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Treat
Disease or Prevent Disease?
We
have the knowledge, technology and expertise to prevent or
delay the onset of many symptoms associated with aging,
and in some cases to reverse them. I believe it is important
to look in those areas that often are not considered by my
mainstream colleagues because our current medical care system
is based on the treatment of disease, rather than prevention.
Even
the most caring physicians, working within the existing
framework to help patients in their quest for optimal health,
are hampered by continued specialization (dealing with
specific symptom complexes, usually with only one or two organ
systems), and our country’s insurance reimbursement system
based on disease codes. As we learn more about the aging
process, it has become painfully obvious that traditional
medicine is not equipped to realistically help patients
interested in staying healthy.
Age
Management Medicine as Preventative Medicine
A
new specialty called “Age Management Medicine” is
committed to managing the aging process with hormonal and
metabolic therapies to keep our bodies healthy – the
ultimate preventive medicine. Contrary to those who would
sensationalize, aging is not a disease, but rather a process
that, hopefully, we will all experience over a lengthening
period of time.
This
new specialty answers a clarion call to provide diagnostic and
therapeutic tools and opportunities to not only maintain but
to regain youthful vigor and live healthier, higher quality
lives. Will we live longer? Probably, but we have not proven
that yet. But even if we are not able to extend our life
spans, I believe we can guarantee a higher quality of life.
Five
Basic Principles
In
Age Management Medicine we believe that we can improve the
quality of life by using the following five principles to
delay chronic disease:
§
education
§
low
glycemic diet
§
exercise
§
pharmaceuticals
when indicated
§
hormone
modulation
The
assumption that aging is normal, with its accompanying decline
in hormones and other bodily functions, is wrong. Many
so-called “aging symptoms” are really signs of disease and
should be treated as such. Based on valid lab findings, the
goal should be replacement of hormones to the mean level of a
30-year-old.
Menopause
Hormone
needs vary widely by individual patient. In the case of female
hormone replacement therapy, mainstream medicine uses equine
hormones, which do not work the same in humans. Natural,
“bio-identical” hormones are available and are much
more effective, without negative side effects. Suzanne Somers,
in her book The Sexy Years, describes her experience of
discovering bio-identical hormones and their powerful,
positive effect on her active life.
Menopause
is part of something much bigger involving aging of your
entire being, and involves much more than the loss of estrogen
and progesterone. During menopause almost all the hormones in
your body become deficient. The entire endocrine system must
be evaluated in order to design hormonal and metabolic
therapies that help manage the aging process and restore
hormonal balance to regain and preserve youthful vigor.
Male
Menopause, Too
Andropause,
also part of the aging process, is sometimes referred to as
“male menopause.” Like menopause in women,
andropause involves much more than the loss of the male
hormone, testosterone. Again, almost all the hormone levels in
a man’s body become deficient or partially deficient after
age 35.
Hormonal
and metabolic therapies for men can:
§
increase
energy level – including sexual energy
§
reduce
body fat
§
increase
lean muscle
§
increase
bone density
§
improve
cognitive function
§
strengthen
your immune system
Perhaps
most importantly, testosterone therapy has been shown to
reduce heart disease – in men and women.
What
about Human Growth Hormone?
Individuals
have many other hormones that should be supplemented to reach
the optimal level, including human Growth Hormone (hGH) and
DHEA, as well as gender-specific hormones. There is evidence
that growth hormone deficiency in adults is deleterious and
increases the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. As
compared with age- and sex-matched normal subjects, adults
with growth hormone deficiency have increased fat mass,
reduced muscle mass and strength, smaller hearts and lower
cardiac output, lower bone density, and higher serum lipid
concentrations. They may also have decreased vitality, energy,
and physical mobility, emotional liability, feelings of social
isolation and disturbances in sexual function, despite
adequate correction of hormonal deficiencies other than that
of growth hormone.
The
benefits of using growth hormone in the treatment of normal
aging have been recognized since 1990. In fact, there is
absolutely no difference between the clinical signs and
symptoms of aging and those of adult growth hormone deficiency
described in the previous paragraph. The late Dr. Daniel
Rudman first described the benefits of growth hormone therapy
in normal aging adults in his landmark article published in
the July 7, 1990 issue of New England Journal of Medicine.
Dr. Rudman showed that by putting healthy aging men on growth
hormone for six months, he was able to decrease their body fat
by 14.4%, increase muscle mass by 8.8%, increase skin
thickness by 7.1%, and increase lumbar bone density by 1.6%.
These exciting findings clearly inaugurated the movement to
supplement growth hormone in healthy aging adults, which today
is becoming commonplace.
The
goals of growth hormone therapy in adults are to restore
normal body composition, improve muscle and cardiac function,
normalize serum lipid concentrations, and improve the quality
of life.
Dr.
Pribor is the Medical Director of Pribor & Associates, PLC
and practices Anti-Aging Medicine in Tampa, FL and Nashville,
TN. 813-282-7173; toll free: 877-282-7173 www.hpribor.com;
info@hpribor.com |
