NEUROTRANSMITTERS:

Neurotranmitters are the brain chemicals that communicate information throughout our brain and body.  They relay signals between nerve cells, called “neurons.”  The brain uses neurotransmitters to tell your heart to beat, your lungs to breathe, and your stomach to digest.  They can also affect mood, sleep, concentration, weight, and can cause adverse symptoms when they are out of balance. Neurotransmitter levels can be depleted many ways.  As a matter of fact, it is estimated that 86% of Americans have suboptimal neurotransmitter levels.  Stress, poor diet, neurotoxins, genetic predisposition, drugs (prescription and recreational), alcohol and caffeine usage can cause these levels to be out of optimal range.

 

Many Commom Symptoms are related to neurotranmitter imbalances:

Neurotransmitter imbalances are associated with many of today's most common and recurring health conditions. Because neurotransmitters are functionally integrated with the endocrine system (including the adrenal glands) and the immune system, neurotransmitter imbalances can cause widespread health problems. The following patient symptoms may indicate neurotransmitter imbalances:

 

• Fatigue

• Anxiousness

• Low mood irritability

• Sleep difficulties

• Changes in appetite and sudden weight loss/gain

• Adrenal depletion

• Poor mental performance, including issues with memory, attention, and ability to concentrate

• Inability to enjoy favorite activities

 

Patients are unique, symptoms are not.
Many patient symptoms, such as fatigue, sudden weight gain, anxiousness and sleep difficulties can have strikingly different underlying causes. While one sleep-deprived patient may have low serotonin, another may have high glutamate. Neurotransmitter testing measures key biomarkers for each patient.

 

Non-Hormonal Approach to Endocrine Symptoms:

Due to the interactions between each system included in the NEI supersystem, symptoms can sometimes appear as a hormone issue when in actuality, they can be attributed to a neurotransmitter imbalance. Common symptoms include mood changes, focus issues, insomnia, fatigue, or anxiety. Addressing NEI Supersystem disturbances often results in patient symptom resolution without the need for hormone replacement therapy. 

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Role of Neurotransmitters in Health and Disease:

Medical science has discovered that neurotransmitters are at the foundation of many psychiatric and neurological disorders. Imbalances in neurotransmission, due to excessive or deficient neurotransmitter levels at the synaptic cleft, are associated with depression, insomnia, anxiety, behavioral disorders, memory disorders, and a spectrum of other brain-relationed functions. Because neurotransmitters play an integral role in these disease states, they are prime targets for treating disorders of the nervous system and mental health concerns.

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Reducing HRT Levels:

For those patients that do indeed require HRT, addressing nervous and immune system disturbances concomitantly often results in a lower HRT dose and therefore reduces HRT side-effects.