Are you having trouble remembering things? Do you find that you walk into a room, only to forget what you went in there for in the first place? Do you have increasing difficulty remembering details like phone numbers, addresses, birthdays, anniversaries, and other important days of the year for your family?
If you’re having memory issues and you have a medical condition such as depression, blood sugar problems like diabetes and prediabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome, or another diagnosis, your memory issues may actually be caused by a hormonal imbalance.
It’s true, researchers have found that a variety of hormones affect brain health and abnormal levels of these hormones can create memory issues. Here’s an overview of three of the most common hormonal imbalances that can cause memory problems and why compounding may be the best hormone replacement therapy solution for you.
How Estrogen Affects the Brain
You likely recognize estrogen as an important hormone for women. Estrogen does more than impact a woman’s reproductive system, though. It’s been proven that healthy amounts of this hormone affect the brain by:
- Promoting increased networking between brain cells.
- Increasing a woman’s mood by boosting the amount of serotonin in her brain.
- Increasing the density of a woman’s neurotransmitter receptors.
- Helping to encourage new nerve growth and preventing free radicals from accumulating.
- Minimizing a woman’s risk for brain damage by reducing brain inflammation and encouraging cell repair.
- Increasing blood flow to the brain, which in turn boosts oxygen and glucose availability.
In fact, researcher Dr. Sherwin has specifically studied the effects on estrogen therapy and older women in menopause and has found that estrogen therapy may decrease a woman’s risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease.
How Testosterone Affects the Brain
Just as you likely associated estrogen as a female hormone, you most likely recognize testosterone as one of the top male hormones. And just like estrogen, testosterone offers more benefits to men than promoting sexual health.
Testosterone has been shown to strengthen muscles, arteries, and nerves, including those found in the brain. This increases a man’s blood flow to the brain as well as oxygen, thus improving his memory. A testosterone imbalance may, therefore, be a contributing factor to memory issues.
How Thyroid Hormones Affect the Brain
You may know that a thyroid imbalance can cause a host of unwanted symptoms including depression, weight gain, and fatigue. But did you know the thyroid plays a key part in regulating optimal brain health?
In the book, “Hormones and the Mind,” Dr. Edward Klaiber explains that imbalanced thyroid hormones cause blood flow to slow down in the brain’s gray matter. This is important because the brain’s gray matter is where thinking takes place.
As a result of thyroid imbalances, a person’s brain becomes malnourished, causing the affected person to think and move less frequently than before.
How We Can Help Provide Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)
Many people who have imbalances of estrogen, testosterone, thyroid hormones, or other hormones seek out hormone replacement therapy. But the mass-produced medications made by large pharmaceutical companies are a one-size-fits-all solution with limited dosing options. What works for some people might not work for you.
For this reason, many men and women on the Northshore and in the New Orleans area seek us out for HRT compounding. Compounding is a special pharmaceutical process in which we create prescriptions specified by your doctor. For HRT, this means we create hormone replacement therapy, such as creams or other delivery methods, that have the exact amount of hormones your doctor believes you need to achieve better brain health, improve your memory, and achieve overall wellness.
Best of yet, compounding is performed by licensed pharmacists who have the same education and credentials that the one at your neighborhood chain drug store have. When you choose us for compounding HRT, you can trust that it’ll be performed by a licensed, educated pharmacist who has been specifically trained in the compounding process.
Contact Us Today to Get Compounded HRT
Whether you already have a prescription from your doctor for a compounded HRT, or you’d like help talking to your doctor about this form of hormone replacement therapy, we can help. Simply call us Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm at (985) 801-0800 or fill out our online contact form.