March 2008 | Body & Soul Section

Loss of focus. Fatigue. Sleep disruption. Any of those sound familiar? If so, you could have a hormonal imbalance. Most people experience a decline in hormone production beginning in their 30s, according to Fort Lauderdale doctor Jeffrey Thackrey, a member of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine and BodyLogidMD, a national network of physicians focusing on bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.

By testing your thyroid, adrenal, insulin, estrogen, testosterone and growth hormone levels, it's possible to find out how you're imbalanced and treat the symptoms of aging as well as menopause.

However, this isn't Mom's hormone therapy.

"The most important concept about bioidentical hormones is that their chemical structure matches exactly the chemical structures that out bodies produce on their own," Thackrey says.

Even though they are manufactured, bioidentical hormones can't be patented because of their similarity to natural hormones - thus, no single drug company can have a monopoly on producing them. Conventional hormones were designed to be exact matches, most likely, Thackrey says, because manufacturer could patent them and profit from their exclusive formulas.

Thackrey - through creams, injections, pills or pellets (which are inserted just under the skin and dissolve over a long period of time) - adjusts the amount of hormones in a patient's body to counteract the signs of aging or what he calls "a loss of vitality."

"Not everything that goes wrong as we get older is hormonal, but if you have some of these symptoms going on, it's worth looking under that rock," he says. Visit bodylogicmd.com.