Anti-Aging

Hormonal imbalances can cause many different symptoms. Some common issues to look out for include:

• Fatigue
• Unexplained weight gain or weight loss
• Change in the frequency of bowel movements
• Sensitivity to heat and cold
• Increased or decreased heart rate
• Muscle weakness, tenderness, stiffness, or pain
• Pain, stiffness, and swelling in the joints
• Dry skin or skin rashes
• Thinning hair
• Depression, anxiety, or irritability
• Difficulty concentrating
• Unexplained sweating
• Changes in appetite or thirst
• Changes in heart rate
• Headaches
• A bulge in the neck
• Puffy face

In general, people who have the following criteria are at higher risks of developing hormonal imbalances:

• Being overweight or obese
• Smoking
• Consuming an excessive amount of alcohol
• Being exposed to pesticides and toxins
• Experiencing high stress levels
• Not sleeping enough.

Many of these risk factors are easily controlled when you’re mindful of your diet, exercise routine, and daily habits. If you quit smoking, moderate your drinking, or avoid exposure to pesticides, you can help reduce your risk factor for hormonal imbalances and naturally keep them moderated.

If you are pregnant now, your hormones will be reflective of pregnancy levels so we suggest waiting until you’ve had your baby, stopped breastfeeding, and periods have resumed until testing.

It definitely varies with each person and depends on which hormone therapy you require. Generally, you can expect to see benefits in a few weeks and full results within three to six months. It will take some time to allow your body to properly balance your hormones and build up depleted stores. It is worth the brief reorganization of hormones to feel well again.

We would suggest for you to fast for at least 3 hours prior to your Hormone Blood Test to get a reading as natural and true as possible to your body.

Yes. Your hormone levels change throughout your cycle and have to be measured at specific times to diagnosis an imbalance. Our clinic suggests the Blood Test to be taken on the 19^th-21^st day of your menstrual cycle.

Our Hormone Blood Test takes an average of 4-5 working days to arrive before our Doctor calls you for the report reading consultation.

Everyone is applicable to take the Hormone Blood Test. But we would suggest for people who undergoes the symptoms listed below for extra reassurance.

Women

Symptoms of a hormonal imbalance specific to women include:

·         heavy or irregular periods, including missed periods, stopped period, or frequent period

·         hirsutism, or excessive hair on the face, chin, or other parts of the body

·         acne on the face, chest, or upper back

·         thinning hair or hair loss

·         weight gain or trouble losing weight

·         darkening of skin, especially along neck creases, in the groin, and underneath breasts

·         skin tags

·         vaginal dryness

·         vaginal atrophy

·         pain during sex

·         night sweats

Men

Testosterone plays an important role in male development. If you aren’t producing enough testosterone, it can cause a variety of symptoms.

In the adult male, symptoms include:

·         development of breast tissue

·         breast tenderness

·         erectile dysfunction

·         loss of muscle mass

·         decreased sex drive

·         infertility

·         decrease in beard and body hair growth

·         osteoporosis, the loss of bone mass

·         difficulty concentrating

·         hot flashes

Children

Puberty is the time when boys and girls start producing sex hormones. Many children with delayed puberty will go on to experience normal puberty, but some have a condition called hypogonadism. Symptoms of hypogonadism include:

In boys:

·         muscle mass doesn’t develop

·         voice doesn’t deepen

·         body hair grows sparsely

·         penis and testicular growth is impaired

·         excessive growth of the arms and legs in relation to the trunk of the body

·         gynecomastia, the development of breast tissue

In girls:

·         period doesn’t begin

·         breast tissue doesn’t develop

·         growth rate doesn’t increase

Women suffering from early menopause symptoms looking to put an end to hot flashes, night sweats, memory loss, mood swings, weight gain, and low libido. The individualized programs for each woman suffering from early menopause symptoms, menopause, perimenopause and severe PMS will benefit.

Men experiencing andropause (the male menopause) who wants to get a grip on weight gain, lost libido, fatigue, stress, energy, muscle mass and body fat. For men, andropause happens gradually and when diagnosed, the symptoms can be successfully treated using bioidentical HRT.

Most people should have their hormones checked by the age of 40 or earlier if they are experiencing symptoms of menopause or andropause. The way to prevent illness and to optimize one’s health is to take an active role in addressing health care risks before they become a problem. Getting tested when you still feel good gives you a benchmark for later comparison as the inevitable hormone changes and decline begin.

Not necessarily, it depends on how well your body responds to bioidentical hormone therapy. If you commit to manage your diet, sleep patterns, exercise and stress levels, this will help you regain hormonal balance quicker and impact your bioidentical hormone therapy.

Many patients wean off various hormones as they become balanced and have fewer symptoms of menopause or andropause. Some patients even come off adrenal and thyroid support once their adrenals or thyroid glands have healed. There is no one size fits all answer as it depends on your individual hormone stability and how well your diet and lifestyle balance to support your body. In the worst-case scenario, if you decided to stop bioidentical hormone therapy, your body would return to the state it was in before initiating your program.

Samples run within the lab have demonstrated a 99.5% level of concordance. This high level of concordance gives us the confidence that we are processing your samples to the stringent and exacting quality standards required of a medical diagnostic laboratory.

The genes and SNPs are selected based on two criteria:

• Significance of the statistic relationship strength between the genetic variations and the trait within the scientific literature.
• Applicability to the Asian population.

Many of the SNPs we have chosen are more likely to occur in and impact Asian populations. Where we have given a higher weight to those in our knowledge base to ensure relevance.

Each trait has three influential factors, nature (genetics), nurture (upbringing) and current lifestyle (choice/behavior). If you are predisposed to exercise aversion, it means many people with the same genetic composition as yours found it to be more difficult to motivate themselves to exercise. Your family upbringing and personal choices can overcome your potential predispositions through a change in lifestyle. For example, if you are exercising despite being predisposed to high exercise aversion, you should be proud of your achievement compared to someone that does not have a predisposition to exercise aversion.