HP Basketball Game
“Understanding the HP Axis”
By Dr. Annette Kutz Schippel, DC




HP Axis…Endocrine System…Hormones

Hypothalamus --> Anterior Pituitary --> Target Gland --> Hormone

The HP Axis (hypothalamus-pituitary axis) is the regulatory system of our endocrine system and primarily runs on a negative feedback loop. It is what regulates our hormones. It acts as a control mechanism of the free hormones and the protein bound hormones.

Free hormones are the only ones who can create a response in the body. Protein bound hormones are inactive. Protein bound hormones act primarily as a reservoir. This is extremely important because our hormones are very powerful in very tiny amounts. They create one effect in the body at a certain level, but cause unwanted effects when they are out of balance. The HP Axis needs to make sure we have just the right balance between the free hormones and the bound hormones.

To understand how the HP Axis works, I’m going to use the analogy of a basketball game.

Here’s how it works….

Head Coach – hypothalamus
Asst. Coach – pituitary
Players on the court – free hormones
Players on the bench – protein bound hormones
Spectators in the stands –???

Hypothalamus, aka Head Coach, is assessing what is going on in the game and making sure there are enough players on the court. If there are too many or not enough, he communicates what he wants with the Asst. Coach

Pituitary, aka Asst. Coach, will tell the players to stay on the court or pull them off. Basically, the asst. coach does whatever the head coach tells it to do and sends the message down to the hormones (or the player).

The players are playing their position so to speak. Each player, or hormone, has a specific job to do. The players on the bench, protein bound hormones, are ready to go in if someone gets hurt or needs to come out of the game. They wait until communication comes from the asst. coach to tell them to go. And of course the asst. coach waits for instruction from the head coach!

Now imagine the team just won the championship game by 2 points! The crowd goes wild and swarms the court to congratulate the players and celebrate! This is a rush of bio identical hormones or synthetic hormones coming onto the court. At first it seems like a lot fun but then it starts to get crazy and out of control. The head coach and asst. coach lose control of the situation.
 
Not a perfect analogy, but you start to get the idea. The problem with reality is that it involves hormones that can cause some serious problems if the HP Axis (aka Head Coach and Asst. Coach) can’t properly regulate or control the court.

The good news is that with the right kind of nutrition and herbal support, the HP Axis will keep working properly. (As long as there’s no mob rush!)

Dr. Annette Kutz Schippel