The Steroidogenic Pathway

William Clearfield, D.O., FAAMA, DABMA, FAARFM

Medical Director, Clearfield Family Medicine, Reno, NV; Executive Director, American Osteopathic Society of Rheumatic Diseases

Strength, energy, glucose utilization and metabolism, weight control, inflammation, skin tone, sexual stamina, sexual desire, even cellulite accumulation (or lack thereof), are influenced by our hormones. Hormones do not exist or function in isolation. To understand hormones, their relationships to the workings of the body, and to each other, one must understand the Steroidogenic Pathway. The primary sex hormones, DHEA, progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, are synthesized in the liver from the demon seed, according to modern American medi-cine, itself, cholesterol. HDL or good cholesterol, manufactured in the liver, is the grandmother of the major sex hormones and the initiating substrate for aldosterone to regulate vertigo, blood pressure and balance, cortisol, the stress hormone, and pregnenolone, the memory hormone. Cholesterol begets pregnenolone which, in turn, morphs into progesterone, aldosterone, cortisol, DHEA, testosterone, dihydrotes-tosterone, and the three estrogens. We will explore the steroidogenic pathway to obtain a deeper understanding of the hormones, their functions, and interactions.