Adrenal Function

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Understanding Adrenal Function

http://www.mercola.com/2000/aug/27/adrenals.htm

Information Provided by BioHealth Diagnostics

Pregnenolone -- The Basics

Pregnenolone, like DHEA, is a steroidal hormone manufactured in the body.

Pregnenolone is a precursor hormone synthesized from cholesterol,

principally in the adrenal glands, but also in the liver, skin, brain,

testicles, ovaries, and retina of the eyes.

Steroids are a large family of structurally similar biochemicals that have

sex-determining, anti-inflammatory, and growth-regulatory roles. Indeed,

pregnenolone is the grand precursor from which almost all of the other

steroid hormones are made; including DHEA, progesterone, testosterone, the

estrogens, and cortisol. Despite its powerful metabolites, pregnenolone is

acknowledged to be without significant side effects, with minimal or no

anabolic, estrogenic or androgenic activity.

Pregnenolone has been found to be 100 times more effective for memory

enhancement than other steroids or steroid-precursors in laboratory mice.

Pregnenolone appears to be the most potent memory enhancer yet reported in

animals. Pregnenolone has been reported to not only make people smarter but

happier and enhance ones ability to perform on the job while heightening

feelings of well-being. Pregnenolone has also been reported to reduce high

stress induced fatigue.

As is the case with the steroid-hormone precursor DHEA, pregnenolone levels

decline with age. Many physicians and scientists believe that replacement of

pregnenolone to youthful levels is an important step in the treatment of

aging and symptoms of aging. Pregnenolone may be one of the most important

hormones because it seems to have a balancing effect. It is a precursor to

many other hormones and may be able to bring the levels of other hormones up

or down as needed.

Other benefits of pregnenolone may include stress reduction and increased

resistance to effects of stress, improvement of mood and energy, reduced

symptoms of PMS and menopause, improved immunity, and repair of myelin

sheaths.

Pregnenolone also operates as a powerful neurosteroid in the brain,

modulating the transmission of messages from neuron to neuron and strongly

influencing learning and memory processes. As with DHEA, pregnenolone levels

naturally peak during youth and begin a long, slow decline with age. By the

age of 75 our bodies produce 60% less pregnenolone than the levels produced

in our mid-thirties. For this reason pregnenolone is one of the biomarkers

of aging. Like counting the rings of a tree, by measuring the level of

pregnenolone at any given point of a person's life, it is often possible to

make an educated guess as to his or her age.

Some other hormones that decline with age are DHEA, the estrogens,

testosterone, progesterone and growth hormone.These are considered

biomarkers of aging as well. Since pregnenolone provides the initial raw

material from which all the other steroid hormones are made, some of our

other hormones will decline in a parallel fashion. While our youth-giving

hormones are diminishing, loss of quality-of-life progressively settles in.

We slowly begin to experience physical and mental decline; loss of energy,

memory loss, visual and hearing impairment, arthritis, cardiovascular

disease, and sexual decline, just to name a few. Supplementing small amounts

of these neuro-hormones may slow these age-related processes, improving one

s quality of life by rejuvenating the body to more youthful functioning.

Pregnenolone -- A Little History

Research on pregnenolone, as well as usage of pregnenolone, dates back as

far as the 1930's. Human studies were conducted in the 1940's on factory

workers to test the effect of pregnenolone on anti-fatigability and

autoimmune disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis. The results were

successful and improvements were noted. Even though pregnenolone was proving

to be not only effective, but safe as well, it was discarded when Merck's

newly introduced pharmaceutical agent, cortisone, was announced to be a

cure-all for rheumatoid arthritis in 1949.

Soon after cortisone and cortisol came into use, the synthetic steroid

hormones dexamethasone, and later prednisone, were introduced. Remember that

these steroids are hundreds of times more powerful than pregnenolone (or

DHEA for that matter). Because they could be patented, it was more

politically and economically advantageous for pharmaceutical companies to

promote these drugs rather than pregnenolone. Additionally, these steroids

were very fast acting compared to pregnenolone. Users and doctors preferred

the quick fix. However, these steroidal compounds proved to have serious

downsides, including compromising the immune system and inducing

osteoporosis, among other serious complications.

Even though cortisone and cortisol are stress hormones that are natural to

the body, they have historically been and continue to be administered in

pharmacological doses rather than at physiological amounts natural to the

body. The pharmacological levels at which cortisone and cortisol are

generally administered give them a risk profile not unlike that of the

synthetic hormones.

Scientists have been studying the impact of hormones on learning and memory

for many years. Various studies have found that pregnenolone enhances

motivation, the ability to acquire knowledge, and long-term memory. A

research group of industrial psychologists conducted studies in the 1940's

to test pregnenolone on students and workers for the ability to enhance job

performance. They found that the students/workers had a markedly improved

ability to learn and remember difficult tasks.

It is also amazing that pregnenolone not only enhanced job performance of

the students/workers; but they additionally experienced heightened feelings

of well-being. The same research group performed a study on factory workers

to see if pregnenolone could improve their work productivity. Productivity

increased most notably in the workers whose situations were considered the

most stressful; for example, the workers who got paid per piece and whose

living depended on their productivity. Improvement was noted, but less so,

in workers who got paid a fixed wage regardless of their productivity levels

Not only did pregnenolone improve productivity for both groups, but the

workers also reported enhanced mood.

As previously mentioned, despite successful results, research on

pregnenolone halted in the 1950's when cortisone became available as an

immediate cure-all. Because pregnenolone, unlike cortisone, couldn't be

patented, pharmaceutical companies had no financial incentive to pursue the

research. It is unfortunate that pharmaceutical companies are governed by a

financial system and healthcare systemthat imposes the requirement that for

a molecule to be profitable it must be patentable. If there were half as

many studies done on pregnenolone as the patented drugs, pregnenolone's

therapeutic potential would be expected to be far reaching.

Where is pregnenolone found?

Human studies show that there are much higher concentrations of pregnenolone

in the nervous tissue than in the bloodstream. Animal studies indicate that

pregnenolone is found in the brain in ten-fold larger concentrations than

the other stress-related hormones (including DHEA).

Common Causes Of Adrenal Stress

Anger

Fear

Worry/anxiety

Depression

Guilt

Overwork/ physical or mental strain

Excessive exercise

Sleep deprivation

Light-cycle disruption

Going to sleep late)

Surgery

Trauma/injury

Chronic inflammation

Chronic infection

Chronic pain

Temperature extremes

Toxic exposure

Malabsorption

Maldigestion

Chronic illness

Chronic-severe allergies

Hypogycemia

Nutritional deficiencies

Associated Symptoms And Consequences Of Impaired Adrenals

Low body temperature

Weakness

Unexplained hair loss

Nervousness

Difficulty building muscle

Irritability

Mental depression

Difficulty gaining weight

Apprehension

Hypoglycemia

Inability to concentrate

Excessive hunger

Tendency towards inflammation

Moments of confusion

Indigestion

Poor memory

Feelings of frustration

Alternating diarrhea and constipation

Osteoporosis

auto-immune hepatitis

auto-immune diseases

Lightheadedness

Palpitations [heart fluttering]

Dizziness that occurs upon standing

Poor resistance to infections

Low blood pressure

Insomnia

Food and/or inhalant allergies

PMS

Craving for sweets

Dry and thin skin

Headaches

Scanty perspiration

Alcohol intolerance

Functions of DHEA

Functions as an androgen (a male hormone) with anabolic activity. Anabolic

refers to the building or synthesis of tissues.

Is a precursor that is converted to testosterone (a male hormone). Is a

precursor to estrogen (a female anabolic hormone)

Reverses immune suppression caused by excess cortisol levels, thereby

improving resistance against viruses, bacteria and Candida albicans,

parasites, allergies, and cancer.

Stimulates bone deposition and remodeling to prevent osteoporosis.

Improves cardiovascular status by lowering total cholesterol and LDL levels,

thereby lessening incidences of heart attack.

Increases muscle mass. Decreases percentage of body fat.

Involved in the thyroid gland's conversion of the less active T4 to the more

active T3.

Reverses many of the unfavorable effects of excess cortisol, creating

subsequent improvement in energy/ vitality, sleep, premenstrual symptoms,

and mental clarity.

Accelerates recovery from any kind of acute stress (e.g., insufficient sleep

excessive exercise, mental strain, etc.).

What Cortisol Does

Mobilizes and increases amino acids, the building blocks of protein, in the

blood and liver.

Stimulates the liver to convert amino acids to glucose, the primary fuel for

energy production.

Stimulates increased glycogen in the liver. Glycogen is the stored form of

glucose.

Mobilizes and increases fatty acids in the blood (from fat cells) to be used

as fuel for energy production.

Counteracts inflammation and allergies.

Prevents the loss of sodium in urine and thus helps maintain blood volume

and blood pressure.

Maintains resistance to stress (e.g., infections, physical trauma,

temperature extremes, emotional trauma, etc.).

Maintains mood and emotional stability.

Excess Cortisol

Diminishes cellular utilization of glucose.

Increases blood sugar levels.

Decreases protein synthesis.

Increases protein breakdown that can lead to muscle wasting.

Causes demineralization of bone that can lead to osteoporosis.

Interferes with skin regeneration and healing.

Causes shrinking of lymphatic tissue

Diminishes lymphocyte numbers and functions

Lessens SIgA (secretory antibody productions). This immune system

suppression may lead to increased susceptibility to allergies, infections,

and degenerative disease.

Balancing Your Meals For Blood Sugar Control

To maintain proper adrenal function it is imperative to control your blood

sugar levels and the following guidelines will help you do that:

Eat a small meal or snack every three to four hours.

Eat within the first hour upon awakening.

Eat a small snack near bedtime.

Eat before becoming hungry. If hungry, you have already allowed yourself to

run out of fuel [low blood sugar/ hypoglycemia], which places additional

stress on the adrenal glands.

An excessive ratio of carbohydrates to protein results in excess secretion

of insulin, which often leads to intervals of hypoglycemia. The body, in an

attempt to normalize blood sugar, initiates a counter-regulatory process

during which the adrenals are stimulated to secrete increased levels of

cortisol and adrenalin. It follows that an excessive intake of carbohydrates

often leads to excessive secretion of cortisol. This contributes to chronic

cortisol depletion and consequently, adrenal exhaustion. Reduced DHEA is an

early sign of adrenal exhaustion.

In order to stabilize blood sugar, you must maintain a balance between two

hormones, glucagon and insulin, which are produced by the pancreas. Protein

in the diet induces the production of glucagon Carbohydrates in the diet

induce the production of insulin. Insulin promotes fat (energy) storage.

When excess carbohydrates are eaten, the body produces large quantities of

insulin and little glucagon. This high level of insulin results in more fat

being formed and stored.

When insulin is high and glucagon is low, the adrenals are called upon to

produce excess cortisol (see later on in the document what cortisol is all

about) as a back-up response to help raise blood sugar in the absence of

adequate glucagon. This occurs at the expense of the adrenal glands,

contributing to adrenal exhaustion.

Balance Your Meals

The optimal level of insulin to glucagon is achieved by a diet that contains

carbohydrates balanced with proteins in a ratio of approximately two to one,

that is, approximately two grams of carbohydrate per gram of protein and

gram of fat per meal or snack.

The Role of Fat

A small amount [3/4 tsp. to 1 tsp.] of fat (butter) or cold pressed

vegetable or seed oil should be a part of each meal in order to help control

the rate of entry of glucose (blood sugar) into the bloodstream.

In order to make balancing this glycemic control diet easier, you can

purchase books containing nutritive value charts, as well as ones containing

a glycemic index These charts will enable you to quickly locate foods you

would like to eat, and help determine whether they are in appropriate

balance for your meals.

Making the Most of Meal Balancing

As there is no exact dietary balance that applies to all people, it is

critical to understand each person's role in the development of an ideal

eating plan. In order to determine how well a blood sugar balanced diet is

working, one must pay attention to one's own body.

For example, if you feel mentally and physically alert throughout the day, this

is generally a good sign that you are eating frequently enough and in the right

balance. Eating small, carefully balanced meals every 4-5 hours will preclude

hunger and fatigue in most people. It is up to each person to become aware of

how they respond to the meals they eat. A properly balanced meal with good

digestion and absorption should sustain mental and physical energy for 4-6

hours.