• 30Apr

  Fibromyalgia

  Menopause, Symptoms No Comments

  What is it and how is it detected?

  This week Brett Newcomb and I are continuing our discussion of five sneaky things that your doctor probably won’t ask you about, but that you should watch out for. We are focusing on autoimmune disorders , fibromyalgia in particular. We are discussing the nature of fibromyalgia and the fact that it hurts people all over their muscles. It moves around, it is not located in the elbow, or the knee, or the joints. It hurts when you sit and when you sleep and when you work. It is hard to pinpoint and many doctors do not ask about it because they are focused on the symptoms that brought you in the office and they only have a six minute window to find out what you need and try to make a helpful intervention.

  People who suffer from fibromyalgia usually begin to suffer from it around 38 years of age. Often they are mistakenly thought to have chronic fatigue. Fibromyalgia is an autoimmune disorder, the body attacks itself and the muscles become inflamed and swollen. They hurt. Chronic fatigue is a virus like the mono virus, Epstein- Barr. The initial symptom of both of them is extreme tiredness. Doctors often treat for the viral infection and the patient does not get better because that is not really the problem.

  The pain from fibromyalgia moves around. It may be in your arm one day and in your thigh another, it could be in your chest or some other part of the body. It is not localized to just a joint. Chronic pain is a viral infection and there are drugs which help with fighting the viral infection. Fibromyalgia is different. Basically you are attacking your own muscles. They become inflamed and you are never without pain. Anti-inflammatories sometimes work a little but usually not a lot. Sometimes you can be given drugs to suppress your immune system and those will help reduce the pain, but if you suppress your immune system you become vulnerable to other illnesses.

  We are spending time talking about these issues because the nature of office visits with your physician is changing. Due to insurance companies and Obamacare, it is becoming necessary for doctors to spend less and less time with individual patients. The average primary care visit is now just six minutes! Your doctor is interested and fully qualified, but may not have time to cover all the possibilities. The more you can help by being informed and prepared the better your care will be. If you know about things like the difference between chronic pain and fibromyalgia the more you can help your physician help you.

  Listen to our podcast and become better prepared to help your doctor provide you with the best care.
• 24Apr

  Five Issues That your Doctor Often Misses

  Medical Care, Symptoms No Comments

  Health risks that often go unseen

  Women over 40 are statistically at increased risk of developing, strokes, and heart attacks. This is directly correlated to deficiency of testosterone. After the age of 40 women fight weight gain, increasing triglycerides, cholesterol, and inflammation. This is triggered by falling testosterone levels. The result of these changes is that plaque builds up in blood vessels and increases your chance of developing hypertension and heart disease.

  This week Brett Newcomb and I are talking about the health challenges that doctors often miss. The discussion of replacement of hormones is frequently overlooked. We identify the ten year window for each of these hormones to be replaced with optimum impact on a woman’s health. If women are treated by replacement of the lost hormones during these ten year windows they dramatically lower their risks of stroke, heart disease, and dementia.

  The third medical problem that doctors overlook is the nature and treatment of autoimmune disorders. Auto-immune diseases are common in women after 40, and research shows that testosterone and estrogen replacement, but particularly testosterone can reverse the deterioration from autoimmune disorders.

  I have an opportunity this week to share the stories of several of my patients who suffer from auto immune disorders such as RA, MS, and Lupus. What we have found is that when these women had testosterone replaced with pellets, they noticed that they did not get worse. Their regular doctors often are surprised by the dramatic effects of testosterone and do not understand what is causing them to stop progressing, but they acknowledge that “something”amazing is happening. We do not see evidence that the replacement of testosterone will “cure” them or make the problem go away, but it does seem to slow it down.

  Listen to the stories of these women and learn more about the important positive steps you can take to manage your quality of life in general and your health in particular by replacing your lost testosterone.
• 23Jan

  Erectile Dysfunction from a Medical Perspective

  Andropause, Bioidentical Hormones, Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), Medical Care, Relationships, Research, Sexuality, Symptoms, Testosterone 1 Comment

  What causes Erectile Dysfunction in men? The first of a three part series.

  

  Today is the first of a three part series that Brett and I are doing on the topic of ED in men. Erectile Dysfunction is very common. Most men at some point in their lives experience problems with getting or maintaining a satisfactory erection. Generally it is thought that if this is happening at least 25% of the time, then you have a problem and need to seek treatment.

  Brett and I talk about what causes Ed, and the physical symptoms and manifestations of various problems that lead to the inability to have or maintain an erection strong enough for a fulfilling sexual encounter. Erections are made possible by blood flow to the penis. When there is restriction of blood flow in the pelvic girdle, it becomes difficult to impossible for men to get erections. This restriction can be caused by many things. The most immediate causes are inflammation and cholesterol. The problem does not really start there, it starts for most men when they begin to loose their testosterone. If they replace their lost testosterone with a bio identical replacement (shots or pellets) then it will help by not only improving the blood flow to the penis, but also by increasing the oxytocin. This helps with arousal and emotional focusing on sexual matters as well as by helping the mechanics of the erection work better.

  If the problem is not solved with testosterone then we have to look more at other interventions. The next issue we consider is plaque build up in the vessels of the pelvic area, and that comes from high blood pressure and cholesterol. When there is plaque in the vessels the blood cannot flow properly and there will not be enough volume to maintain an erection.

  Brett and I talk about things that men do that lead to these problems. The first of course, is that by aging they lose their testosterone. But beyond that, they smoke, gain weight, eat poorly (beef, saturated fats, animal fats, etc.) and they don’t exercise. All of these are contributors to the problem of ED.

  One of the interesting things that we hit on is that men often are told that they will have heart attacks and die sooner if they live this way, and they laugh it off. If they are told that they will loose their erectile function and not have sex, they get serious and promise to do anything to be better!

  Finally, we discuss the mechanics of erectile functioning and how procedures like a fem-pop surgery might help, or medicines like beta blockers such as Benicar rather than linisopril, or the use of drugs such as Viagra. We even discuss the issue of dehydration and its impact on erections and sex. Diabetes, which is becoming an epidemic among the aging population of the United States is also a major contributor to ED problems in men.

  If you are a male, and you are having concerns about ED, you will find this podcast of interest and importance. Please listen to it, and come back for the next two weeks as we discuss more about how to treat or deal with ED problems.
• 14Oct

  Hirsuitism in Women

  Bioidentical Hormones, Menopause, Symptoms, Testosterone No Comments

  The Impact of Dihyrdotestosterone

  

  Many of the women who come are considering getting BioIdentical Hormone Replacement Pellets will ask me about what the side effects are. This is part of making good decisions as an informed medical consumer. I applaud their checking this out.

  One of the strongest areas of curiosity or concern with regard to possible side effects is the question of hair growth in unwanted locations. Did you know that the same hormone causes men to lose hair on their head and women to grow hair on their face? Yes the exact same hormone, dihydrotestosterone is responsible for these changes. Men develop something called male pattern baldness and lose hair on their heads. Instead of being on their heads, it begins to grow on their shoulders, chest, back and arms. When women replace their testosterone, the dihydrotestostrone can cause facial hair to grow. For most women it is a light fuzz or down that develops. Some women will have a few dark and wiry hairs that will grow on their chins, which will need to be plucked. For most women, in my experience, the ability to get their libido back on track and their weight under control, as well as have restoration of their energy, it is worth a little facial hair.

  For those women who are concerned however, there is good news. If you are one of the women who will develop facial hair as a side effect, there are treatments which will protect you from the problem of unwanted facial hair. We can use a medicine called spironolactone to prevent all the adverse actions of DHT (Dihydrotestosterone) or another drug called finasteride to counteract all of the side effects of DHT in both men and women. Listen to this podcast as Brett Newcomb and I discuss this issue. If you want more information, check my web sites at DrKathyMaupin.com or BioBalanceHealth.com.
• 04Aug

  Doctor–Patient Relationships

  Anti-aging, Medical Care, Relationships, Symptoms, Treatment No Comments

  Insist on quality communication during your doctor visits.

  

  Have you ever wished that your physician would spend a little more quality time listening to you and getting to know your medical issues? This episode talks about how the regulations from insurance companies prevent doctors from taking the time to work on their doctor-patient relationships.
• 15Jul

  Obesity, Diabetes and the Harvard Food Pyramid

  Anti-aging, Bioidentical Hormones, Insulin Resistance, Medical Care, Menopause, Research, Symptoms, Testosterone, Thyroid, Treatment, Weight Loss and Fat Reduction No Comments

  Obesity, Diabetes and the Harvard Food Pyramid

  

  This podcast talks about the importance of leading a healthy life so that we can avoid conditions that are common in older people that are overweight and practice bad eating habits.
• 27Jun

  Orgasm and Hormones

  Andropause, Bioidentical Hormones, Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), Orgasm, Pellets, Relationships, Research, Sexuality, Symptoms, Testosterone, Treatment No Comments

  How Our Hormones Effect our Orgasms.

  

  How our hormones operate plays an important role in our libido, ability to climax and overall sense of sexuality. This podcast goes into detail of the in’s and out’s of male and female hormones and how it determines ones ability to reach orgasm.
• 18May

  The Thyroid

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

  How the Thyroid effects the aging process.

  

  Download the transcription of this podcast.

  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.
• 10May

  Incontinence Part 2

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

  Telling the difference between stress incontinence and irritable bladder.

  

  Download the transcription of this podcast.

  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.
• 04May

  Incontinence Part 1

  Andropause, Bioidentical Hormones, Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), Menopause, Symptoms No Comments

  Incontinence in women who have had vaginal deliveries.

  

  Download the transcription of this podcast.

  This podcast discusses what incontinence is and how it effects women who have had vaginal deliveries. Brett Newcomb and I talk about how by getting your hormones replaced you can avoid some of the very embarrassing symptoms of incontinence and get back to living your life worry free.

« Previous Entries