What about Hormones and Aging?

What about Hormones and Aging?

I remember being fascinated by Endocrinology in med school but now it is even more fascinating because so much more is known and more is being discovered every day. Endocrinology is such an intricate, complicated interwoven web of positive and negative feedback loops, of fail safes, redundancy and back ups. Everything seems to be connected in one way or another to everything else. It’s exciting. Admittedly, my increased fascination in the science of this subject may be augmented by the fact that now, 40 years after med school, I am a consumer not simply a 24 year old provider. Back then I had no idea. None of us did.

My rekindled interest in Endocrinology flared while I was practicing ER medicine over in Saudi Arabia. I wasn’t becoming exactly disenchanted with ER medicine, more like frustrated with it. It seemed to me that aside from the inevitable accidental, military, vehicular and intentional trauma, so many of the critical patients I was treating could have avoided their conditions all together had they had accurate guidance earlier in their lives. Proactive, preventative medicine seemed like a great arena to be in. Thinking I would leave ER and join the ranks of preventative practitioners I joined A4M (the American Academy of Anti Aging Medicine) and began a spellbinding journey into this arena. Sandi of course, was right beside me with her sleeves rolled up. We learned a lot. I agreed with almost everything A4M was teaching because it was all backed up by excellent, incontrovertible, evidence-based science.

The only disagreement I have with A4M is their choice of names. Rather than “Anti Aging” I would rather see “Age Management” since we are all going to “age”. Aging is simply a matter of surviving years. Aging WELL is the trick. In med school they taught us “as we age, our hormone levels drop off.” A4M didn’t agree. Their position, backed by new science is “We age BECAUSE our hormone levels drop off.” This of course opens the door to endless therapeutic interventions that will help all of us “Boomers” ward off the ravages we have seen in previous generations. The Fragility syndrome, the Metabolic syndrome, Menopause, Andropause, Somatopause, Libidopause and so on. I don’t know why everything is ‘something-pause’. It seems to me that “pause” has nothing to do with it. “Dead stop” is a more accurate description. It turns out we don’t have to go that route. We don’t have to endure “The Dwindles”.

When we hit the benchmarks - the onset of Andropause and Menopause – the downhill glide becomes more obvious. Then, as the years suddenly pass, we arrive at the precipice. The beginning of the dreaded “Dwindles”, the last 25% ish of our tenure on this planet, the last 20 or so years of our lives when our systems start to fail. One after the other, and often several at the same time. We start to lose our hearing, our vision, our ability to hold our water and manage other natural functions, our memory, our libido, our vim, vigor and energy. The old school would have us believe that “this is the last part of living”. It is not, actually. It is the first part of dying and as it turns out, it is neither an essential nor unavoidable part of living or dying. None of us signed on for this and we don’t have to just choke it down. I’m reminded of a bumper sticker I read some time ago which sagely pronounced that “Good health is simply the absolutely slowest way you can die.” That’s the route Sandi and I intend to take. “Rectangularization” is the answer.

More about The Dwindles, Rectangularization and how to reclaim our golden years next week.

Dr. Mike and Sandi Lee own and operate Sure Results hCG Weight Loss .
If you have any questions about their amazing weight loss program, please visit their web site at www.sureresults.net.