After menopause, many women experience a noticeable decline in strength, even when their workout routines stay the same. Sarcopenia, the gradual loss of muscle mass with age, is especially common during this stage of life. While exercise and nutrition support muscle health, hormonal shifts often have a greater impact than many providers expect.
Dr. Enrique Jacome, a board-certified OB-GYN with decades of experience in hormone therapy, founded Pellecome to bring hormone pellet therapy to more patients. His goal was to help healthcare providers deliver more effective care, especially in cases where hormone decline affects physical function, like sarcopenia.
The Hormonal Link to Muscle Loss
Hormonal changes can make it harder for aging women to maintain muscle, even with regular exercise. Here’s how specific hormones may contribute to muscle loss:
- Estrogen: Supports muscle repair and metabolic efficiency. Lower levels after menopause may reduce the body’s ability to recover and maintain strength.1
- Testosterone: Helps preserve lean body mass by supporting protein synthesis. When it declines, muscle tone and stamina often decrease.1
- Thyroid hormones: An underactive thyroid can slow energy use, making it harder to build or maintain muscle.2
- Cortisol: Elevated levels, especially from chronic stress, can trigger muscle breakdown and interfere with recovery.3
Stabilizing Hormones to Improve Muscle Health
Bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) helps restore hormonal balance using compounds that match the body’s natural hormones. For aging women, this can be an important tool in supporting muscle health beyond what exercise and diet alone can offer.
Because estrogen, testosterone, and thyroid hormones all influence how a woman’s body builds and repairs muscle, balancing these hormones may lead to better recovery and greater responsiveness to strength training.4
Pellecome’s approach to BHRT includes the option to integrate peptides and targeted supplements. Peptides may encourage the release of growth-related hormones and assist with tissue repair, providing additional support during midlife hormonal shifts.5
Supporting Muscle Health From the Inside Out
Muscle loss in midlife often stems from hormonal shifts that lifestyle changes alone cannot correct. Pellecome equips providers with BHRT, peptides, and supplement protocols that support muscle maintenance through hormone balance.
As a Pellecome provider, you’ll receive access to our patented pellet insertion device, structured clinical protocols, ongoing education, and marketing resources, with no contracts or procedural fees. To get started, call 888-773-9969.
- Tian X, Lou S, Shi R. From mitochondria to sarcopenia: role of 17β-estradiol and testosterone. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) [Internet]. 2023;14:1156583. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2023.1156583
- Wei J, Hou S, Hei P, Wang G. Thyroid dysfunction and sarcopenia: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) [Internet]. 2024;15:1378757. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2024.1378757
- Peeters GMEE, van Schoor NM, van Rossum EFC, Visser M, Lips P. The relationship between cortisol, muscle mass and muscle strength in older persons and the role of genetic variations in the glucocorticoid receptor. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) [Internet]. 2008;69(4):673–82. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2265.2008.03212.x
- Huang L-T, Wang J-H. The therapeutic intervention of sex steroid hormones for sarcopenia. Front Med (Lausanne) [Internet]. 2021;8:739251. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2021.739251
- Oh H-J, Jin H, Lee J-Y, Lee B-Y. Silk peptide ameliorates sarcopenia through the regulation of Akt/mTOR/FoxO3a signaling pathways and the inhibition of low-grade chronic inflammation in aged mice. Cells [Internet]. 2023;12(18):2257. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells12182257
