POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME

Polycystic ovary syndrome (or PCOS) is a common hormonal condition in which women produce a surplus of androgens. This causes irregular ovulation, or even a lack of ovulation.

Androgens are sometimes called "male hormones." Men have very high levels of androgens, which are responsible for male body changes like hair growth and muscle mass. In women, androgens are necessary to make estrogen. Women with PCOS have androgen levels in the "high normal" range (for women). The additional androgen in these women can cause excessive hair growth and acne.

Excess androgen production also leads to irregular or absent ovulation, which women experience as irregular or absent menstrual periods. Because of the problems with ovulation, women with PCOS may have difficulty becoming pregnant.

Many women with PCOS are resistant to the action of the hormone insulin. This means that it takes larger than normal amounts of insulin to maintain normal blood sugar levels. These women are at increased risk for diabetes and heart disease. High insulin levels caused by insulin resistance can lead to excessive androgen production.

PCOS affects approximately one of every 10 women.

What Causes Polycystic Ovary Syndrome?
The causes of PCOS are not completely understood, but it is likely an inherited condition.

DIABETES MELLITUS 1 AND 2

Diabetes mellitus, or simply diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced.[2] This high blood sugar produces the classical symptoms of polyuria (frequent urination), polydipsia (increased thirst) and polyphagia (increased hunger).

Type 1 DM results from the body's failure to produce insulin, and currently requires the person to inject insulin or wear an insulin pump. This form was previously referred to as "insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus" (IDDM) or "juvenile diabetes".

Type 2 DM results from insulin resistance, a condition in which cells fail to use insulin properly, sometimes combined with an absolute insulin deficiency. This form was previously referred to as non insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) or "adult-onset diabetes".

Other forms of diabetes mellitus include congenital diabetes, which is due to genetic defects of insulin secretion, cystic fibrosis-related diabetes, steroid diabetes induced by high doses of glucocorticoids, and several forms of monogenic diabetes.

Untreated, diabetes can cause many complications. Acute complications include diabetic ketoacidosis and nonketotic hyperosmolar coma. Serious long-term complications include cardiovascular disease, chronic renal failure, and diabetic retinopathy (retinal damage). Adequate treatment of diabetes is thus important, as well as blood pressure control and lifestyle factors such as stopping smoking and maintaining a healthy body weight.

The classic symptoms of untreated diabetes are loss of weight, polyuria (frequent urination), polydipsia (increased thirst) and polyphagia (increased hunger). Symptoms may develop rapidly (weeks or months) in type 1 diabetes, while they usually develop much more slowly and may be subtle or absent in type 2 diabetes. Prolonged high blood glucose can cause glucose absorption in the lens of the eye, which leads to changes in its shape, resulting in vision changes. Blurred vision is a common complaint leading to a diabetes diagnosis; type 1 should always be suspected in cases of rapid vision change, whereas with type 2 change is generally more gradual, but should still be suspected.

METABOLIC SYNDROME

Metabolic syndrome is a group of health problems that include too much fat around the waist , elevated blood pressure, high triglycerides, elevated blood sugar, and low HDL cholesterol.

Together, this group of health problems increases your risk of heart attack, stroke, and diabetes.

What causes metabolic syndrome?
Metabolic syndrome is caused by an unhealthy lifestyle that includes eating too many calories, being inactive, and gaining weight, particularly around your waist . This lifestyle can lead to insulin resistance, a condition in which the body is unable to respond normally to insulin. If you have insulin resistance, your body cannot use insulin properly, and your blood sugar will begin to rise. Over time, this can lead to type 2 diabetes.

What are the symptoms?
If you have metabolic syndrome, you have several disorders of the metabolism at the same time, including obesity (usually around your waist), high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, and resistance to insulin.

Why is metabolic syndrome important?
This syndrome raises your risk for coronary artery disease (CAD), even beyond that caused by high LDL cholesterol alone.

What increases your chance of developing metabolic syndrome?
The things that make you more likely to develop metabolic syndrome include:

- Insulin resistance. Insulin resistance means that your body cannot use insulin properly.
- Abdominal obesity. This means having too much fat around your waist.
- Age. Your chances of developing metabolic syndrome increase as you get older.
- Lack of exercise. If you do not exercise, you are more likely to be obese and develop metabolic syndrome.
- Hormone imbalance. A hormone disorder such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a condition in which the female body produces too much of certain hormones, is associated with metabolic syndrome.

INSULIN RESISTANCE

Insulin resistance refers to the inability of the body tissues to respond properly to insulin. Insulin lets sugar (glucose) enter body cells, where it is used for energy. Insulin also helps muscles, fat, and liver cells store sugar to be released when it is needed. If the body tissues do not respond properly to insulin, the blood sugar level rises.

Insulin resistance causes the pancreas to release too much insulin (hyperinsulinemia). It may also cause the liver to release too much sugar into the blood.

Several things may increase insulin resistance, including:

- Family history. Insulin resistance may run in families.

- Being overweight. The more a person weighs, the more insulin his or her pancreas makes and the less the person's body cells respond to insulin. People who are overweight mostly in the upper body have greater insulin resistance and have the greatest risk for type 2 diabetes.

- Lack of exercise. People who get little or no exercise often have much greater insulin resistance than people who exercise on a regular basis.

- Age. Teens and older adults usually have greater insulin resistance. Teens have greater insulin resistance because of growth hormones.

- Pregnancy. In the last 3 to 4 months of pregnancy (third trimester), insulin resistance is increased. A woman who did not have diabetes before pregnancy can develop a type called gestational diabetes.

- Some medicines such glucocorticoids (for example, prednisone) can reduce the body's response to insulin.

DEPRESSION/ANXIETY

It's not unusual for mental health problems, especially depression and anxiety, to occur with long-term (chronic) diseases. For example, you may:

- Have diabetes and also feel very sad.

- Be depressed and notice that your physical health is getting worse. Perhaps your blood pressure is going up.

- Have asthma, feel very anxious, and sometimes have panic attacks.

Depression

People who have chronic diseases such as arthritis, asthma, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, hepatitis C, and stroke often also have depression. Depression also often occurs with chronic pain. Depression may occur with these problems because:

- The everyday stress of dealing with a chronic disease causes the depression or makes it worse.
- People who have depression often find it hard to take care of their health, which can lead to health problems.
- People who have depression tend to eat poorly, get less exercise, and smoke.
- Some chronic diseases change your body chemistry and help cause depression. Cushing's syndrome and an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) are examples of this.

Anxiety

Anxiety and health problems also are linked. You may feel anxious because you have a health problem, and anxiety can make a health problem worse. For example, older men who have an anxiety disorder are more likely to have a heart attack.

INSOMNIA

Insomnia is a sleep disorder that is characterized by difficulty falling and/or staying asleep. People with insomnia have one or more of the following symptoms:

- Difficulty falling asleep
- Waking up often during the night and having trouble going back to sleep
- Waking up too early in the morning
- Feeling tired upon waking
- Types of Insomnia

There are two types of insomnia: primary insomnia and secondary insomnia.

Primary insomnia: Primary insomnia means that a person is having sleep problems that are not directly associated with any other health condition or problem. Secondary insomnia: Secondary insomnia means that a person is having sleep problems because of something else, such as a health condition (like asthma, depression, arthritis, cancer, or heartburn); pain; medication they are taking; or a substance they are using (like alcohol).

Acute vs. Chronic Insomnia

Insomnia also varies in how long it lasts and how often it occurs. It can be short-term (acute insomnia) or can last a long time (chronic insomnia). It can also come and go, with periods of time when a person has no sleep problems. Acute insomnia can last from one night to a few weeks. Insomnia is called chronic when a person has insomnia at least three nights a week for a month or longer.

FATIGUE

is a feeling of tiredness, exhaustion, or lack of energy. You may feel mildly fatigued because of overwork, poor sleep, worry, boredom, or lack of exercise. Any illness, such as a cold or the flu, may cause fatigue, which usually goes away as the illness clears up. Most of the time, mild fatigue occurs with a health problem that will improve with home treatment and does not require a visit to a doctor.

A stressful emotional situation may also cause fatigue. This type of fatigue usually clears up when the stress is relieved.

Many prescription and nonprescription medicines can cause weakness or fatigue. The use or abuse of alcohol, caffeine, or illegal drugs can cause fatigue.

A visit to a doctor usually is needed when fatigue occurs along with more serious symptoms, such as increased breathing problems, signs of a serious illness, abnormal bleeding, or unexplained weight loss or gain.

Fatigue that lasts longer than 2 weeks usually requires a visit to a doctor. This type of fatigue may be caused by a more serious health problem, such as:

- A decrease in the amount of oxygen-carrying substance (hemoglobin) found in red blood cells (anemia).
- Problems with the heart, such as coronary artery disease or heart failure, that limit the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle or the rest of the body.
- Metabolic disorders, such as diabetes, in which sugar (glucose) remains in the blood rather than entering the body?s cells to be used for energy.

HYPERTENSION

What is hypertension better known as high blood pressure?

Blood pressure is a measure of how hard the blood pushes against the walls of your arteries as it moves through your body. It's normal for blood pressure to go up and down throughout the day, but if it stays up, you have high blood pressure. Another name for high blood pressure is hypertension.

When blood pressure is high, it starts to damage the blood vessels, heart, and kidneys. This can lead to heart attack, stroke, and other problems. High blood pressure is called a "silent killer,'' because it doesn't usually cause symptoms while it is causing this damage.

Your blood pressure consists of two numbers: systolic and diastolic. Someone with a systolic pressure of 120 and a diastolic pressure of 80 has a blood pressure of 120/80, or "120 over 80."

- The systolic number shows how hard the blood pushes when the heart is pumping.
- The diastolic number shows how hard the blood pushes between heartbeats, when the heart is relaxed and filling with blood.

High blood pressure is 140/90 or higher. Adults should have a blood pressure of less than 120/80. Many people fall into the category in between, called prehypertension. People with prehypertension need to make lifestyle changes to bring the blood pressure down and help prevent or delay high blood pressure.

About 1 out of 3 adults in the United States has high blood pressure.1

What causes high blood pressure?
In most cases, doctors can't point to the exact cause. But several things are known to raise blood pressure, including being very overweight, drinking too much alcohol, having a family history of high blood pressure, eating too much salt, and getting older.

Your blood pressure may also rise if you are not very active, you don't eat enough potassium and calcium, or you have a condition called insulin resistance.

LOW TESTOSTERONE AND LOW SEX DRIVE

Testosterone isn't the only fuel for a man's sex drive and performance. But low testosterone can reduce your ability to have satisfying sex. Lack of sex drive and erectile dysfunction are sexual problems that can result from low testosterone. If low testosterone is the cause, treating it can help.

Testosterone and the Causes of Low Libido

Researchers haven't unraveled the mystery of just how testosterone increases libido. It's normal for a man's sex drive to slowly decline from its peak in his teens and 20s, but libido varies widely between men. What one man might consider a low sex drive, another might not. Also, sex drive changes within each man over time and is affected by stress, sleep, and opportunities for sex. For these reasons, defining what's a "normal" sex drive is next to impossible. Usually, the man himself identifies a lack of sex drive as a problem. Other times, his partner may consider it to be an issue.

Low testosterone symptoms don't always include feeling like you have no sex drive. Some men maintain sexual desire at relatively low testosterone levels. For other men, libido may lag even with normal testosterone levels. Low testosterone is one of the possible causes of low libido, however. If testosterone is lowered far enough, virtually all men will experience some decline in sex drive.

In a large study of men in Massachusetts, about 11% overall said they had a lack of sex drive. The researchers then tested all the men's testosterone levels. About 28% of men with low testosterone had low libido. These men were relatively young, with an average age of 47; older men might have worse sexual symptoms.

Low testosterone is only one of the causes of low libido. Stress, sleep deprivation, depression, and chronic medical illnesses can also sap a man's sex drive.

Low testosterone can also affect women, and can cause difficulty sleeping, night sweats, los or non-existent sex drive, fatigue, and exercise intolerance.

DOCTOR GUIDED WEIGHT LOSS

We offer a physician guided weight loss and lifestyle program. By educating our patients on a paleo diet, the art of bargaining your carbs, and the effects different macro nutrients have on the body we are able to help them develop a daily routine that gets the weight off and keeps it off!

This program may include the use of FDA approved appetite suppressants, which help keep the patient focused on making good food choices consistently, giving them the will power they need to be successful.

We also offer the 28 day HCG protocol which calls for the the use of a hormone that helps burn fat and suppress the appetite.  It is a great way to kick start your lifestyle change, break through a plateau, as well as reset your Hypothalamus, your brains control center for your hormones! The HCG is offered as injectable, cream or sublingual drops.