Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones (37 page)

SS:
Insulin is a major hormone, one that is very important to keep under control. So what do you do for them at this point?

HS:
I measure their hormones—estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and DHEA. I also check their thyroid levels to establish a baseline for future comparison, because thyroid problems cannot be strictly identified from a blood test. Thyroid is tricky; the blood test may say normal, yet the patient may have a whole list of symptoms that can be attributable to the thyroid. Testing has some value, but you also have to ask patients about their symptoms. Patients typically tell their doctors that they are gaining weight inappropriately and are unable to lose it or are troubled with constipation. Most of the
time, doctors will treat each of these complaints with a symptomatic treatment. If you’re constipated, take this laxative, for example.

Or physicians might dismiss a lot of the symptoms such as thinning hair or dry, scaly skin and go strictly by a blood test. If the blood test is normal, then all those symptoms that could be caused by a malfunctioning thyroid are missed because the blood test is normal. See how so many diagnoses can get confused?

Let’s say the patient is depressed, or has moods that change easily, or has difficulty concentrating, or has no sex drive. All of these could be thyroid driven, but the blood test says normal so the patient gets treated for the wrong thing and usually with a drug.

SS:
Having no sex drive is a big one. I hear that from women all the time.

HS:
That applies to men also, but they won’t admit it as easily.

SS:
Women are disturbed, but also troubled because the low sex drive is more related to having no feeling left rather than not being in the mood.

HS:
But I also believe that if a woman has gained weight and her hormones are off, she is probably not happy with her appearance. This mood state may also make her a little less comfortable with having sex.

SS:
I agree. What about environmental effects on the hormonal system and our health?

HS:
It has a big effect. Thyroid is a big issue. Well, think about this: Thyroid disease or dysfunction is a very prevalent problem. One reason is that we are constantly being exposed to two substances that undermine thyroid function: chlorine and fluoride. The environment is loaded with these substances. Fluoride is known to suppress thyroid function. Some municipalities are still putting fluoride in their drinking water despite the fact that studies show that fluoridation has no bearing on tooth decay and dental cavities. Fluoridation is about money. It’s an industrial waste product, and companies have found a way to get rid of it by selling it off to the unsuspecting.

SS:
What about chlorine in swimming pools?

HS:
I believe that it can have an effect on the thyroid gland, as
does chlorine in drinking water. Some cities have both fluoride and chlorine in the drinking water.

SS:
I even taste chlorine when I buy shrimp. In a restaurant, very often the shrimp tastes like chlorine.

HS:
It is common practice to put chlorine, bleach, or antibiotics in shrimp to keep the bacteria count down so the shrimp doesn’t spoil.

SS:
What about cortisol? If your patients are old, they must not be sleeping; therefore they must have high cortisol.

HS:
You’re right. The best thing for cortisol regulation is sleep. Just getting enough sleep is so essential, yet most people are not sleeping well due to the loss of hormones and to stress in their lives.

SS:
Sleep is the magic potion, so simple yet so abused. Many people try to sleep as few hours as possible at night, thinking they are doing themselves a favor. They believe by “not wasting time sleeping,” they can get more done the next day

HS:
Our bodies were originally intended to sleep and wake up according to the cycles of night and day. Yet one of the major changes that has happened in our modern society is the opposite: not falling asleep with the sunset and not getting up with the sunrise. Instead, people now turn the lights on and stay up for extended periods in artificial light and then wonder why they can’t sleep when they turn the lights out.

SS:
You mean that we have messed with the internal biological template originally within us?

HS:
Exactly. Our bodies have become confused as to how to function correctly.

SS:
Speaking of interfering with our natural biology, I have some questions about the birth control pill. In my generation, the pill gave us permission to have all the sex we wanted without worrying about getting pregnant and that we could put off childbearing until later. Yet in my generation, the breast cancer rate is astounding. The hormones in those original pills were synthetic, just like the hormones that menopausal women have been taking. We weren’t truly ovulating when on that pill. Was it too good to be true?

HS:
You can’t mess with nature. The pill today is not as strong as
the ones you were on. But there are broader issues as well. Increasingly, we are exposed to hormones everywhere, including in meat and poultry, all having a major negative effect. For example, you have probably read the reports that the age of menarche is beginning much younger than ever before. Consider the fact that in primitive societies today, where people are still eating a natural diet, the age of menarche is still around fifteen or sixteen. But in “civilized” countries, our little girls are starting their periods at ages nine and ten. Part of the problem is the highly processed carbohydrate diet (which elevates insulin) that our children are eating. Here in south Florida even female alligators are reaching maturity before the males, according to reports. This all has to do with estrogen in the environment.

SS:
That’s trouble when animals are affected.

HS:
It’s a serious issue. When I test women, I’ll often see in older women (meaning very postmenopausal women), and even in younger women, estrogen dominance. These women just don’t seem to make enough progesterone to keep the estrogen properly balanced. It’s not about one hormone being good or bad; it’s about the balance of all the hormones together.

SS:
Older women get irritated by the subject of balancing hormones naturally. I often wonder if it’s because they have been on synthetics so long, and no one wants to feel that they didn’t get the best advice. I frequently hear, “So our hormones are imbalanced. So what?” My instincts tell me that these women feel it is too late for them, and they are irritated with me for stirring up the subject. Leave it alone. Who cares? But what is more important to women and men than being able to replace lost hormones with real hormones and not synthetic hormones? Is it too late for older women? Do you feel that anyone can experience a reversal?

HS:
Absolutely. When an older woman gives me a list of her symptoms, I explain how this symptom is associated with hormonal imbalance. Frequently, she has no hormone production left (I mean extremely low), or her body is making estrogen disproportionately to her progesterone—which is why she has an imbalance. I am then able to show her what I can do to make her feel better. We will
address the underlying cause, which is usually hormonal imbalance. Getting older is a reflection of a decline in hormone levels. You get old and your hormones fall off.

SS:
Are you able to return patients to their healthiest prime?

HS:
I’m not talking about being eighteen again. What I’m talking about is raising those hormone levels off the ground floor, balancing them, and giving them that little extra support. It makes a world of difference in their complaints.

I also check for biological age using computerized equipment to gauge flexibility, strength, cardiovascular fitness, along with measurements of cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting blood sugar, and body mass index. I do calipers of patients’ skin thickness. This information gives us a real sense of a person’s strength, flexibility, and energy. Some eighty-year-olds have amazing strength—a sign of youthfulness—and others have no flexibility left at all. When we know this, we can design treatments to improve their energy and flexibility. The problem with so many older patients is that they are not addressing their physical fitness. They’re busy taking lots of pills to make sure their cholesterol is okay, but they are not doing anything to make sure their body is functioning correctly.

SS:
Do you recommend detoxification in your practice?

HS:
Yes, with very seriously ill patients. But I explain to my healthier patients, “If you’re living a healthy life and eating properly, your own detoxification systems are working all the time for you. Just make sure you are moving your bowels at least once a day, if not more. You have to drink adequate amounts of water and not put artificial substances in your body.” Artificial colorings and preservatives are harmful. In fact, a study demonstrated that after people die, their bodies are not decomposing as quickly as they used to because we are consuming on average eight pounds of preservatives a year in the food we eat.

SS:
So you’re saying that lifestyle habits, exercising, sleeping well, eating good foods, and managing stress are all key to successful aging?

HS:
You must pay attention to everything. Sometimes I ask people, “What is the most important nutrient?” Answer: The one you’re lacking. The most important component of a healthy lifestyle is the one you’re not including.

SS:
It can be difficult to be a patient and sort through all of this. One doctor will say this, and another doctor will say that.

HS:
As a patient, you must be responsible for your own health and just keep questioning your doctors until you find one who resonates. You also have to keep educating yourself. Breast cancer is a good example of an area in which women can better educate themselves. For example, many women get yearly mammograms. I feel that mammograms are a waste of time because statistics show that they miss 15 percent of the tumors; this probably happens more among perimenopausal age women because of breast density (dense breasts make tumors difficult to view). Mammography emits radiation, and radiation is carcinogenic. If you have a cancer and you compress it in the mammography machine, this is like compressing an egg. You crack the eggshell, and the contents may leak out. One study showed that sticking needles into breast cancer increases its chances of spreading.

I feel a better testing option is thermography because it measures only heat. Heat is a sign of increased blood flow, and a cancer cell cannot grow without increased blood flow, or angiogenesis, through it. Before a tumor can start growing, it has to establish its own blood supply. The blood supply obviously will be a source of heat.

An abnormal thermogram probably represents estrogen dominance, shown by the heat and the blood flow. You can work to correct that imbalance by giving the patient progesterone. If it did suggest the presence of a tumor, I would follow up with an MRI of the breast. That way, you avoid radiation and compression and yet get the information you need.

With my own practice, I try to intervene as early as I can so we don’t have to deal with those hard decisions of “Now you’ve got cancer, what do you want to do?” Overall, you reduce your chances of getting serious illnesses by balancing your hormones, metabolizing them properly, keeping your vitamin D level high enough, and supplementing with nutrients in which you are deficient. This approach is the best you can do.

SS:
It is largely up to us. Thank you, Dr. Slavin.

DR. SLAVIN’S TOP FIVE ANTIAGING RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Have your hormone levels checked on a regular basis—estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, thyroid, and insulin. Keep the estrogen properly balanced. It’s not about one hormone being good or bad; it’s about the balance of all the hormones together.

2. Getting adequate sleep is the best way to regulate high cortisol levels. Chronically elevated cortisol can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, and other serious illnesses.

3. Move your bowels at least once a day, if not more.

4. Drink adequate amounts of water, and do not put artificial substances into your body. Be careful about drinking water that contains fluoride and chlorine. Both can have harmful effects on thyroid health. Both are found in drinking water.

5. Mammograms may be a waste of time because statistics show that they miss 15 percent of the tumors; this probably happens more among perimenopausal women because of breast density (dense breasts make tumors difficult to view). Mammography emits radiation, and radiation is carcinogenic. A better testing option is thermography, followed up with an MRI.

CHAPTER 18
D
R
. P
HILIP
L
EE
M
ILLER:
H
ORMONES AND
S
TRESS

Founder and medical director of the Los Gatos Longevity Institute in Los Gatos, California, Dr. Miller—author of
The Life Extension Revolution
—has been a practicing clinician for more than thirty years. He is a diplomate of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine and serves on the medical advisory board of the Life Extension Foundation. Dr. Miller is convinced that by embracing antiaging medicine, your health will soar even though you are aging chronologically. Dr. Miller’s website is
www.antiaging.com
.

SS:
As women and men start to feel bad from hormone loss, they feel that there is no way out. Is there a solution for this stressful time of life?