3-Hormones for Brain Sharpness
Feb 07, 2022
Dr. Liz Lyster is an MD and Hormone expert on the Advisory Board at Club menopause [link]. We asked her to share a real-life patient story with our Club Menopause members. She shared, "One of my patients recently cracked me up when she told me she is known among her family as the one whose brain is on fire" [link] What she’s talking about is the mental sharpness that she has acquired from the well-rounded hormone balancing program that we started doing together. I have only been working with her for a few weeks, and she wasn’t feeling particularly crummy when we started. Even her husband commented that he didn’t know her foggy brain thing would get better with hormone replacement". Dr. Liz laughed out loud and said, "This is the kind of result that makes me love my work."
Dr. Liz wouldn't share exactly what she did for this particular patient because her programs are individually tailored for each patient. But she did share some pearls. Oversimplifying here, menopausal patients need to be evaluated for hormone changes as they begin to notice brain fog. Dr. Liz said she also evaluates for dementia if her patients report behaviors such as putting their keys in the refrigerator or not remembering how they got home from work or another similar example of a severe loss of memory is lack of orientation.
Every menopausal woman has experienced that familiar “senior moment” of not remembering someone’s name or not being able to remember the right word.
3-Hormones That Help Brain Sharpness:
Estrogen:
This is a hormone that declines for women with age, with a really sudden drop-off around the time of menopause [link]. Symptoms of lack of estrogens like hot flashes and night sweats are pretty well known, but the cognitive effects are not as well known. In addition to many other known benefits of estrogen, the effect of this hormone on memory and brain function is well-documented.
As with many other things, most doctors treat symptoms without also assessing and addressing the underlying root cause. Many menopausal women are treated with anti-depressants, pain medications, and ADD medications in this case of brain fog.
Studies of memory and women going into menopause show the loss of word recall and mental sharpness that happen at this time of life. After a woman’s monthly menstrual period stops completely and she is fully in menopause, things seem to settle down and her brain function improves, although not necessarily to the level it was at before.
Testosterone:
This is also a hormone that declines (more gradually) for women as we get older [link]. There is also a gradual lifetime decline of testosterone for men. Where a particular man will notice this lesser-known symptom of low testosterone is very individual. Testosterone supplementation can have great benefits for both men and women in the areas of mood and energy as well as cognitive function.
Thyroid hormone:
This is possibly the single most important hormone (or set of hormones, actually) for optimal mental function [link]. There are so many steps in the process of the manufacture and cellular usage of thyroid hormone. There are many ways to treat low thyroid symptoms. If you are working with a doctor who includes addressing your thyroid hormone levels, you can expect improvement in mental sharpness.
