Public Health Awareness Week: Hormonal Imbalance

Hormones are known as chemical messengers that can easily influence your body’s function. Hormones are produced in the endocrine glands and tell your tissues and organs about their work. Right from metabolism to reproduction- your hormones play a major role in various body progressions. A small fluctuation in the hormone is known as a hormonal imbalance that can easily affect the internal organs of your body and their work. Going in line with the statistics, about 80% of the women suffer from hormonal imbalance and about 70% are uninformed of the disorders like PCOS/PCOD and thyroid they are suffering due to hormonal irregularities.

Signs and Symptoms of Hormonal Imbalance in Women

• Irregular periods
• Excessive hair growth on the face, chin or other parts of the body
• Chronic acne on the face, chest, or upper back
• Hair loss
• Skin darkening
• Vaginal dryness
• Painful sex
• Night Sweats
• Frequent headaches

 
Hormonal imbalance during menstruation, puberty, pregnancy or menopause is completely normal and you don’t have to worry about that. Other than that, if you are suffering from the signs and symptoms written above from a longer period of time then it is extremely important to consult a doctor. External factors like stress and hormone medications are one of the major causes of hormonal imbalances. Various medical conditions like PCOS, Thyroid, birth control medications, ovarian cancer and many others can cause hormonal imbalance in women.

PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome) is the most common hormonal disorder that is affecting women of reproductive age. Irregular periods are the common sign of PCOS and it can lead to various complications like infertility, depression, sleep apnea and endometrial cancer if left untreated. Your lifestyle and dietary factor play a major role in hormonal imbalances and in order to ease out the symptoms of hormonal irregularities, make sure to switch to a healthy lifestyle.

Symptoms in male

In a male’s body, testosterone plays a major role and if your body won’t be able to produce enough testosterone, then it can lead to various symptoms like:

• Gynecomastia (the development of breast tissue)
• Tenderness in breast
• Erectile dysfunction (ED)
• Decrease in beard growth and body hair growth
• Loss of muscle mass
• Difficulty in concentrating
• Hot flashes

There could be various reasons for hormonal imbalance and its symptoms including stress, injuries, medical complications, poor diet and lack of exercises. Too much or too little can cause various complications in the body and it is quite important to pay heed to the signs such as low testosterone. Andropause, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism are the most common conditions that happen due to the low testosterone in the male body.

Due to the bad lifestyle, ageing and poor diet, hormonal imbalance is becoming quite common in men and about 2 out of 10 men are suffering from low testosterone. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle and sticking to a naturally healthy diet is the best way to prevent hormonal irregularities.

Here are some effective ways to keep your hormones balanced:

• Add protein to your diet
• Indulge in physical exercises
• Do include healthy fats in your diet
• Manage your stress
• Cut out the refined sugar and carbs from your diet

Footnote
A healthy lifestyle can assist you in keeping your hormones in check. Everybody suffers from hormonal imbalances at some point and this is never a matter of concern but a continuing hormonal imbalance should be properly treated in order to avoid any further health complications.