Hormones 2016

Leg Cramps
Leg Cramps
I recently had several nights of extremely painful cramps in my calves and
feet, and knowing that other folks have had similar ones too, I thought this
might be relevant for them.
Cramp 132 in the legs is common, especially at night, but it may also occur
after exercise. Only occasionally is it a symptom of some disease, in
particular, salt depletion, muscle ischaemia 133 , or myopathy 134 . In my case
it was due to a lack of salt and not drinking enough fluids, which was easily
remedied by increasing the amount of salt that I used at mealtimes by a
small amount, perhaps no more than one teaspoonful extra per day, and
obviously drinking more water.
Liver damage
The liver is the largest organ inside your body and it performs over 500
functions and is the primary "detox" center of your body, seperating the
good stuff from the bad stuff and then passing on the good stuff to the rest
of the body while sending the bad stuff to the gall bladder and kidneys
for further processing and disposal (that is a very simplistic version of the
process, by the way). And that literally means everything that winds up
in your blood or stomach - alcohol, pesticides on foods you eat, chemicals
absorbed through your skin, fumes inhaled, etc. We live in a very toxic
world, and your liver is putting in a lot of overtime just trying to deal with
it. Even things we normally don’t think of as "toxic" can be if the liver is
overworked or malfunctioning. A high protein diet can, for example, lead to
unwanted ammonia in your bloodstream (it is a byproduct of metabolising
proteins). Too much ammonia in the blood can lead to dementia, among
other things. Okay, now that the scare is on and you’re ready to live in a
bubble, you should also know that the liver can do it’s job even when 80%
of it’s tissues are damaged. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care what you
do to it, though.
As part of its "detox duties" it also has to deal with a number of hormones.
For example, it is supposed to clear out extra insulin. If it doesn’t, the
insulin remains in circulation and continues to do its job of lowering blood
sugar. Failure to dispose of adrenaline (the "fight" or"flight" hormone) after
it has outlived its usefulness may lead to chronic irritability and temper
explosions.
132 a painful muscles spasm
133 Insufficient blood supply for the need of a part of the body, usually as a result of a
disease of the blood vessels supplying that part (medical-dictionary, 2014)
134 any disease of muscle (medical-dictionary, 2014)
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