Hormones

Hormones are your body's chemical messengers. They travel in your bloodstream to tissues or organs and are produced by the endocrine glands. The major endocrine glands are the pituitary, pineal, thymus, thyroid, adrenal glands and pancreas. In addition, men produce hormones in their testes and women produce them in their ovaries.

Too much or too little of a certain hormone can be serious and can cause big changes to the whole body. Tests are available to measure the hormone levels in your blood, urine or saliva.

Hormones work slowly, over time, and affect many different processes, including

• Growth and development
• Metabolism - how your body gets energy from the foods you eat
• Sexual function
• Reproduction
• Mood

To see treatments and prices  

Just click on the titles to find out more information on how hormones may be a factor in the conditions we specialise in.

Erectile Dysfunction

In mature men, testosterone plays a role in maintaining sexual desire but a lack of testosterone alone is very rarely the cause of impotence. However, this has not stopped testosterone being widely promoted as a treatment for impotence. Taking unnecessary testosterone is potentially harmful it can affect cholesterol levels or accelerate the growth of a pre-existing prostate cancer, so should be strictly avoided. Your doctor can run tests to check whether a lack of testosterone is causing erection problems in your case.

Read more about the causes of erectile dysfunction.

Female Sexual Dysfunction

Hormones play a very important and varied role in every woman's life from childbirth to menopause and beyond. Menopause occurs as the ovaries stop producing estrogen, causing the reproductive system to gradually shut down. This phase in a woman's life can led to a significant drop in libido. Find out more about low libido and the treatments that are available by visiting our women's clinic

Weight-Loss

Obesity is a condition that has become an epidemic in modern times and is threatening to cripple the health services here in the UK . However, not all obesity is caused by over indulgence and lack of exercise. Another reason for obesity is illness or disorder that affects our metabolism - the most widespread is hypothyroidism. Hormones produced by the thyroid gland have an enormous impact on your health, affecting all aspects of your metabolism- from the rate at which your heart beats to how quickly you burn calories.

Sometimes the thyroid doesn't produce enough hormones, upsetting the balance of chemical reactions in your body. This condition is known as hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid disease. Hypothyroidism seldom causes symptoms in the early stages, but over time, untreated hypothyroidism can cause a number of health problems, such as obesity,

Read more about obesity

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