Historical text by DatBTrue, written between 2008 and 2016 and reproduced verbatim. It records what was argued then; it is not dosing guidance and not medical advice. Read the disclaimer.
Here is evidence that there are set-points for hormones which can change based on environmental factors. It is very interesting that these environmental events can shift hormonal parameters that exhibit themselves throughout the post-shift life period.
It is a deep but possible conjecture that we could shift hormonal set-points in general as a therapy for those with low hormonal levels perhaps by triggering a “famine state” or prolonged fast.
Exposure to the Dutch Famine of 1944 -1945 and Shifts in Hormonal Set Points: Parathyroid Hormone, Paulus A. H. van Noord, J. Nutr. 135:3037S-3060S, December 2005
BACKGROUND: Exposure to the 1944–1945 Dutch famine was shown to be associated with increased levels of androgens, estrogens, and insulin-like growth factor later in life, hormones under control of the pituitary luteinizing hormone/follicle stimulating hormone and growth hormone axes. Moreover, exposed women were at increased risk of breast cancer.
A neurodevelopmental set-point-shift hypothesis, proposed to consolidate these findings, predicts a mechanism of shifting in hormonal set points. In the present study, we tested whether famine exposure affects parathyroid hormone (PTH).
STUDY DESIGN: We used data from a study on osteoporosis nested within the DOM breast cancer screening cohorts including 212 women born in 1911 to 1925 whose hormones were measured in 1980. During a subsequent screening round 2 y later, 156 women provided information about exposure to the Dutch Famine of 1944–1945, thus enabling secondary analyses.
RESULTS: A clear univariate increase in postmenopausal PTH levels was found among women who indicated exposure to the Dutch famine. Odds ratio by extreme PTH tertiles was 1.5 (95% CI: 0.6, 3.4) for moderately exposed women and 2.3 (95% CI: 1.1, 5.2) for severely exposed women. In a regression analysis of famine exposure on PTH levels, after controlling for levels of phosphorus, calcium, calcitonin, alkaline phosphatase, and estrone; having been pregnant; parity; age at famine; age at blood donation; smoking; hormone replacement therapy use at time of blood collection; height; weight; and socioeconomic status, the independent significant contribution of PTH remained.
CONCLUSIONS: The results corroborate the hormonal set-point hypothesis and seem to extend effects of famine exposure to hormones such as PTH, which plays a role in early bone growth as well as in osteoporosis later in life. Though PTH is not under hypothalamic or pituitary control, it is partially under ganglion control. Embryologically, the parathyroids and the adenohypophysis share a common origin from pharyngeal endodermal pouches.