Endocrinologist Dr Minisha Sood explains how hormones affect mental and physical health—and how you can take control of your health by noting these interactions.
As an endocrinologist—a physician who specializes in hormone function—I see firsthand how deeply our moods and our physical bodies are connected. My patients often come to me with a suite of symptoms, both mental and physical. The hormones coursing through our bloodstream affect our metabolism, our digestion, our sleep, and our menstrual cycles, to name just a few, and any disruption in these cycles will in turn affect our mood and sense of well-being. Hormone fluctuations can lead to depression, anxiety, fatigue, irritability, changes in libido, and more.
That’s the body affecting the mind—but it goes both ways, with the mind affecting the body as well. Take depression. Research has shown that people with depression have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease. People with depression may also report low energy, constipation, weight gain, decreased libido, and other symptoms. These mind-body interactions are complex. What I do is work with my patients and my knowledge of the hormone system to tease out what’s going on in any individual situation.
I had a patient, I’ll call her R.S., whose symptoms included brain fog, irritability, memory loss, insomnia, weight fluctuation, the perception of increased body temperature, tremor, intermittent shortness of breath and fatigue—all of which had led her to suspect that there was something hormonal going on. R.S. was in her mid- to late 40s and was otherwise healthy without known chronic medical problems. At her first visit to the office, we spent a good amount of time outlining the duration and severity of each of these symptoms. At some point in this discussion, I asked her, “Do you remember the last time you felt well?” Her response surprised me—she could pinpoint the moment exactly. That’s incredibly rare.
“I last felt well two years ago,” she said. At that time in her life she had had a personal setback: She was deceived by someone very close to her. Naturally, her stress level skyrocketed. She began to develop the symptoms that had brought her to my office, and her physical health declined precipitously. After ruling out possible internal conditions such as a thyroid disorder, abnormal blood glucose (sugar), and other conditions I commonly encounter, and with the knowledge of her personal situation, I began to think that the source of her ailments was external. I encouraged her to begin by addressing her stress level. Once that was in hand, we would tackle whatever physical symptoms remained.
Now, this was still a hormonal solution. At the heart of stress is a hormone called cortisol. When you are stressed, your cortisol levels rise. This in turn can lead to an imbalance in brain neurotransmitters, which ultimately may lead to depression and/or difficulty concentrating. So in some cases, if you remove the stress, you lessen cortisol levels and ease their effects. And, lo and behold, upon summoning the courage to address her domestic distress, R.S.’s physical and mental well-being improved dramatically. I recall how excited she was to tell me she had slept through the night—something that hadn’t happened in the last two years. Her memory improved and her anxiety waned, as did many of the symptoms she never imagined would be related to the stress she experienced as a result of this personal trauma.
For R.S., our interaction led to identifying a pattern and, ultimately, a solution and a positive health outcome. But for many of us, the mind connection is not always so clear-cut. In my practice I’ve found that we can often gain powerful insights when my patient keeps a log of her mental and physical symptoms, including mood, sleep, and menstrual cycle. Your health is a series of experiences. Track those experiences and you have data.
You may already be tracking things like exercise and sleep. But to create a better picture of your overall health, imagine how powerful it would be to also log how often you feel fatigued, bloated, foggy, stressed, depressed, anxious, happy, or hopeful. By tuning into yourself and keeping track of your moods as well as your physiological data, you’ll be able to make connections that might have previously gone unnoticed. This self-knowledge can help you optimize your daily life and make better health decisions, whether on your own or in consultation with a physician.
Dr Minisha Sood
Endocrinologist and professor
Dr Minisha Sood is a board-certified endocrinologist. Taking a patient-centered approach, she combines her ample clinical experience with the latest research and techniques, to provide unique care that addresses the individual healthcare needs of each of her patients in a stress-free environment. As endocrinologist for Moody, she informs both the scientific structure and content approach for the Moody Month app.
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