Hormones

[Guest guest]

I recently had acupuncture in my ears to stop smoking. I have had 4

treatments and have cut down my smoking from a pack a day to 5

cigarettes a day. When I asked my practitioner why I was having so

much trouble quiting all together, she said because my hormones were

out of balance and so it made it harder for me to stop.

 

She said there were four hormones in the body and they all needed to

be in balance. I believe she said one was thyroid, one was uterus

and I don't remember what the other ones were.

 

Can someone please tell me what the hormones are. And also, I am

having trouble understanding hormones as related to Oriental

medicine. All I keep thinking of is the Western medical thinking of

hormones meaning menopause (or hormones that women have).

 

Thank you.

[Guest guest]

First, the Western medicine background.

 

A hormone is a substance produced by a gland and has an effect on other

tissues in the body. These effects can be specific - like the hormones that

control water balance in the body - or they can be general - like thyroid

hormone controling basal metabolism.

 

Exocrine glands release their hormones through ducts. Endocrine glands

secrete their hormones into bodily fluids such as blood. The endocrine

glands are the ones that usually cause medical problems. A gland can be

underactive (not secreting enough of a hormone, called hypo-), or, a gland

can be overactive (secreting too much of a hormone, called hyper-).

 

There are many glands throughout the body - the thyroid, thymus, pineal,

parathyroid, pancreas (which secretes hormones as well as digestive

substances, the ovaries, the adrenal, etc. The pituitary gland is called

the master gland. The anterior lobe of the pituitary (under nerve or

chemical influences from the hypothalamus) secretes a number of hormones

that target other glands. For example, the anterior lobe of the pituitary

produces among other hormones, one called TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone).

The TSH circulates in the blood and targets the thyroid gland. It tells

the thyroid to produce hormones. When the concentration of thyroid hormones

reaches a certain level, the pituitary will stop producing TSH. Without

TSH, the thyroid stops making hormones. When the concentration of TSH in

the blood falls below a certain level, the pituitary again starts to produce

TSH which caused the thyroid to produce more hormones. The thyroid gland

produces several different hormones. The most important are thyroxine and

triiodothyronine which affect metabolism rates and act to increase energy

release from carbohydrates and promote protein synthesis. If there is too

little thyroid hormones, this is called hypothyroidism. Too much is called

hyperthyroidism. Problems affecting thyroid functioning can arise in the

thyroid gland itself (primary), in the pituitary (secondary), or the

hypothalamus (tertiary).

 

The anterior of the pituitary also produces FSH which targets the testes in

males and the ovaries in female. The FSH triggers different things in males

and females. LH (Luteninizing Hormone, called ICSH in males) also targets

the testes in males and the ovaries in females. This probably is what your

healer was referring to when she said " uterus " .

 

The adrenal glands sit on top of the kidneys and produce a lot of different

hormones. The medulla part of of the adrenals produces a few hormones. A

lot are produced by the adrenal cortex. The adrenal cortex hormones are

divided into 3 main groups: The mineralocorticoids which act on electrolyte

(roughly translated mineral) balance in the body, the glucocorticoids which

have to do with the metabolism of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, and the

sex hormones which have to do with sexual characteristics. Problems with

adrenal cortex hormones - too little or too much - can kill a person. In

particular, hyposecretion of these hormones (called Addison's disease) can

kill a person in a few days. (Former President Kennedy was troubled with

Addison's disease. In the days before hormone replacement was discovered,

licorice was used to treat Addison's disease with varying results. Licorice

has a number of adrenal-like effects.)

 

Hormones and glands as such are not recognized by TCM. But many of the

functions of the adrenal glands (as well as some other glands) are included

in the TCM concept of the Kidneys. A lot of people with endocrine disorders

are found to also have TCM Kidney imbalances.

 

There is a very good article by Michael Tierra on integrating the Western

and TCM concepts of the kidneys/ Kidneys. I'll forward the link in in

another post. It's over on the acupuncture.com site.

 

Now, why would a person smoke and have problems quitting? For one thing,

tobacco is Yang tonic in nature. Some people (though not all) who are Yang

Deficient will become hooked as a way of supplementing Yang. It's not an

idea way to supplement Yang, but it can have that effect. (BTW, the Kidneys

supply the Yang and Yin for the rest of the body.)

 

From a Western standpoint, the drug raises blood sugar. People who are

hypogylcemic (low blood sugar) can easily get hooked because the nicotine

raises their blood sugar and prevents many of the symptoms associated with

low blood sugar. When blood sugar drops too much and symptoms start to

appear, the person starts to crave nicotine as a way of temporarily raising

blood sugar. Again, not an idea solution.

 

In addition, nicotine is one of the few drugs which both stimulates and

calms at the same time.

 

A few asthmatics actually breathe easier with nicotine-laden smoke warming

the lungs and raising blood sugar. Most asthmatics are affected the

opposite way by cigarette smoke, but a few will have breathing problems

eased somewhat by the smoking. But this only works up to a certain point.

Again, not an ideal solution.

 

What your TCM healer is correcting is not hormonal imbalances but TCM

imbalances. However, correcting TCM imbalances can in some cases have the

effect of also correcting Western-defined medical conditions. Check with a

MD or DO if there are concerns about glandular problems.

 

Victoria

 

 

 

_______________

Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com

[Guest guest]

gigigrem wrote:

 

> She said there were four hormones in the body and they all needed to

> be in balance. I believe she said one was thyroid, one was uterus

> and I don't remember what the other ones were.

 

I think that she as attempting to translate yin, yang, qi and blood into

western terms. But I don't know that she was very effective at it.

 

Also, I'm not convinced that this has anything to do with your inability

to completely quit. If you can ask her to tell you what's going on in

TCM terms, and write it down for us verbatum perhaps we can better

address what she's talking about.

 

--

Al Stone L.Ac.

<AlStone

http://www.BeyondWellBeing.com

 

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.