Bombshell: Explosive Medical Secrets That Will Redefine Aging (21 page)

Think about it
. If you are not healthy, you are not going to be “in the mood.” But if you are a man or a woman and you desire to have a healthy sex life, read on.

Dr. Prudence Hall is my gynecologist and also a hormone specialist. I have sent hundreds, maybe thousands, of women and men to her to help unravel the mysteries of missing hormones. Replacement, as I have said, is an
art
, and very few doctors have chosen to specialize in this art form. Our medical schools today still do not teach the intricacies of hormone replacement, instead spending approximately only
four hours
on prescribing hormones. That means by the time you finish this book, you will have had more instruction on hormones than any doctor in medical school! This is why I stress that you must ask up front whether your doctor is a hormone specialist in bioidentical
hormones and if the answer is no, then this is not the right doctor to be handling your replacement.

Real bioidentical hormones offer a better quality of life. If we are talking about redefining aging, then hormones are at the top of the list. That is why I have chosen to offer a meaty section on BHRT (bioidentical hormone replacement) and the new advances that have come down the pike since I last discussed them. (For basic information on BHRT, you can read the relevant sections in my books
Ageless
and
Breakthrough
.) What is offered in this section is the advanced art of hormones, and how to truly use them for health, cancer prevention, and waking up the libido to new highs. Aging can be an enjoyable, pleasurable, wise experience … and hormones can help make it that way.

Dr. Prudence Hall
is youthful, smart, and sexy. She addresses the problems and pain women experience due to a lack of understanding regarding hormones and a good quality of life. She was educated at the esteemed Keck School of Medicine, of the University of Southern California. Today, she is the founder and director of medicine and gynecology at the Hall Center located in Santa Monica, California. At the center she helps her patients, both men and women alike, to rejuvenate and regain their vitality, energy, and well-being. Her approach to health is guided by the principles of functional medicine—a revolutionary, science-based practice of cutting-edge medicine. Along with her practitioners, she identifies and balances hormones and treats inflammation, adrenal stress, metabolic problems, and detoxification problems. Her work aims to rejuvenate and increase the energy of her patients, leaving them balanced and healthy. She prescribes bioidentical hormones as well as specializes in nutritional interventions, acupuncture, and physical therapies as needed. She believes her clients should be advocates for their own well-being and offers guidance to get there. She has been my gynecologist for over fifteen years. She is progressive, very sweet, and compassionate; and she’s on hormones herself, which is a big advantage in treating women’s hormonal issues. She’s been there and knows how to fix them
.

SS:
Thank you for your time, Prudence. I hear from women over and over that as they age, they lose their sex drive from loss of hormones. They refer to a sense of loneliness because they aren’t getting touched as much, or not at all, and they speak of the feeling of a “sense of invisibility.”

PH:
Yes, that loneliness comes up with so many of my patients.
It’s tragic that loss of hormones seems to suck the life out of both women and men. But, fortunately, as I sit there listening to patients, I know I am going to be able to help them; the mere fact that they are sitting in my office is an indicator that they want to do something about it. I always talk to my patients about their lives and what makes them happy. So often they express isolation and loneliness, a lack of sexual intimacy and intimacy in general. We also talk about the things that used to give them real joy but they now feel cut off from. I know by talking to them and looking at them what is wrong, but I always confirm by lab and blood work that we are dealing with an estrogen deficiency and/or an oxytocin deficiency.

SS:
Oxytocin?

PH:
Yes, when people have a deficiency of oxytocin, it causes them to feel cut off, and this in turn affects their health negatively.

SS:
Tell me about oxytocin. Isn’t this the “cuddle” hormone we associate with pregnancy?

PH:
Yes. Oxytocin is actually one of the newer hormones that I’ve been using. I originally learned about it when I was in training as a gynecologist because we would give women in labor oxytocin to induce labor.

SS:
So if I take this, my body is going to think I want to give birth?

PH:
Very funny. Oxytocin is the hormone responsible for a mother being able to nurse, while at the same time helping her relax and feel loving toward her child, rather than stressed.

SS:
Nature always amazes me. But I’m still not getting the connection to we women who are nonreproductive.

PH:
Well, for instance, I nursed all three of my children for a total of twelve years. I loved it. It caused me to feel relaxed, loving, and bonded with the children, and that is what oxytocin does.

SS:
Okay, now I get it. How fantastic. You mean if we take oxytocin hormones, we have better orgasms?

PH:
Yes, absolutely, and it causes better arousal. So it’s one of the important sexual as well as social hormones, and we are sexual and social animals. We naturally want to bond with other people and have those relationships.

SS:
So it’s a relationship-bonding hormone. Again, nature never ceases to amaze me. Why did you start giving this to men?

PH:
I started working with oxytocin ten years ago to help women have better orgasms. It worked, so I started wondering what it would do for men. I asked the male practitioners in my office if they would try it and see how it made them feel. Even though they said they didn’t feel anything dramatic except being more relaxed, the women in the room knew differently. We all felt the men were much more talkative, touched us more, felt sweeter, more present, and, to put it frankly, were just sexier. As I worked with my male patients and gave them oxytocin, they reported better orgasms and better ejaculate. Research supports that, and lots of other benefits, as well. It decreases blood pressure, increases the amount and the intensity of ejaculations, and decreases anxiety. It is also one of the tried-and-true ways I help people lose weight. About 10 mg of oxytocin every day helps curb appetites, resulting in weight loss and a sense of well-being. So actually there are a lot of benefits of oxytocin for men. When I first started giving women oxytocin, I gave them 10 mg, which didn’t have much effect on their orgasms, so I increased their dosages to 50 mg, knowing that when a woman is nursing she releases a tremendous amount of oxytocin with no side effects other than perhaps wanting a lot of sex.

SS:
[Laughs.] How bad could that be?

PH:
I would say not bad at all. A side effect that isn’t as pleasant is that occasionally oxytocin can lower cortisol levels in patients who have low adrenals. It is rare, but it might cause them to feel more tired.

SS:
Why, because they are so busy having sex and orgasms?

PH:
[Laughs.] Perhaps! But probably the fatigue is due to lowered cortisol levels. Actually, oxytocin also maintains a sense of peace, and it has beneficial physical effects in decreasing pain in the body; in addition, it helps with insomnia and general vitality. Also, Suzanne, it helps to increase low sperm counts.

SS:
But do men know to come to the Hall Center for erection or sperm motility problems?

PH:
Yes, men come to us every day, frequently because they are having problems with erections. I put them on oxytocin, and it really helps them. It’s a combination of several things for them—oxytocin, testosterone, human growth hormone, and thyroid—and it all brings the men back to life.

SS:
My readers are really going to react to this. First of all, who doesn’t want to have better orgasms and who doesn’t want to have a renewed interest in sex? We are all looking to feel good. I can confidently say, my readers are smart and they want to find the answers with natural remedies and protocols.

PH:
Exactly. You are spreading the word, Suzanne! One more thing: The effects of oxytocin and estrogen are magical when replaced in balance. Unfortunately, low estrogen causes low oxytocin.

SS:
So that explains why so many middle-age women have zero interest in sex. Low estrogen=low oxytocin=zero interest.

I think you are onto something, Prudence. This is a real Bombshell. The compounding pharmacists’ phones are going to be ringing off the hook once this book is published. By the way, can you send me a prescription? I’m no different from any other woman. I want some of this. Woo hoo!

PH:
Sure, Suzanne. I’ll send you a few bottles via courier. While you’re waiting for it to arrive, there are also ways to increase oxytocin naturally. You can exercise, and you know, just hugging or touching increases it. In medicine we are taught to touch our patients, and it’s important to touch our loved ones because it helps to increase oxytocin. And of course, replacing estrogen and all the missing hormones are important, too.

SS:
Do you have any other Bombshells, Prudence?

PH:
Well, there’s pregnenolone.

SS:
Let’s talk about that. It’s kind of a forgotten hormone. Rarely do I hear about any doctor putting a patient on pregnenolone.

PH:
It shouldn’t be forgotten. Pregnenolone is a hormone made by the adrenals that protects our brain and keeps our memories sharp. It gives energy, vitality, and a better sex drive and is an important hormone in weight loss.

SS:
How does that work?

PH:
When the adrenals are low due to stress, it’s very common to find that pregnenolone levels are low. Pregnenolone is a “mother hormone” because it helps to make a lot of other hormones in the
body. I like pregnenolone levels to be around 100 to 150 in both men and women.

SS:
Sounds great to me. And it’s a hormone our own body makes, so we’re just putting back what we have lost in the aging process. Another way to redefine aging and make it the pleasurable experience it should be.

So oxytocin and pregnenolone make for a serene, happy, loving, crazy sexy life. These are Bombshells!

I was speaking with a friend of mine recently; he’s an entertainer, about forty-two years old. He’s always on the road, has lots of stress, and goes through different time changes; I’m sure his cortisol is all off. We met through my books because he wanted to take testosterone. Nothing blunts hormones faster than stress and traveling. All the “rock and rollers,” I am sure, are more of an “act” than we realize, because with the drinking, poor diets, traveling, late nights, cigarettes, et cetera, believe me they cannot be the sex machines they make themselves out to be. It’s not physiologically possible, unless they are Viagra machines, too.