyal followers, you should know where we have been. This year, 2017 and also most of 2016 there have been a lot of changes in our life and our business. As some of you may recall, initially this podcast was The Dr. Rob Show, with Dr. Rob and Charlie.  In 2016 after Charlie left the podcast, I entered the show, and we changed the name to Progress Your Health. We did several episodes focusing on hormone imbalances such as PMS, Menopause, Thyroid, and Adrenal issues to name a few. However, during that time our business was going through its own changes.  At the same time, Dr. Rob and I were going through our personal growth.  Both, individually and as a couple. As mentioned in past podcast episodes, we have an office in California, and I had one in Las Vegas.  For the past ten years, we were traveling back and forth between California and Las Vegas.   More accurately, Rob has been going back and forth, and I would rarely go because of work in my Las Vegas office.  For the time it worked, but we both always wanted to have a full-time practice together. As it was, I was comfortable in my Las Vegas office, and as a creature of habit, I admit I was reluctant to change.   As you all know, sometimes things happen that you have no control over.  In the last 12 months, there have been some issues with my family in Washington. These family problems made us look at what direction we wanted to take our relationship and our lives. So guess what? We moved to Washington state!   We still have our office in California.  However, we are also working together in Bellingham, Washington.  So now we can practice together and have a full-time marriage. Granted this move happened in the span of about three months.  However, once we prayed about it and looked at the bigger picture, it all unfolded quickly.  So here we are and ready to get the Progress Your Health Podcast back up and running. So now what? We want to get back to sharing our experience and expertise to help you solve your hormonal imbalance issues. What can you expect to hear on upcoming episodes of the Progress Your Health Podcast? Common Hormonal Imbalances We Will Cover on Podcast:  PMS PCOS Perimenopause Menopause Hypothyroidism Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis Adrenal dysfunction Low testosterone Insulin resistance Common Symptoms of Hormonal Imbalances We Will Cover on Podcast:  Sleep issues: can’t fall asleep, can’t stay asleep Weight gain Belly Fat Low libido Tired / Exhausted Vaginal dryness Hot flashes and night sweats Brain fog Short-term memory low Period issues: heavy, irregular, painful Acne Irritable and angry over nothing Short temper Weepy for no big deal Constipation Sugar cravings Hair loss Low-stress tolerance Thank you for being supportive and understanding during our transition.  Moving forward, we want to hear from you, so if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below or email us at [email protected]. The post We Are Back | PYHP 014 appeared first on .

What is Leptin Resistance?   The body has an elaborate hormonal mechanism to regulate appetite and hunger. One of the major hormones is leptin, which is a satiety hormone produced by our fat cells in response to a meal.   Once released, leptin signals an area of the brain called the hypothalamus. This signaling turns off the appetite, so someone will stop eating. As time goes on, leptin will decrease and hunger will increase, thus eating another meal.   This hormonal system, when balanced, helps the body maintain a normal weight. When someone gains considerable weight, the fat cells release more and more leptin.   As a result, the brain stops responding to the increased leptin signal. This can lead to feeling hungry all the time, with an exaggerated appetite, leading to more weight gain. This full but still feel hungry phenomenon has nothing to do with willpower. It is referred to as leptin resistance.   This process sets ups a vicious cycle that is very hard to correct. Simply cutting calories is not going to work over the long term. It has more to do with what you eat as opposed to how much you eat.   Focus on low glycemic load foods, such as protein, vegetables, nuts and seeds. This will help lower insulin, which will in turn help to lower leptin and break the vicious cycle.       The post What is Leptin Resistance? | PYHP 013 appeared first on .

Generally speaking, hormones control how the body either loses or gains weight. Stress has a major effect on hormones, which also contributes to weight gain. Thus, cortisol, which is often referred to as the ‘stress hormone,’ plays a major role in this process.  Cortisol is a glucocorticoid,’ because its effect on blood glucose. For example, if you go to bed hungry and skip breakfast in the morning, cortisol will increase. This rise in cortisol stimulates the liver to produce glucose. This process is gluconeogenesis, which prevents your blood sugar from dropping too low. Due to this rise in blood glucose, the pancreas will release insulin. Remember, insulin is the only fat storage hormone in the body. The next time you eat a meal, the pancreas secretes even more insulin on top of the insulin that was already there. Overtime, this can lead to a vicious cycle and continuous weight gain. Many of us are emotional eaters, so add stress and some comfort-food together and you will gain weight. The take home point is if your stressed, cortisol is going to increase. This will make your blood sugar increase, which cause a release of insulin. So, stress and worry can make you fat. It is important to keep cortisol (stress) levels in a proper balance so you don’t gain weight. If you would like to be part of our Insulin Testing Group, please visit progressyourhealth.com/it The post What Does Cortisol Do? | PYHP 012 appeared first on .

The body spends a great deal of energy to balance blood sugar with a very specific hormonal mechanism.  The two main hormones are insulin and glucagon. Insulin an incredibly important hormone in our bodies. It is released in response to glucose in the body and allows the glucose to enter the cell to supply energy.  Without insulin, blood sugar would rise to unhealthy levels, and would diagnosed as Diabetes Type One. On the other hand, insulin is also considered a energy (fat) storage hormone.  Which means, too much insulin can result in too much fat storage, weight gain.   Remember insulin rises only in response to glucose. Carbohydrates eaten are converted to glucose in the bloodstream which in turn signals insulin to be released from the pancreas. The more sugar, refined or processed a carbohydrate food is, the higher/quicker the blood glucose rise, hence the higher the insulin secreted. Over years, the more processed, high glycemic carbohydrate foods we eat, the the higher the glucose response and in turn the higher the insulin levels. This is the reason we can eat a cheeseburger, french fries and a milkshake when we are young and not gain a pound, but eat that when we hit our 40’s, an assured 5 pounds are tacked on. High levels of insulin over time increases our ability to store fat.  The slower metabolism everyone describes as we get older, is not due to age, but due to metabolic hormones, especially insulin and its fat-storage capabilities.  Again, the goal of any weight loss program needs to reduce and reset the levels of insulin secreted by the body. Glucagon is also a hormone released from the pancreas, but it is counter-regulatory to insulin.  That means that when insulin is low, glucagon is high and vice versa.  Glucagon is responsible for mobilizing glucose to keep our blood sugar maintained when we haven’t eaten for a while. For example, if you have not eaten for several hours, glucagon is released from the pancreas and which signals your liver conduct glycogenolysis.  Glycogenolysis mobilizes glucose from the liver which creates glucose (sugar) even though you have not eaten. Glucagon is important to help promote the process of maintaining your blood glucose levels so you do not pass out and die. If you would like to join our insulin testing group, you can visit progressyourhealth.com/IT The post How Does the Body Balance Blood Sugar? | PYHP 011 appeared first on .

Familial Adenomatous Polyposis Familial Adenomatous Polyposis, which is abbreviated to FAP, is a genetic condition resulting in a mutation to the Adenomatous Polyposis Coli (APC) gene. The APC is a tumor suppressor gene located on the 5th chromosome. Mutations to this gene result in an increased risk of developing colon and other types of cancers throughout life. In addition to classic FAP, there are also three subtypes called attenuated FAP (AFAP), Gardner syndrome, and Turcot syndrome. Classic FAP is an inherited condition in which the genetic mutation is passed from family member to family member. A child of a parent with FAP has a 50% chance of inheriting the mutation.  However, approximately 30% of cases are de novo, which means it develops independent of previous family history.   FAP is typically diagnosed through genetic testing when there is a positive family history, or when a person develops more than 100 adenomatous colon polyps found on a routine colonoscopy. People with FAP typically begin to develop polyps in the mid-teens. By the age of 35, more than 95% of people with FAP will have multiple colon polyps. Unfortunately, if FAP is not diagnosed and treated, there is almost a 100% chance that a person will develop colorectal cancer before they reach 50 years old.   Less than 1% of all colorectal cancer is thought to be due to FAP. Most colorectal cancer are due to environment and lifestyle factors, which can lead to spontaneous genetic mutations and is not related to FAP or other known inherited genetic changes. Ref: cancer.net/cancer-types/familial-adenomatous-polyposis/1 FAP Case Study: 42 year old female, previously diagnosed with Classic Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP) as a young adult.  She was tested and diagnosed due to her father being diagnosed with FAP and unfortunately passing away from colon cancer at 41 years of age. Prior to becoming a patient almost 3 years ago, she had a colonoscopy, which should no sign of cancer, but confirmed hundreds if not thousands of polys all throughout her colon. The only treatment option offered to her was of course a Colectomy, which is a surgical removal of the colon.  This would have resulted in her having a colostomy bag, which she did not want so she was putting off the inevitable.  There are no conventional pharmaceutical treatment for this condition.  The intention is to prevent the formation of colon cancer, so surgery is the only option. This Patient was referred to me by a family member simply to discuss possible treatment ideas.  After conducting some research on FAP, a protocol consisting of hormones prescriptions, specific nutrients, botanicals and probiotics were started. The patient had followed the protocol consistently with very little changes for roughly 2.5 years until her most recent Colonoscopy, which was in December 2015.  The colonoscopy showed no evidence of any colon polyps.  After 2.5 years she completely polyp free, which more importantly means she still does not have cancer. At the age of 42, she has over a 90+% chance of having cancer by now, but she is still completely polyp free, which makes her cancer free, at least for the moment.  The disappearance of her colon polyps is not supposed to happen.  Anyone with Classic FAP like her, are supposed to develop cancer in 100% of cases typically in the early to mid forties.   The post Familial Adenomatous Polyposis – A Genetic Miracle Case Study | PYHP 010 appeared first on .

For women, testosterone is not a reproductive hormone.  Obviously, estrogen and progesterone are the main reproductive hormones.  Testosterone is an androgen produced by the ovaries, adrenal glands and peripheral tissues.  However, testosterone acts as more of an adrenal hormone, similar to DHEA, so the symptoms of low testosterone in women can mimic that of adrenal fatigue. Symptoms of Low Testosterone in Women: Tired Low motivation Mental fatigue Loss of muscle mass Loss of Strength Slow recovery after exercise Low libido. What causes low testosterone levels in women?  For younger women, birth control can easily lower testosterone levels.  As a woman enters into perimenopause and menopause, the inevitable hormone decline can lead to low testosterone; however the most common cause of low testosterone for women of all ages is of course a high stress level.   Similar to men, as cortisol levels rise in response to stress, overtime testosterone levels will decline.  Due the higher demand for cortisol, the body will divert production to maintain cortisol, leaving less for testosterone.  Career demands, taking care of children, insomnia, reduced calorie diets and even over exercising are all types of stress on the body. Benefits of Testosterone for Women: Increased motivation Better decision making More energy Increase muscle mass Improved fat loss Increased strength Improved bone density Improved recovery Increased libido The benefits of testosterone therapy for women can have a positive impact on both body and mind.  The benefits can be an increase in motivation and overall sense of wellbeing, to a higher sex drive and maintenance of bone density.  The overall impact of testosterone therapy is varied and specific to the woman. Types of TestosteroneReplacement for Women: Transdermal cream Injections Pellets There are a few different types of testosterone dosage forms for both women and men.  Transdermal creams tend to be the most common and the form we prefer to use with our patients.  Recently, injections and pellets have become very popular; however, we do not use or recommend testosterone injections or pellet implants for either men or women. Women respond very different to testosterone.  Some women can tolerate a higher level, whereas other women are sensitive to even small doses.  For a woman, a little testosterone goes a long way and we have found that lower doses tend to be more effective overtime.  The dose of testosterone administered can be easily controlled using transdermal creams. We recommend applying cream to inner thigh or back of knee because testosterone cream can cause some hair growth and a darkening of the hair on the area of application.  For this reason, we discourage you from applying cream to wrists or forearms. Symptoms of Excess Testosterone: Acne Hair growth – coarse, dark hair on chin and jaw Hair loss – temples and apex of head Anxiety Irritability Aggressive Water retention Weight gain Both injections and pellets flood the body with too much testosterone, which can lead to a some of the symptoms listed above and a down regulation of receptors, which is referred to as “receptor fatigue.”  This down regulation of receptors is a compensatory mechanism of the body to protect against too much stimulation from excessive hormone levels.  As this occurs, there is a reduction in response to testosterone, thereby losing any potential benefits over time. Reference Range for Women: Total Testosterone  2.0 – 45 mg/dL Free Testosterone 0.1 to 6.4 mg/dL Ideal Range for Testosterone for Women: Total Testosterone 45 – 65 mg/dL Free Testosterone 2.5 to 4.5 mg/dL If you have questions, please feel free to leave a comment below, you can contact us directly.   The post Testosterone Replacement Therapy for Women | PYHP 009 appeared first on .

Over the past few years, testosterone has become very popular.  There have been countless ads for prescriptions, herbal products and clinics all over TV and the internet.  This begs the question, does testosterone really live up to all the hype?  Is testosterone the panacea as it has been claimed?  The answer to this question is both yes and no.   There is certainly a low testosterone epidemic in the United States.  According to some research, it is estimated that 1 in 4 men over the age of 30 have low testosterone levels.  Clinically, we have seen men of all ages with low testosterone levels, so it more than just an aging issue.   The typical American lifestyle of too much sugar, a lack of sleep and chronic stress contributes to the across the board decline of testosterone for men of all ages.  There is an inverse relationship between testosterone levels and insulin.  As insulin secretion goes up due to diet and lifestyle, then testosterone production goes down.   This is important to understand because Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) should be age appropriate.  A young man in his 20’s or 30’s should not be receiving testosterone as a treatment.  This will only compound the problem over time and make it harder to correct.  The underlying cause for the low testosterone needs to be further investigated and identified.  There are of course exceptions, but our minimum age limit for TRT is 40 years old. There are many types or dosage forms of TRT.  Below are the main types of prescriptions available in descending order. Forms of Testosterone Replacement Therapy: Bioidentical testosterone rhythmic dose transdermal cream Bioidentical testosterone static dose transdermal cream – same dose everyday Conventional testosterone static dose gel Testosterone injections – weekly or bi-monthly Testosterone pellets – implanted under skin With our patients, we only use bioidentical rhythmic dosing, which is referred to as the Wiley Protocol.  This protocol was originally developed for women by TS Wiley.  We have found the male testosterone protocol to produce the best results over time compared to the other forms of TRT.  In fact, we strongly discourage men from getting testosterone pellets and injections, as these forms can lead to later problems as a result of the therapy. If you have questions, please feel free to leave a comment below, you can contact us directly. The post Testosterone Replacement Therapy for Men | PYHP 008 appeared first on .