Are your hormones imbalanced? How to know if you need testing

Do you know what your hormone levels are? Should you?

Your body is home to more than 50 hormones — chemical messengers that compose the endocrine system — and hormonal changes may reflect any number of medical conditions. For example, low levels of the pancreatic hormone insulin may indicate diabetes , while high levels of the stress hormone cortisol can play a role in obesity .

But some hormones such as melatonin , which is important for sleep, naturally fluctuate throughout the day. Other hormonal changes are normal at different phases of life, such as a woman’s drop in the reproductive hormones estrogen and progesterone preceding menopause.

Hormones are having a moment.

The Food and Drug Administration announced Nov. 10 it was removing the black box warning on hormone replac