FUNCTIONAL ENDOCRINOLOGY

Endocrinology is the branch of medicine that deals with the endocrine glands and their hormones. The conventional mainstream model of Clinical Endocrinology bases its therapy on identifying organs that are deficient or non-functioning and uses some type of pharmaceutical agent or hormone to replace, suppress or support the dysfunctional endocrine system.  In other words, it is a “Hormone Replacement ” or “Replacement Endocrinology” model.

FUNCTIONAL  ENDOCRINOLOGY  identifies alterations in the endocrine systems that are not in a disease state at the point of diagnosis.  Many of these alterations if not treated early may lead to pathology down the road.  Functional endocrine disorders are typically ignored in the outdated disease-based allopathic model.  Patients are often not diagnosed with disease and therefore are left untreated in the standard care model until manifestations of disease become present. When they become present, then pharmaceutical hormones are simply thrown at the patients. If the doctors are “alternative” or “naturopathic”, then bio-identical hormones are used instead.    In contrast to the straightforward mainstream or naturopathic “Replacement Endocrinology” model, Functional Endocrinology is complex because many systems are involved with metabolic alterations and these defects differ from one individual to another.  Different endocrine systems are inter-related and influence each other. This is not merely identifying hormone levels that are elevated or deficient and then prescribing hormones (whether synthetic or bio-identical) to “suppress” or “replace” these imbalances.   The Functional Endocrinology clinician must evaluate and understand the complex systems of hormone synthesis, hormone absorption, transport, peripheral metabolism, detoxification, feedback loop, coordination, signal transduction, transcription and proteomic responses.   The clinician helps the patient understand the reasons behind why a patient is not producing or over-producing hormones.  Conservative therapies such as diet, nutrition and lifestyle changes and herbal/vitamin therapies are utilized to optimize and modulate endocrine physiology and biochemical pathways. Physicians that merely prescribe exogenous hormones without taking the efforts to pinpoint the cause/s of hormone imbalances as well as the effects of such hormone replacement  have little or no understanding and respect for human physiology.  

A major harmful effect of taking any hormone (sex hormones, thyroid hormones) is the suppression of the hormone receptor site.  Certain thyroid supplements can also actually suppress thyroid function.  Taking “natural” progesterone creams can suppress progesterone  synthesis and down-regulate the receptor sites which can lead to other more serious problems.  An effect of Progesterone replacement is the displacement and elevation of cortisol levels and eventually the suppression of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis.   There is an adrenal-thyroid-sex hormone connection.  Therefore, taking any kind of hormone replacement for a prolonged period of time will eventually lead to other hormone imbalances.  For example, taking birth control pills, progesterone or estrogen will eventually lead to thyroid disorders. Taking thyroid hormone replacement can influence the adrenal and sex hormone production.  It is inadequate to manage thyroid problems without considering the adrenal and sex hormone physiology.  It is also inadequate to manage sex hormone problems without considering the adrenal and thyroid physiology.