• 18May

  The Thyroid

  Andropause, Anti-aging, Bioidentical Hormones, Estradiol, Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), Menopause, Pellets, Progesterone, Research, Symptoms, Testosterone, Thyroid, Treatment No Comments

  How the Thyroid effects the aging process.

  

  This episode of the Biobalance Healthcast discusses what the thyroid is and how it effects men and women as they age. Defined terms are Hypo-thyroidism which is a low thyroid and causes conditions such as swelling, constipation, a low basal temperature and infertility. Hyper-thyroidism is the opposite, and causes conditions like rapid weight gain, anxiety, nervousness, and increased heart rate. These both play an important role in diagnosing and treating the aging process in men and women.

  Tags: estrogen, hormone, HRT, Menopause, testosterone, Thyroid

• 10May

  Incontinence Part 2

  Andropause, Anti-aging, Bioidentical Hormones, Estradiol, Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), Menopause, Pellets, Progesterone, Symptoms, Testosterone, Treatment No Comments

  Telling the difference between stress incontinence and irritable bladder.

  

  In this episode I continue our discussion about stress incontinence in women who have had vaginal births. Brett and I talk about the differences between other types of incontinence and how to treat them.

  Tags: estrodial, estrogen, hormone replacement therapy, incontinence, Pellets, stress, testosterone

• 13Apr

  Progesterone and the Cascade of Aging

  Bioidentical Hormones, Depression, Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), Menopause, Pellets, Progesterone, Research, Symptoms, Testosterone, Treatment No Comments

  How the loss of progesterone can affect your health.

  

  As women age, hormone levels—including progesterone—begins to decrease. In this episode of the BioBalance Healthcast we talk about this decrease which causes an imbalance in the estrogen levels. Without progesterone, estrogen increases and leads to fibroid tumors. These tumors lead to heavy bleeding and often, hysterectomies in peri-menopausal women. Progesterone is not needed by our bodies post-menopause with the drop of estrogen levels. We cover the role progesterone plays in our body and how it effects us when it begins to decrease.

  Tags: biobalance, Bioidentical Hormones, estrogen, fibroids, history pellets, hormone, hormones, HRT, Menopause, PMS, progesterone, testosterone, therapy, women

• 30Mar

  Research and the Aging Process

  Bioidentical Hormones, Medical Care, Research, Symptoms, Testosterone No Comments

  Research and the Aging Process

  
   
  This podcast discusses the proper way to sort through the enormous amount of information available to consumers. It’s important to know how to determine whether or not a study is reliable. In the world of medicine, research yields reports that are then publicized. Quite often, consumers can’t tell what should and shouldn’t be taken seriously.

  The steps to investigating research information begin with making sure you’re looking at it retrospectively; understanding that you are often looking at data that has already been created. Many published studies are using information that has been collected for an entirely different study and applying it to meet their own hypothesis.

  A common term in research is “data mining”. This is when a source working to create a study, searches data that has already been created. A database that is commonly used is the census bureau. Scientists create a thesis based on information that they collect. This doesn’t make a study less reliable. It does however mean you need to be careful and read closely. Usually when health studies are published, the results apply to a very small window of people. There are many factors that cancel out individuals and change the results.

  An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study about men getting mild cognitive impairment during middle age. The article stated that men are more likely to get it than women. I however don’t agree with this as I have research that says 62% of midlife women have this condition. In investigating this study further I saw that the women they studied were 70 years old and had no cognitive impairment. The problem is that by 70, women have already had MCI 30-40 years prior, so of course in testing, almost all of their subjects are going to present as not having MCI. The study is working with the wrong age group of women.

  Situations like this are why it’s important to have a skeptic mind when taking studies at face value. It’s important to ask questions and find all the facts before you assume that what you’re reading not only applies to you and your health but is even accurate information for anyone.
• 24Feb

  Sarcopenia (Muscle Loss)

  Anti-aging, Medical Care, Symptoms, Testosterone No Comments

  Sarcopenia—the loss of muscle mass—occurs as testosterone drops.

  

  In episode 67 of the BioBalance Healthcast we cover Sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass) which leads to frailty and nursing home care after long-term testosterone deprivation. This discussion is based on a chapter in my book title I Want What She’s Having, to be released later this year. The following text is an except from the draft manuscript.

  This is a tough concept for most of us who are currently healthy and independent, however we women, the caretakers of ourselves and most of society, will have to give this problem consideration when deciding whether testosterone replacement is for us, long before we have the signs of “sarcopenia” and “frailty”. I suggest you consider an investment in testosterone replacement, beginning after 40, as an investment much like “long-term-care-insurance”.

  Here’s the order of failing health related to muscle loss that occurs as we age:

  1. Loss of Testosterone
  2. Loss of muscle mass and strength
  3. Frailty, Poor Posture
  4. Fatigue and Imbalance
  5. Falls, Fractures, Poor Healing
  6. Inability for women to live independently
  7. Nursing Home Admission

  I was like most of my patients, the caretaker of my mother while her body deteriorated. Her experience followed the timeline above, and frailty was the final and last blow. Following her journey inspired me to investigate what I could do to avoid the same disintegration of muscles, bones, and mind, and to insure that I can live independently, for as long as I live. Frailty stole her independence. She never anticipated living as long as she did (92), and expected to die before her body withered away.

  This perspective made me realize that life should be lived as if we will live for a long time, saving our bodies liveliness we save our money, to support us for the long run. The one way I have found that will protect us from the future of our mothers is the replacement of testosterone, at the least, and all of our missing hormones (estrogen, thyroid, and possibly Growth Hormone) at the most!
• 14Feb

  Progesterone and PMS

  Bioidentical Hormones, Pellets, Progesterone, Symptoms, Testosterone, Treatment No Comments

  Progesterone: The Second Domino to Fall after Testosterone

  

  Premenstrual Syndrome

  PMS is the butt of many jokes but for those of us who have had this condition, it is no laughing matter. It has been ignored for years by the medical community, and is currently treated by prescribing the treatment of only one of the multiple symptoms, depression. This prescription is one of various anti-depressants, which has minimal effect on most patients with PMS.

  Because of the ineffectiveness of the standard, anti-depressant therapy, there are multiple therapies that have partial effect on most patients when they have a very effective treatment at hand—bio-identical progesterone given in the second half of the cycle.

  Option for PMS treatment can be any or all of the following:

  • Natural progesterone during days 14–28 of the menstrual cycle;
  • Progesterone pellets that give a constant low dose of progesterone
  • Oral contraceptives;
  • Testosterone treatment—non-oral, or pellet
  • Antidepressants such as Sarafem, Wellbutrin, Effexor, Prozac

  Sidebar: it is amazing to experience the relief that women feel when they are told that there is a natural cause and an effective treatment for this disorder. They are so happy to hear that they are not crazy and that being emotional wrecks is not due to some character flaw in women but rather is due to a chemical or hormonal imbalance that is treatable. Success is beautiful!

  Progesterone Therapy with Bioidentical Progesterone

  The most effective PMS treatment or progesterone deficiency, treatment is non-oral dosing of bio-identical progesterone. There are several important guidelines that make progesterone more effective and have fewer side-effects.

  Premenstrual Syndrome

  PMS is the butt of many jokes but for those of us who have had this condition, it is no laughing matter. It has been ignored for years by the medical community, and is currently treated by prescribing the treatment of only one of the multiple symptoms, depression. This prescription is one of various anti-depressants, which has minimal effect on most patients with PMS.

  Because of the ineffectiveness of the standard, anti-depressant therapy, there are multiple therapies that have partial effect on most patients when they have a very effective treatment at hand—bio-identical progesterone given in the second half of the cycle.
• 09Feb

  The Cascade of Aging

  Bioidentical Hormones, Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), Menopause, Pellets, Progesterone, Symptoms, Testosterone No Comments

  Progesterone: The Second Domino to Fall after Testosterone

  

  In episode 65 of the BioBalance Healthcast, we talk about progesterone. Our discussion is based on a chapter of my upcoming book, I Want What She’s Having. The following is an excerpt from the draft.

  There is a cultural myth that women are emotionally reactive and unstable. The Myth has it that every 28 days or so women become raving emotional biohazards. This is beyond their control and everyone in their sphere of influence can only duck and cover until the storm has passed. We sometimes think that if men were the ones with this reputation and concern, medicine would have found a solution for the problem years ago!

  I started practicing medicine in 1981, when PMS was considered a psychiatric disease, and thought to be unrelated to the hormone progesterone. It was not until the 1990s that alternative doctors initially suspected that there was a hormonal imbalance causing this condition, specifically by a lack of progesterone. During the 1980s, I was treating women who had PMS with pure bioidentical progesterone and vitamins containing large amounts of magnesium. This treatment was remarkably successful. Even though mainstream medicine called this treatment crazy, I had a very high success rate when treating PMS with progesterone. I have always been willing to challenge the status quo and test new treatments with good scientific controls to actually see whether or not they were efficient and effective forms of intervention.

  I consulted with a compounding pharmacist, who I still work with. I credited him with helping me decide how to treat my patients with bioidentical progesterone for PMS. In the beginning, I first prescribed progesterone in the form of rectal suppositories, then vaginal suppositories, progressing to vaginal tabs and currently prefer sublingual (under the tongue) tablets or pure progesterone pellets that are placed below the skin. This widely-researched and confirmed source of PMS currently in 2012, is still not accepted by the American College of OBGYN as a condition that is secondary to the loss of progesterone, and one that can be cured by the addition of natural progesterone between day 14 and 28. If an OBGYN applicant answers that question on the National Board exam with progesterone insufficiency, and natural progesterone as the treatment, they will get it marked wrong! Yet, twenty plus years of practice in the field by myself and other practicing OBGYNs have proven otherwise for millions of women.
• 27Jan

  Testosterone and Men

  Andropause, Bioidentical Hormones, Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), Medical Care, Pellets, Symptoms, Testosterone, Treatment No Comments

  Low testosterone in men causes a variety of poor health conditions.

  Download the transcription of this podcast.

  Podcast 63 is about Erectile Dysfunction. Men and women both make testosterone but men show benefits of higher bone density which leads to less cases of osteoporosis in men.

  In the last 5-6 years testosterone has been huge subject in research. The Sexual Medicine Journal in 2009 said the risk for cardio vascular disease in men is about 1 and a half times more likely in men with slight erectile dysfunction and more than two times more likely in those with severe erectile dysfunction.

  Testosterone helps prevent erectile dysfunction and cardio vascular disease. Viagra doesn’t help with lack of testosterone. It helps with blood flow. Nitric acid is the chemical you need to have an erection which is what is in many medications that treat ED. However it’s important to not just treat the erection issues.
  Doctors should offer testing for heart disease in patients with ED. They need to look for compromise of the vessels. If a man has fat layers on the inside of his vessels, it causes those vessels to become very small. If his heart has the same problem, he’s at risk for stroke. If his pelvis has this problem, he’s at risk for ED. When men are younger they have higher testosterone levels so they don’t have this inflammation problem.

  Men under 50 have who have ED, have a 50 fold increase in the risk that they’re going to have a heart attack in the next 10 years. Heart disease, cancer and respiratory failure all increase dramatically with the decrease of testosterone. If you take care of the maintenance of testosterone, it can help avoid later diseases and conditions.

  
• 19Jan

  Current topics in Anti-aging Medicine, Part 2

  Andropause, Anti-aging, Bioidentical Hormones, FDA Regulation, Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), Medical Care, Menopause, Pellets, Research, Symptoms, Testosterone, Treatment No Comments

  Discussion of a CNN Health article that says anti-aging medicine is risky.

  

  Download the transcription of this podcast.

  In episode 62 of the BioBalance Healthcast we continue the discussion we started in the previous episode that reviewed an article  titled “The risks of anti-aging medicine” that was published on the CNN Health website on Wednesday December 28, 2011.

  The author states that anti-aging doctors are generally not as well trained as other medical specialist. I am an excellent example of the many anti-aging doctors who are well trained and qualified to offer these services that include advancements that make it possible for us to live longer lives. Anti-aging treatments—especially bioidentical pellet therapy that we offer her at BioBalance Health—let’s us enjoy better health and mobility for many years past the onset of menopause in women and andropause in men.

  Dr. Thomas Pearl, quoted in the article, was referring to treating geriatric patients, which is not what I focus on. Instead, I normally start hormone therapy long before patients reach that age, and not when they too old for the therapy to make a difference. By offering this therapy, doctors can prevent many diseases that are secondary to hormone loss. Many diseases can be offset for 10-20 years with bioidentical hormone pellets.

  HRT is a treatment for a syndrome, not symptoms, and often save money and time. Chelation therapy for heavy metal toxicity is not offered at BioBalance Health. Chelation has risks of renal and liver problems. There are alternative supplements to rid patient of heavy metals. Baby boomers have higher chance of heavy metal toxicity due to lead, mercury, and other harmful substances in food and the environment.

  Compounding pharmacies used to be popular 70 years ago before drugs were made by pharmaceutical companies. Current compounding pharmacists have the ability to compound drugs prescribed by a physician. I supervise the use of compounding pharmacies for my patients. My estradiol and testosterone pellets are made at a compounding pharmacy that is reputable and trusted. If your physician writes a prescription for a drug and sends you to a compounding pharmacy, be certain he/she has a relationship with the pharmacy they use. The FDA does oversee compounding pharmacies.

  The article sites information based on the Women’s Health Initiative study which since released has been discredited. Dr. Goldstein is using a bad argument, a bad study, bad information and miss-representing the use of bioidentical hormone therapy.

  To wrap up our podcast, we discuss the term “the standard of care,” which means the least amount of medical treatment that is acceptable by a physician. It’s the lowest standard of care you can give and not get sued.
• 10Jan

  Current topics in Anti-aging Medicine, Part 1

  Anti-aging, Bioidentical Hormones, Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), Medical Care, Menopause, Pellets, Research, Symptoms, Testosterone, Treatment No Comments

  Base your health decisions on reliable information, not just media resources.

  

  People are often influenced by the news media, and sometimes make medical decisions based only on what they read on the internet. A recent article published December 28, 2011 by CNN Health made some statements and quoted some experts that would lead readers to the conclusion that anti-aging medicine is generally unsafe.

  In the article, titled The risks of anti-aging medicine, CNN Health reported that a 56 year old California woman injected human growth hormone into her thighs six times a week. Six months after starting the treatment, she died of liver cancer.

  The problem with this report is that it allows the reader to confuse correlation with causation, inferring or implying that the treatment is responsible for the patient’s death. The experts quoted do not say conclusively that the HGH treatment caused this women’a death.

  In this episode of the BioBalance Healthcast Brett Newcomb and I walk through the article and explain why it may not be totally accurate or objective, and how you might think about medical-related articles you in the future, especially when you are considering healthcare issues.

  Episode 62 will continue this discussion.

  Visit BBH.com for more info about bioidentical hormones/anti-aging/skin care.

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