Anti-Aging

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Intoduction to ANTI-AGING MEDICINE

at the Anti-Aging Institute

The field of Anti-Aging medicine is rapidly evolving and changing as new research is conducted and new discoveries are made. The active research in the field is leading in many different directions simultaneously. Most of the findings are in the very early stages and many theories are untested and unproven. Unfortunately, due to the nature of this continuously evolving field, a great deal of misinformation and questionable treatments abound, especially on the internet. We believe in the importance of not implementing treatments or supplements until they have been extensively evaluated and we urge caution before trying to implement preliminary findings. We urge all patients to consult with their trusted physicians to receive sound medical guidance before starting any new diets, exercise programs, or treatment plans. Here at the Anti-Aging-Institute, all the medical providers are trained physicians (M.D.'s) with decades of experience in the practice of clinical medicine.

Aging is a phenomenon which occurs in all living things. Some living things age rapidly and die after only a few days, while other animals live for over a hundred years. Some living things, like certain trees, can live for several hundred, or even thousands, of years. We are all mortal beings and we all gradually age over time. The aim of the Anti-Aging Institute is not to try to stop the aging process, but rather, to slow the process as much as possible, and to optimize the health of our patients as they age.

The basics of good health and longevity lie on a foundation of genetics, lifestyle, exercise and nutrition. However, as we age, we now know that replacement of certain hormones, vitamins, and minerals can play an important role in maintaining optimal health and performance.

As physicians and scientists, we observe that our patients age and become ill. We also have found that over time, certain hormones and nutrients found in our bodies gradually diminish. A well know example is the hormone Estrogen. When a woman approaches menopause, the amounts of naturally occuring estrogen in her body rapidly drops, causing a variety of symptoms and problems which could be considered to be a condition of accellerated aging. For example, her bones become weaker, more brittle, and more susceptible to fractures. Her gynecological organs become more atrophied, weakened, and more vulnerable to infections, injuries, and disease. Her skin becomes less elastic and more wrinkled. As physicians, we witness the fact that when we replace her Estrogen back to the levels that she had in her body when she was younger, these previously mentioned aging processes are dramatically slowed or even stopped. Extensive research has repeatedly showed this to be true and now ERT (Estrogen Replacement Therapy) is a common mainstream treatment in America and Europe. Similarly, other hormones such as human growth hormone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), testosterone, and thyroid hormone are also often found to decrease in our bodies as we age. We believe that, much like ERT (Estrogen Replacement Therapy), these other crucial hormones and nutrients can be replaced to help optimize our health as we age.

As another example, DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), an adrenal gland hormone similar to testosterone, begins a significant decline after the age of twenty five, and by the time we reach 70, it is only a small fraction of what it was 50 years earlier. One of the possible results of this decline is a reduction in immune system function, which in turn leads to easier and greater infection and disease. Other possible effects are the reduction of skeletal muscle mass, reduced mental acuity, and reduced sexual and physical energy. The replacement of DHEA back to the level it was in our twenties/thirties has been shown to increase energy, well being, and strengthen the immune system. Current technology provides us the ability to directly measure the level of this substance in the blood of our patients. If it is found to be deficient, we can provide the replacement of the substance in the form of a pill, and carefully adjust the dosage to restore the normal level of the substance in the blood of our patients.. You could refer to this as DRT (DHEA Replacement Therapy). This same process can be performed for other important hormones, such as human growth hormone (HGH), Testosterone, Estrogen and Thyroid hormone.

An important distinction must be made between our Anti-Aging Institute and other establishments in the field of Anti-Aging. We only recommend the replacement of hormones that have been scientifically shown to be deficient in our patients through the use of sophisticated blood analysis. We then periodically monitor the blood levels and adjust the dosages of the hormones to maintain the optimum doses. We are medical doctors with experience in treating general medical conditions as well as hormone treatments and analysis. We coordinate with other medical specialists to provided comprehensive medical evaluations and treatments for our patients. We recommend that patient NOT try to medicate themselves with potent hormone or hormone-releasing agents unless they are carefully supervised and frequently monitored by an physician. We also recommend that patients should NOT 'supplement' any of these agents to achieve blood levels higher than normal.

The main focuses for optimal health and life extension can be seen in all of the following groups:

1. Genetics:  While our genetic makeup is pre-determined, lifestyle, nutrition, and other activities controlled by us can radically affect the way our genes are expressed.
2. Lifestyle: With the reduction of stress, healthy living practices that mostly common sense, such as not smoking, drinking alcohol only in moderation, avoiding narcotics, eating fresh foods and a balanced diet, drinking clean pure water and avoiding radiation, heavy metals, pollution etc.
3. Toxins: Avoiding them as best we can including the lesser known toxins such as pesticides, preservatives, etc.
4. Exercise: Regular, non-traumatic, aerobic exercise.
5. Stress Reduction: Relaxation techniques to minimize stress and attempting to re-structure our lives to reduce the external stresses placed on us by employers, friends, etc.
6. Nutrition: Carefully chosen fresh, unpreserved foods, along with the judicious use of balanced multi-vitamins and minerals to ensure that all nutritional needs are being met, especially as these needs usually increase with age.
7. Anti-Oxidants: Using them, in moderation, to help eradicate free-radicals (a cause of premature aging) and to help eliminate pollutants, in turn this has a major benefit for the long-term health of an individual.
8. Hormone Maintenance: The carefully supervised use of hormones and precursors to ensure that they remain at appropriate levels and this, in turn, can lead to improved mental and physical capabilities.