Hormones & Stress

DUTCH testing maps cortisol across the day plus its metabolites, showing stress patterns a single blood cortisol misses. What it measures, and what it cannot.

PCOS is driven by insulin resistance, inflammation and androgen disruption. Which tests identify your particular driver, and why that changes what works.

Estrogen and serotonin move together. When estrogen falls before your period, serotonin can drop with it, driving irritability, low mood and PMS anxiety.

Perimenopause is fluctuation, not simple deficiency. Why erratic estrogen and falling progesterone drive hot flushes, mood and sleep changes, and what helps.

Sleep and hormones run both ways: poor sleep shifts cortisol, insulin and leptin, while thyroid and oestrogen imbalance wrecks sleep quality in return.

Men often lose energy after 40 as testosterone, cortisol and metabolism shift. Why it isn’t inevitable, and which lifestyle and lab factors make a difference.

AI can summarise hormone information but cannot diagnose or treat hormonal problems. Why feedback loops across thyroid, adrenals and gut still need a clinician.

Author: Rohan Smith | Functional Medicine Practitioner | Adelaide, SA Quick Answer Executive stress is a biological systems problem rooted in allostatic load, the cumulative physiological wear and tear described by neuroendocrinologist Bruce McEwen, not a willpower deficit. When high performers face constant decision-making and sympathetic nervous system activation without adequate recovery, measurable changes may…

Magnesium guards NMDA receptors, blocking the calcium surge behind anxiety and overexcitement. Why stress depletes it, and which forms absorb best.

Polyvagal Theory maps three nervous system states: social engagement, mobilisation and shutdown. How your body reads safety and threat before you think it.