IS IT HOT IN HERE?? You bet!

Wow! Talk about spring fever, from 60 degrees to 92 overnight.
I was doing Soccer Mom duty today and I was burning up.
Yes, it was hot today and it certainly doesn't help those with hot flashes. If you thought you were going crazy at least no one noticed that you were sweating more than everyone else but remember there are ways to relieve the flashes and all the other symptoms of hormone imbalance.
For people who prefer not to use hormone replacement there are many herbal supplements which can be quite effective but far and away the most effective management is hormone balancing with bio-identical hormones.
Hormone replacement is not just for the over 50 crowd anymore it is used for younger women for severe PMS and other imbalance related disorders.
But this is not just about hormone imbalance, Spring is a great time to get your health in general well balanced and on a good path. One of the parents today proudly displayed that he had lost 25 pounds just by stopping sodas.
Just do it! Off with all the winter woolies, get off the couch and get moving! You can no longer use the weather as an excuse for not walking. If you don't already have a pedometer, you need one.
We always over estimate exactly how much we walk, shoot for 10,000 steps a day. It's a lot harder than it sounds. It's amazing how little we walk in this country, I often have a hard time making 6000 steps here and yet when I'm in Europe at the end of the day I realise I have done 12,000 just moving around and boy do I feel it.

The warm weather also ushers in the good fruit and vegetables in the supermarket. The prices of course have sky rocketed which means eating well and reasonably, takes a little more planning than previously but...... you are worth it. Try to drink some pomegranate juice during the week and some sort of salad daily.

Sunblock! What a dilemma. Over 80% of patients in my area are vitamin D deficient this time of the year and the best (for some the only)source of vitamin D is the sun. So weigh the pros and cons, if you can get half an hour of sun exposure a day it would help. Darker skin tones need more but if you are very fair skinned and at higher risk of skin cancer you may just have to break down and rely on the supplements. You are going to need at least 1000 units a day!
Either way keep your sunblock handy for prolonged sun exposures. They say any SPF above 45 is wasted. Dont forget to use your Stop Aging Skin Therapy twice a day, it is fantastic.

A little Heads Up. This summer I will be working at the Clinica Esperanza in Roatan, Honduras
and checking on one of my favorite seniors a former Dean of a Law School in Peru who is now 94!
I will also be in Europe later in the summer so the best time for appointments is before June.

Remember Spring time is about renewal. Get energized, get healthy, its not a dress rehearsal!

Add years to your life and life to your years!

Dr Tuakli

Buying Blinds,Balancing Hormones and Trekking from Pennsylvania!

Having prescribed Bio-Identical Hormones for nearly 20 years, I have many amusing anecdotes that I tell from time to time. i thought I would share some of them on my blog.
When a new patient requests Bio-identical Hormone Replacement we perform a thorough review of their medical history and symptoms. In addition, I consult with them so that they have a good understanding of how Hormone Replacement works and together we determine if they would be a good candidate for Hormone Balancing.

One day, after a long discussion with a patient who had driven down from Pennsylvania, she stood up and said with a big smile on her face "I'm so glad I decided to buy those blinds!".
Baffled I asked her what she meant, the ensuing story was amusing:

She went on to explain that she had ordered some window treatments. The installer brought his wife along with him to the job. While he was installing the blinds, his wife noticed my patient fanning herself and sweating incessantly. This resulted in a conversation about menopause and the installer's wife referring the customer to me!

That story tickled me and I always chuckle when I recount it.

These days she tells another one that I like, she says her husband refers more patients to me than she does! She says when they go out to dinner with his friends and their wives he leans over to his friends and whispers "Your wife should see my wife's doctor!" or when his friends complain about their love life he tells them to fill up the car and drive down to Columbia.

Happy Easter! Still waiting for Spring.

Dr Tuakli