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Hormone Optimization

Proven diagnostics and personalized treatments designed to help you re-balance your hormonal health.


Hormone Optimization

Hormones are the chemical messengers that modulate your body’s most vital processes, including:

Growth
Metabolism
Reproduction
Stress response

Hormonal imbalances are common—especially with age. But they can wreak havoc on your health. And underlying health conditions and lifestyle factors can disrupt hormone levels beyond the point of healthy fluctuation, leading to too much or too little production and a wide range of symptoms that impact your daily life. Hormonal health treatments are designed to support your body when your hormone levels naturally fluctuate across various stages of life, like puberty—or for women, pregnancy and menopause.

Signs of Hormonal Health Imbalance

  • Fatigue
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Insomnia
  • Sexual dysfunction
  • Hair loss
  • Sudden weight gain or loss
  • Mood changes
  • Anxiety
  • Irregular cycle
  • Low libido
  • Acne
  • Extreme thirst or hunger

Common Hormonal Health Concerns

Men

Hormone therapy for men is typically centered on testerone levels.

Testosterone is the dominant hormone in men, and levels tend to peak in the late teen years. Once men reach the age of 35 their testosterone levels may begin to decline at a rate of 1-3% each year. But age is not the only thing that contributes to this drop in hormones: weight and lifestyle changes, genetics, and autoimmune disorders can also plummet testosterone levels.

Low testosterone levels activate symptoms that may negate quality of life.

Women

Menopause and Perimenopause

When women reach menopause estrogen and progesterone levels fall, spiking symptoms like weight changes, fatigue and hot flashes.

PCOS

Women who have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) overproduce testosterone and androstenedione, which can result in symptoms like irregular periods, developing cysts on ovaries, infertility, and growth of facial hair.

All

Adrenal Dysfunction

Adrenal dysfunction occurs when the adrenal glands do not produce enough of the stress hormone cortisol. This type of dysfunction may be caused by underlying autoimmune conditions or chronic stress.

Comprehensive Diagnostics
Personalized Therapy

Hormone Optimization Overview

Hudson Life VO2 Max Testing

Step 1: Hormonal Health Screening

We first prescribe a DUTCH (Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones) panel to evaluate your body’s hormones.

The DUTCH test analyzes four dried urine samples to give you a comprehensive overview of your hormonal levels, including:

  • Testosterone
  • Estrogen
  • Progesterone
  • Melatonin
  • Cortisol Metabolites
  • Free Cortisol Patterns

How does DUTCH compare to other tests?

Saliva tests
Saliva tests cannot account for cortisol metabolite levels, which are necessary for determining cortisol status.

Serum tests
Serum tests do not effectively measure Adrenal hormones.

24-hour urine tests
Sample collection is a challenge with 24-hour urine tests. Additionally, these tests cannot easily determine dysfunctions in diurnal patterns of cortisol.

DUTCH offers the most extensive analysis of metabolites and hormones.

Step 2: One-on-One Evaluation

Following your DUTCH test, our medical provider will walk you through your results, pinpointing areas where your levels are lower or higher than average and identifying correlations between your symptoms and hormonal levels.

Our provider will also work with you to develop a personalized treatment plan to re-balance your hormones and eliminate uncomfortable symptoms.

Step 3: Personalized Treatments

Treatment recommendations will depend on your DUTCH panel results, and may include:

Recommendations

Hormonal Replacement Therapy

Injections, gels, medications, or natural healing plans


Peptide Therapy

Peptides may be prescribed to support the health of hormone-producing organs

Step 4: Ongoing Support

Through hormone-monitoring bloodwork and regular consultations, our team is committed to helping you maintain hormonal balance.




Your Hormone Optimization Team

Patrick Jean-Pierre, MD
Dr. Patrick Jean-Pierre, MD is Board-Certified in both Internal Medicine and Sports Medicine. He is also a Diplomat in Integrative / Regenerative Medicine by the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. He completed his fellowship in Primary Care Sports Medicine and focuses on providing patients with integrated treatment and prevention plans tailored to each individual.

Dr. Jean-Pierre is fellowship-trained in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of musculoskeletal injuries. He treats patients of all activity levels; he is a former assistant team physician for high school and Division I college athletes. He worked closely in his fellowship under the physicians responsible for the medical care of the NFL’s Detroit Lions and MLB’s

Hormone Optimization FAQs

Testosterone is the primary sex hormone in people assigned male at birth, although females also have testosterone. In males, it originates from the testes and is regulated by the hypothalamus and pituitary gland, located within the brain. And in females, testosterone is produced in various locations, including the ovaries and adrenal gland. This hormone plays a pivotal role in shaping sexual organs during fetal development and influencing secondary sexual traits as individuals enter puberty. Furthermore, it contributes to the development of muscle mass and strength, drives sexual desire (libido), influences fertility and sperm production, and even plays a role in how fat is distributed throughout the body.

Estrogen is the primary sex hormone in people assigned female at birth. Alongside progesterone, it plays a key role in reproductive health, including menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause. In females, estrogen primarily originates in the ovaries, although the adrenal glands and fat cells also make small amounts. And in males, estrogen is produced in the testes, adrenals, and pituitary glands

A cortisol metabolite is a substance that results from the breakdown and transformation of cortisol, which is a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands. Cortisol is involved in various physiological processes, including the regulation of metabolism, immune function, and the body’s response to stress. And when cortisol is metabolized or broken down in the body, it forms different compounds or metabolites, some of which are excreted in urine.

DUTCH Test FAQs

General

Sometimes patients do not collect samples correctly or don’t capture the scenario they were hoping to measure. We offer free new collection kits to patients who would like to re-test.

As long as urine can be held in the bladder for two hours prior to each sample collection, results should be accurate. If a patient needs to urinate during the night, the patient needs to collect this urine sample on the included “insomnia” collection strip to ensure accurate cortisol and melatonin results. If a patient requires multiple trips to the restroom during the night to urinate, urine should be collected each time using a single clean container kept in the refrigerator. The next morning, the patient should dip the overnight strip into the refrigerated container and then set out to dry.

*It is important to note that this method has not been validated.

Fluids

Once the test begins, patients can drink up to 40 ounces from the first afternoon sample collection (around 5:00 PM) until the next first morning void sample (waking sample). If limiting fluid intake to 40 ounces is challenging, then you can increase fluid intake up to 48 ounces (max). If you need more fluids (due to heat, exercise, etc.) you may drink 8 ounces of fluids AFTER collecting the first morning void. After the second morning collection, you do not need to restrict fluids  UNTIL two hours prior to the dinnertime sample. Between the dinnertime and bedtime samples, limit fluids to no more than 8 ounces. These recommended amounts help to ensure  ensure yellow, but not dark yellow, urine.

Excessive fluids can dilute the sample and force inaccurate results. . To assess this (and to calibrate for individual excretion) urine creatinine levels in the urine are measured. If creatinine values are too low (<0.15mg/mL in females and <0.20mg/mL in males) accurate creatinine correction may not occur. In this setting, interpret the results cautiously because cortisol and cortisol metabolites may be falsely elevated. If creatinine is 0 then there are no detectable urine hormones to test in the sample.

Patients should follow their normal daily routine. Pausing regular (daily) caffeine consumption could lead to caffeine withdrawal that may spike cortisol. If your goal is to assess baseline cortisol levels without the influence of caffeine, avoid caffeine until AFTER the second morning urine collection. Alternatively, if caffeine is not regularly consumed, but is consumed on the day of testing, results may reflect higher cortisol levels.

Alcohol disrupts sleep, which can raise cortisol levels. It can also affect estrogen metabolism. If you are someone who consumes alcohol only occasionally, we recommend avoiding it   during DUTCH testing, so that your results reflect typical cortisol and cortisol metabolism patterns.