disorders of hormone balance vs hormone imbalance

[ostap77]

"Wunsch is convinced that the light of efficient light bulbs causes disorders of hormone balance/hormone imbalamce."

if I use "disorders of hormone balance, do I have to put the defenite article before "disorders"? Would there be a subtle difference in meaning between "disorders of........" and "hormone imbalance"?

 

[White Hat]

I'm not sure, but I'd answer this question the following way:

If you put "the" in "-------- of hormone imbalance", then you have to make sure "disorder" is singular. It will be akin to saying "the town of Oakville", for example.

"the disorder of hormone imbalance" is like a disease.

But, on the other hand, if we say "hormone balance", then "disorders of hormone balance" sounds right without the article, even though I don't exclude the possibility of using it here as well.

I'll wait for native speakers to shed some light on this.

 

[Raymott]

"Wunsch is convinced that the light of efficient light bulbs causes disorders of hormone balance/hormone imbalamce."

if I use "disorders of hormone balance, do I have to put the defenite article before "disorders"? Would there be a subtle difference in meaning between "disorders of........" and "hormone imbalance"?

"... causes disorders of hormone balance" is correct.
Since there is no single specific "disorder of hormonal imbalance", you can't write that with or without "the".
You can't write "the disorders of hormone balance" unless you're saying that all of these disorders are caused by light bulbs - which they aren't.

 

[Ouisch]

Native speakers refer to the balancing of hormones as "hormonal balance" or "hormonal imbalance," using the adjectival form of 'hormone' . "Hormonal imbalance" implies that there is a disorder of some sort in effect, so "disorders of hormone imbalance" is redundant. If a qualified doctor (specifically an endocrinologist) suspects a disorder of a patient's hormonal system, he would either classify it as a "hormonal imbalance" or be more specific and state that he suspects a metabolic disorder or thyroid disease.

 

[ostap77]

Native speakers refer to the balancing of hormones as "hormonal balance" or "hormonal imbalance," using the adjectival form of 'hormone' . "Hormonal imbalance" implies that there is a disorder of some sort in effect, so "disorders of hormone imbalance" is redundant. If a qualified doctor (specifically an endocrinologist) suspects a disorder of a patient's hormonal system, he would either classify it as a "hormonal imbalance" or be more specific and state that he suspects a metabolic disorder or thyroid disease.

Thank you all. Got the picture.