Hormonal Decline

Progesterone is one of the most potent neuroprotective hormones and stimulates autophagy in the spinal column. Estrogen provides general neuroprotection and plummets at menopause. Elevated FSH and LH with aging are downstream markers of severe sex hormone deficiency, not causes of it. Elevated FSH and LH are markers of severe sex hormone deficiency, not causes of it; they spike because the body can no longer produce sex hormones. Hormones must be viewed as an interconnected circuit rather than isolated molecules to understand their role in ALS. ALS emerges from a hormonal and antioxidant collapse that occurs with aging, particularly around menopause in women and equivalent hormonal decline in men in their 60s and 70s. ALS is proposed to emerge from a specific hormonal and antioxidant collapse that occurs with aging, particularly around menopause in women and equivalent hormonal decline in men in their 60s and 70s. The hormonal decline framework reframes ALS as a predictable consequence of specific hormonal and antioxidant deficits rather than a random degenerative disease. Estrogen, DHEA, pregnenolone, and melatonin all decrease with age, removing neuroprotective and antioxidant s…