Hormone Replacement Therapy

Excerpts From How to Achieve Healthy Aging by Neal Rouzier, M.D.

The Moment of Youth
Among the magical elusive fountains of youth, I stumbled upon natural hormone replacement therapy. These treatment modalities had clinical backup from peer-reviewed journals. Natural Hormone Replacement was rapidly gaining respect and notoriety. It not only appeared to work, but went above and beyond the expectations of doctors and scientists. After much investigation and consideration, my personal treatment program with this new therapy began. My success was immediate and led me to implement this new protocol of optimal hormone replacement therapy into my practice.

From a tired aging man, I quickly became a vigorous entrepreneur of hormone replacement therapy. My workload picked up the pace. With endless energy I returned to the gym for my daily work out. My sleep was unbelievable. Most of all, my wife liked me much, much better after only three months of my program. This was a "born-again" experience, with the source of my redemption being hormones. I had stumbled upon the answer to painful aging, recognizing that optimal health was truly what the term “preventive medicine” was all about.

This discovery forced me to quickly change my traditional thoughts on medicine. I no longer regarded aging as a human condition, an inevitable lot in the deterioration of life. I realized aging was something we could alter and control. Joining the ranks of the minorities who treat aging with hormones, I could now promote well being through natural hormone replacement therapy. What an awesome notion! We can now take measures to hinder the symptoms of growing older: This was something the whole world needed to know. With hormone replacement therapy, I felt alive again. Beyond feeling and function, HRT was protecting me from the deterioration of neurological, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems known as normal aging.

Supply and Demand
In spite of the daily ups and downs, humans strive to live to a ripe old age. Why is this? I've followed the pattern of older people in my practice over the years—bent over, frail, and suffering from age-related declines. Their fate is unappealing and nerve-wracking. Personally, I eat a healthy diet, exercise and have plans to live well beyond the normal life expectancy. Perhaps this is a facet of the human instinct, something comparable to survival of the fittest. Unfortunately, survival does not necessarily mean quality of life. The question isn't whether I want to live a long life, but whether I want to ambitiously live a long life full of vigor and vitality.

The most deceptive information we hear is “aging is normal.” The decline (cognitive, physical, emotional) we experience is "normal" and we should just learn to live with it. We should just fall prey to osteoporosis, heart disease, Alzheimer's or cancer -- no one lives forever. More importantly, no one can prevent or improve this decline. As a doctor and a patient, this kind of apathy is frustrating. I'm excited to say that there is a silver lining. As I delved into the genre of this new research, I found that major, esteemed medical institutions felt the same way, and were researching hormones for their role in health and well being. Hormones, it appeared, were the key to a longer, healthier life.

The endocrine system, comprised of glands which produce and send hormones to various areas of the body, regulate all essential functions of the human body, the most important of these being temperature, reproduction, growth, aging, and the immune system. It stands to reason that science's primary focus should be optimal health. Science is unraveling the aging code by analyzing each hormone's action and reaction. We now see that when hormones are at optimal levels, the body is healthy and in better physical condition. This ideal function of the body can falter with any change in hormones. Sleep, diet, and exercise influence our essential levels; however, by themselves, they do not delay the decline. Physical, emotional, and mental deterioration are also a direct reflection of the state of our hormones. Declining levels may cause an increase in disease and the physical deterioration we associate with aging. Research demonstrates that the only solution to alter this age-associated decline is through hormone supplementation. The desire for youth has created a rift in the medical and ethics community. Who are we to mess with Mother Nature? Who are we to doctor-up the natural sequence of human life: we are born, we get older, we deteriorate and we die. They will contend this kind of medicine is cosmetic and fueled more by narcissism than by the desire to live longer and better. You will see throughout this book, I will contest the definition of "normal." I will argue that conservative doctors and the ethicists do more harm than good. Optimal hormone therapy or more correctly termed, “preventive” medicine is about more than just vanity; it is our health and quality of life.

In light of the criticism, there is a large demand among many people contemplating their demise while seeking to find the aging loophole. Forward-thinking doctors are now the supply to this demand. The clinically proven benefits of natural hormone replacement therapy cannot be ignored. While many physicians find themselves unfamiliar with this advance in medicine, the medical literature very adequately supports the concept and demonstrates the harmful effects of low hormone levels. It is obvious that optimal hormone replacement therapy improves the health and well-being of both men and women.

Hormones: The Magic Bullet Program for Aging

Before delving into the descriptions of our essential hormones, I would like to give you a brief taste of the sweet possibilities they offer an aging body. This overview will only wet your appetite as you begin your own quest for healthy aging. We live in an era which fortunately offers access to hormones. These options were not available to previous generations. They were simply left to suffer in silence. Science and medicine now offer you this opportune moment. I encourage you to seize it now.

DHEA:
This is the most abundant hormone in the human body and has become a celebrity of the hormone regimen. Varying opinions either boost its reputation as a multifunctional, age-defying hormone or decry its status, saying it's more hype than reality. DHEA has been found to affect the body in its own right, but also by way of conversion into testosterone, estrogen, or progesterone. Clinical studies have revealed that DHEA has a profound effect on the immune system, sex drive, metabolism, and one's emotional stability. Its effect on the immune system via regulation of stress hormones and by its function as a powerful antioxidant illustrates one of its age-resisting capabilities. Other health-related benefits include its ability to alter cognitive decline, help the body cope with stress, and its healthy influence over the heart by way of cholesterol modulation. Unfortunately, these benefits decline with age. Proven studies keep DHEA in the news and in the interest of people who strive to remain healthy in their later years. As a quick side note, the FDA has shown signs of approval of DHEA as a drug to treat serious illnesses such as lupus and connective tissue disease.

Melatonin:
This hormone is produced by the pineal gland, the gland some scientists believe to be the source of our body's aging. It controls the activities of virtually every cell in the body. Melatonin regulates the circadian rhythm as well as the deep stages of sleep. Within these deep stages of sleep the immune system is stimulated. In a January 1997 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, melatonin was extolled as a powerful antioxidant, a potential anti-cancer agent, and a perfect candidate to put on the list of essential hormones. Studies using mice have shown the addition of Melatonin can return 24-month old mice to their more youthful, active state. In light of the hundreds of studies showing melatonin can scavenge free radicals, fight cancer and induce youthful sleep patterns, it's a shoe-in for everyone's hormone regimen.

Estrogen:
This is the genesis of hormone replacement therapy, and has been prescribed for more than 40 years for women suffering the symptoms of menopause. Because estrogen went above and beyond just staving off the bothersome symptoms of menopause, women opted to continue this therapy. Researchers began to explore the other therapeutic realms of estrogen. Physically speaking, women have seen favorable changes in muscle tone, wrinkles, hair texture, and libido. Medically speaking, study after study illustrates that estrogen should not be used as a treatment of a phase, like menopause, but rather as a life-long therapy for the determent of age-related diseases. The history of estrogen replacement showing the beneficial effects has been documented in over 50 years of medical studies.

With estrogen therapy, it's not whether you should be supplementing, but rather what estrogen you should be using. The estrogen chapter will open your eyes to a new concept of "natural" hormone replacement. Compounding pharmacies now have the capability to formulate and dispense hormones which exactly match the hormones your body naturally produces. As you read more, you'll understand why it only makes sense to replace something in your body with an exact replica. This book will also respond to many of the hyped-up news reports from the Women's Health Initiative and tell the real story behind the risks and benefits of estrogen replacement.

Progesterone:
Another female hormone which works synergistically with estrogen is progesterone. While this hormone is commonly overlooked, it is used to eliminate estrogen's ability to stimulate uterine growth and bleeding. Because of this synergy, progesterone should be viewed as a life-long partner of estrogen. Progesterone further enhances estrogen’s beneficial effects on bone, cholesterol, plaque formation, mood disorders and urogenital atrophy. Recent medical research also demonstrates the protective effect of progesterone against breast cancer. Many women who have had hysterectomies are not prescribed progesterone, and therefore lack the general make-up of their more youthful years. Natural progesterone works with estrogen by keeping the prevalent diseases of age, like osteoporosis, heart disease and depression at bay. Progesterone has a mild tranquilizing effect and enhances an overall sense of well being. Studies have shown it to be truly a feel-good hormone.

Testosterone:
Although testosterone is the primary male hormone, women also benefit from its supplementation. Levels of testosterone decline in both men and women, and as a result, both gain visceral fat, experience a loss in energy, undergo mood swings, and hopelessly watch as their libido goes out the door. At optimal levels testosterone increases bone density and bone formation, enhances energy and sex drive, decreases body fat, increases muscle strength and size, lowers blood pressure, and positively affects the levels of LDL and HDL. What women may not know is that testosterone keeps their skin soft and supple. What men may not know is it keeps the prostate healthy. Testosterone supplementation is a cost-efficient and emotionally effective tool in curbing the euphemistically termed “midlife crisis”. With all of the life benefits testosterone offers, it's a hormone both men and women should not venture into their fifties without.

Thyroid:
This metabolic hormone secreted by the thyroid gland regulates temperature, energy, metabolism, and cerebral function. At optimal levels it breaks down fat, resulting in weight loss and lower cholesterol. The thyroid hormone wards off heart disease and memory impairment. Insufficient thyroid levels result in fatigue, slowness in speech and action, depression, and immune dysfunction. Smaller but still perceptible changes also include thinning hair and brittle nails. Many of these characteristics sound suspiciously like symptoms of getting old. They are, yet they don't have to be. The supplementation of a natural thyroid hormone can alter what is termed "normal" changes seen with aging. Hallmark studies have shown that, even when a patient tests normal for thyroid levels, supplementing a natural source of thyroid can greatly enhance overall well-being. I consider the thyroid one of the most misunderstood and underused hormones in the entire replacement program. The thyroid chapter in this book will go against the grain of traditional medicine: "don't treat a problem if there isn't one." I believe in treating the potential problem so later on there doesn't have to be one to treat. This you will see is the key to preventive medicine.

Natural hormones are pharmaceutical, human identical hormones derived from either plants or synthetically manufactured. In this book, I will refer to “synthetic” hormones as the hormones that are not human identical and can have harmful side effects. The words natural and synthetic get confusing. Let’s clear up my definitions. When I refer to “synthetic”, they are chemically altered hormones, like Provera (medroxyprogesterone) or Premarin (conjugated esterified estrogens). These hormones do not match the hormones naturally made by the body.