Wynyard Chiropractic Sydney: The adrenals and pregnancy

The adrenals and pregnancy

The effects of hormones on fertility are well known. Less is appreciated about how they work together. “The endocrine system of glands that produce hormones need to be understood as a family, rather than being addressed separately,” says Naturopath Angela Hywood of Tonic Australia. “The hormones may sometimes be behaving as a dysfunctional family so they need to corrected to interrelate harmoniously.”

Infertility is usually defined as not being able to get pregnant after having tried for one year. A broader view of infertility includes not being able to carry a pregnancy to full term or multiple miscarriages. Western medicine frequently treats female infertility by prescribing drugs such as Clomid, oestrogen or progesterone but, as Angela explains, pregnancy is initiated and maintained by the balance between oestrogen and progesterone. “The hormone progesterone is very important,” says Angela. “Progesterone is derived from the Latin progest, which means ‘to be pregnant’.”

Oestrogen is produced by both the adrenal glands and the ovaries. These hormones are controlled by the pituitary and the hypothalamus glands. Female hormone imbalances result from overactivity or underactivity of the ovarian sex hormones production and the overactivity or underactivity of adrenal hormones.

According to Dr. Alan Labrie, an international leader in steroid hormone research, ovaries produce just 35 per cent of oestrogen during ovulation with the other 65 per cent produced by the adrenals. “The adrenal glands are very important to the balance of steroid and sex hormones, such as progesterone, oestrogen, and testosterone and, as such, are central to maintaining an optimally healthy pregnancy,” says Angela.

Naturopathic treatment for encouraging fertility begins with an assessment of hormone levels in the blood. The naturopath then seeks to bring both partners’ hormones and overall health into balance with the use of herbs, diet and lifestyle changes such as avoiding coffee, alcohol and smoking, and exercising regularly.

Stressing the adrenals
The adrenal glands also produce the ‘fight or flight’ hormone cortisol, which increases blood pressure and blood sugar levels and reduces the effectiveness of our immune systems.

When cortisol levels are too high, the body conserves energy by slowing down non-essential functions, including the absorption of nutrients, thyroid function and, in cases of real stress, the production of oestrogen.

“This halts menstruation and can bring on premature menopause, otherwise known as premature ovarian failure,” says Angela. “But I’ve also seen many misdiagnoses of early menopause in women aged 35 to 45, where it is extreme stress and adrenal fatigue that are the underlying problem. With the aid of herbal medicines and changes to diet and lifestyle, many of been able to bring their adrenal glands back to health and have resumed regular menstruation and healthy hormone levels.”

Simple lifestyle factors including stress, diet, or athletic training can affect women’s hormonal balance. “The role of the adrenal glands in producing oestrogen and cortisone is why it is so important to minimise stress from your life if you are seeking to become pregnant or to maintain your pregnancy,” says Angela. “Stresses are not just emotional, but include the foods we eat, our exercise and sleep patterns.”

“I recommend that couples invest at least three to four months of preconception healthcare preparations, where they seek to optimise their diet, exercise and lifestyle, before trying to conceive,” says Angela. “Sperm takes 74 days and eggs 116 day to develop and mature. It is the environment in which the sperm and eggs mature that will affect the quality of the DNA and ultimately, the health of the child.”

Angela is a naturopath, herbalist, homeopathist and one of our clinic's support practitioners. She is founder and CEO of Tonic Australia.