Marc Sklar, Doctor of Chinese Medicine, Functional Acupuncturist joins us again in Part 2 of his interview to discuss the top 5 labs to perform for preconception and the role of Functional Medicine in infertility.
This show dives into key hormones such as:
1. Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), which can indicate the quality of the egg.
2. Luteinizing Hormone (LH) and its role in triggering ovulation, as well as the ideal ratio of FSH:LH for pregnancy, and why an imbalance in this ratio can cause PCOS.
3. Estradiol – how to determine optimal levels and why it’s best when it’s under 80.
Marc talks about how all 3 of these are interrelated.
4. DHEA – a very important hormone for so many aspects of how we feel. While an elevated DHEA can indicate PCOS, low DHEA can indicate adrenal fatigue, poor ovarian reserve or advanced maternal age. Therefore balancing DHEA at optimal levels for your body is crucial.
We discuss a new urine test called The Dutch Panel, which can show us how the body metabolizes hormones and helps to determine if DHEA supplementation is appropriate.
I have always been leery about and cautious when I have clients supplement with DHEA because you must make sure the pathways are not functioning properly, otherwise, it’s much safer to supplement with pregnenolone.
That’s why this test is so helpful to see if one can tolerate DHEA. It also provides lots of additional information, including how well the adrenal glands are functioning, and can ultimately take the place of running multiple labs.
5. AMH – antimullerian hormone is the 5th test that Marc runs when helping a woman prepare for pregnancy because AMH blood levels are thought to reflect the size of a woman’s remaining egg supply, also called her ovarian reserve.
The role of Functional Medicine:
Finding the “Why?” or the cause of the problem.
Infertility is our body’s way of telling us that something is wrong. Getting to the underlying issue can help prevent other health problems further down the line.
Marc has helped 500-600 women to overcome infertility over the last 15 years and Marc’s 6-week online My Fertility School program covers topics such as:
Understanding a woman’s body, Lab tests, Nutrition, Stress and the mind/ body connection, Supplements, Home Therapies and Insemination/IVF.
You can find more info at thewholejourney.com/reproductivewellness
