We live in the age of a “longevity revolution”. On the horizon is the aging
of the baby boomers. Old age is not a defeat but a victory, not a punishment but
a privilege. But are our bodies able to keep up with our spirit, acquired
knowledge and achieved moral values? Are we destined to spend long years in
nursing homes, on life support being a burden on the society and our children or
can we age gracefully? Can we ward off Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and heart
disease and gain time to be a blessing in our families and communities as the
most valuable members of it where our wisdom can be passed down to the future
generations?
- Is delaying aging a myth or reality?
Thanks to remarkable advances in clinical age management you actually can
slow down the aging clock:
Prevent heart disease
Prevent bone loss
Prevent breast, endometrial and ovarian cancer
Prevent Alzheimer’s disease
While dramatically enhancing the quality of life by maintaining a healthy
weight, vibrant energy, healthy sex drive and mood.
As patients, we are told to accept fatigue, lowered sex drive, spreading
waistlines, depression and our failing memories as part of growing older. What’s
important for people to know is, “We don’t have to accept the debilitating
ailment of aging anymore” – says the founder and medical director of Longevity
Centre of Houston, Marina M. Pearsall, M.D., Ph.D. – “We are the 1st generation
in history to have a say in our biological destiny.”
How can we intervene?
Well, if you are over 35-40 years old, eat a healthy diet, exercise and take
nutritional supplements, as necessary and important as they are, may not be
enough. The fact is: your hormones are declining. Growth hormone starts
declining at 28 and testosterone decreases by 1% per year after 30. Replacement
of these and other hormones is the key to preserving your health and improving
your quality of life. That is not to say that hormones are a silver bullet. No,
there are many components that are included in the longevity progress. But
hormone replacement is the key and foundation to preserving your health and
improving your quality of life and no diet or exercise will work for you until
you balance your hormones.
The most common complaint I hear is, “I still eat well and exercise often
like I always have, but now I am steadily gaining weight regardless of my
habits.” That is because the foundation for your good health is not there
anymore: your hormones are disbalanced.
Men’s Health Network, who launched a national testosterone tune up campaign
in 2004, estimated that currently low testosterone affects four to five million
men. The panel of experts has determined that testosterone replacement therapy
may help counter some of the more serious, debilitating effects of aging. In
addition to its known role in aiding sexual desire and function, testosterone
replacement therapy also helps patients maintain bone density, increase muscle,
lower body fat and improve mood. To summarize, testosterone replacement therapy
may help you preserve your health and dramatically enhance your lifestyle. The
same would hold true for other hormones such as growth hormone, estrogen,
progesterone, DHEA, thyroid, and cortisol.
One of the most confusing issues in hormone replacement is the use of
estrogen/progesterone. We will try and clarify the issues. In July 2002, the
Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Prempro study demonstrated that a combination of
conjugated horse estrogen and a synthetic progestin (Prempro) caused an increase
in breast cancer, heart attack, stroke and blood clots. The unfavorable results
of the WHI study didn’t come as a surprise to the physicians practicing natural
human form of replacement. According to Dr. Hertoghe, the president of The
European Academy for Quality of Life and Longevity Medicine, “The negative
results of this study should have been expected, and for two good reasons
related to the type of hormone and the route of administration used in the
study.”
Type of Hormone – The hormones used in the Prempro preparation of the study
are not the “natural” human female hormones:
The estrogens used are CONJUGATED ESTROGENS from the urine of pregnant mares.
These hormones although natural for horses, are not natural for women. After
absorption through the gastrointestinal tract there is an imbalance in the
composition of female hormones, with very high (5 to 20 times higher
concentrations of estrone and of equine estrogens as equilin and others.
However, estrone is not the principal human estrogen.
The progestin component used in the study of Prempro is MEDROXYPROGESTERONE
ACETATE (MPA). MPA is known to neutralize the beneficial effects of estrogens
against arteriosclerosis and blood lipids. PNA reduces the dilatory effect of
estrogens on coronary arteries, increases the progression of coronary artery
atherosclerosis, accelerates low-density lipoprotein uptake in plaque, increases
the thrombogenic potential of atherosclerotic plaques and promotes insulin
resistance and its consequences. These effects may increase the incidence of
adverse cardiovascular events and may explain the 22% increase in total
cardiovascular disease (arterial and venous disease) and the increased incidence
of coronary heart disease, stroke, and pulmonary embolism.
Route of Administration – The estrogens of the study are administered orally.
Oral administration means the hormones are absorbed through the intestine and do
not reach the general circulation before passing through the liver. The
excessive and unnatural accumulation of horse estrogens in the liver results in
a dominating estrogen effects on the liver. Under this excessive estrogen
dominance, the liver produces:
An excessive amount of Plasma Binding Globulin (PBG). PBG transports hormones
in the blood. Excessive amounts of PBG excessively bind and neutralize hormones
that can have anti-cancer and in particular, anti-breast cancer effects. Many of
those hormones are then sequestrated in the blood and do not penetrate as well
as before in the target cells, leaving the target cells in a certain hormonal
deficient state. As a consequence, a decrease of various hormonal activities and
of the immune resistance, possibly also against cancer in general, and breast
cancer in particular (may explain 26% increase of breast cancer).
More “blood coagulation factors”, substances that increase coagulation,
simultaneously accompanied by a decrease in the production of substances that
protect against excessive coagulation (antithrombine III) which leads to
increase in blood coagulation and other adverse blood vessel events (may explain
the 22% increase in total cardiovascular disease (arterial and venous disease)
with increased incidence of coronary heart disease, stroke and pulmonary
embolism).
Unlike Prempro, natural hormone replacement is based on bio-identical
hormones. That is hormones that are structurally identical to female or male
human hormones.
The preferred route of administration of bio-identical hormones estrogen and
testosterone is hormone implantation. Retrospective study by Gino Tutera, MD,
F.A.C.O.G. demonstrated marked reduction of breast, endometrial and ovarian
cancer in users of bio-identical estrogen and testosterone subcutaneous pellets.
Out of 976 women who participated in the study, two were diagnosed with one
breast cancer and one endocervical cancer. Both were detected three months after
starting the treatment with pellets. Both obviously had cancer long before
starting hormone therapy. No cases of cancer were diagnosed in the other 974
participants who regularly used hormonal pellets for up to 25 years! The
incidence of cancer was “0”! Consider this: Every year in the United States,
more than 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. One in seven women
will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. According to statistics,
more than 100 of the patients in the study should have developed breast cancer
alone, but did not.
The use of pellets is also the most efficacious method: results are by far
much more dramatic than with creams, gels, pills or shots. It is also the most
convenient, most cost-effective and as we indicated above, very safe method.
Early diagnosis and aggressive disease prevention is another important part
of any anti-aging program. Just look around you: while the diet industry has
exploded within recent years, we as a nation are growing more obese and
suffering greater rates of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and
Alzheimer’s disease. Isn’t it time to move from disease based intervention model
to disease prevention? Americans are seeking holistic, integrative medical
approach. They are tired of treating one problem while developing another such
as decreasing cholesterol levels in exchange for liver disease or lifting up
depression in exchange for developing sexual dysfunction. Is waiting for the
problems to develop and then treating them one by one often by different doctors
the best way to go? Or should we interfere before symptoms arise, rebuild the
hormonal foundation and aggressively modify your genetic risk factors by making
you maintain a healthy weight, controlling your blood pressure, glucose,
cholesterol and other modifiable risk factors before you develop symptoms? It is
time to shift the paradigm from a disease-based treatment to disease prevention.
Americans spend billions of dollars on cosmetic surgery to look younger. This
is merely a band-aid. You can paint your house many times, but if the foundation
is failing the house will eventually crumble. I think it is time people were
educated on how to actually stay younger.
Is clinical age management a myth or reality? Is there any way to actually
slow down nature’s aging clock? Today, thanks to remarkable advances in
anti-aging medicine, the answer is yes, decidedly YES. Today you can actually
slow down and even reverse the physical and mental deterioration associated with
aging. You can ward off Alzheimer’s or heart disease and dramatically improve
your quality of life so you don’t just live longer, but stay an asset for your
family and society, not a burden. Now it is up to you…
How to Get Started
Start by scheduling a consultation with Marina Pearsall, M.D., Ph.D for an
evaluation of your hormones. An initial consultation is $375 and blood
work starts at $250 depending on what you want to accomplish. Two to three
follow up visits per year are needed to maintain your therapy. Maintenance
is $190 per month and includes your blood work and doctor's visits. For
more information, click on the link below.
