The majority of my Anti-Aging patients are male but the reverse is true when it comes to Hormone Replacement. Its an observation that I find interesting, why the difference? I'm not sure.
This month I am going to focus on issues affecting Anti-Aging specifically and many of them are more male directed intentionally because I think that sometimes women's issues are overrepresented.
What is Growth Hormone exactly and why is it so popular? Growth Hormone is naturally secreted by the pituitary it affects almost every organ in the body, it is a master controller of metabolism and muscle tone.
In my opinion, Growth Hormone is a misnomer,oftened referred to as HGH (Human Growth Hormone) it was originally named because children without it didnt grow. In adults once the growth plates are closed there is no opportunity for getting taller no matter how much growth hormone a person takes.
The name gives the impresion of a substance that can cause strange things to grow like horns and cancer, it actually does not. It is in fact HGH a reparative hormone which helps the body repair damage and heal faster.
I recently had a patient whose company sent him to a leading hospital annually for an 'executive' physical. This, and the fact that he had formerly been a triathlete led him to believe that he was very healthy. After he had some arthroscopic surgery last year he became very frustrated because he could not get back to his prior level of fitness. A friend told him he needed to find an Anti-aging physician and he found me. I ran a series of tests on the patient and started him on therapy. We optimized his vitamin, and supplement levels in addition to short course of HGH.
At his 3 month follow up visit, the patient told me he was 'back to 100%'. It took less than 90 days to get him back in condition, something physical therapy and working out had not been able to achieve.
I had another patient who was 35, also an athlete and when he was offered his 5th knee surgery decided there had to be another way.
The first patient asked me an interesting question, one in fact that I couldnt answer: "Why doesnt every patient who is getting surgery get treated like this from the get go?"
I have no idea, but it seems to make sense. Why should this be 'the medicine of the future' when we have the information to help people now? Why dont more orthopedic doctors refer their patients to get 'tuned up' before undergoing the knife?
I put all the patients who come to me for a 'pre-operative' physical on a healing regimen, afterall, surgery is just self-inflicted trauma. We can anticipate the damage that will be caused and limit it.
(For more information on Growth Hormone please see my website).
Another interesting point that this case brings up is: Do you really want your preventive medical care managed in a place that is totally focused on disease? It is fine to go to the country's best hospital for 'Treatment' but the goal of Preventive Maintenance is different. Be clear about exactly what you want from your 'routine' physical exams and what your doctor's focus is. Primary prevention is the art of preventing something before it occurs, secondary prevention (for example a mammogram) is detecting a disease early enough to do something about it and then there is the third option: fixing a problem that is already entrenched.
You choose what works best for you.
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