It’s a New Year, 2014, and maybe the year when you decide to take the bull by the horns in your quest to stay younger, longer.  One of the best anti-aging therapies that have been put into use during the last decade is bioidentical hormone replacement therapy or BHRT for short.  If you’re over 50 and have been battling the annoying symptoms of aging, I’d like to tell you about the improvement, and/or relief, you can expect from BHRT.

Lost Your Love Life in All Those Wrinkles and Belly Fat?

 Now, I know, that doesn’t sound appealing, but unfortunately it’s too true for many men and women over the age of 50.  For some these unfortunate symptoms of aging may start closer to 60, and for others it may be as early as age 40.  But, when your natural hormones start taking a nosedive, decreased libido, increased belly fat, depression, and a myriad of other pesky symptoms start replacing them.  Yet, it doesn’t have to be that way.  You don’t have to suffer the slings and arrows of low testosterone or low estrogen.  They can be replaced with what anti-aging doctors refer to as bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT).

You may have heard that “hormone replacement” was fraught with health danger and have stayed away from trying it.  But, you should know that those dangers arise out of using synthetically created hormones.  These synthetic hormones were created by drug companies so that they could be patented as a completely unique substance as you cannot patent a natural substance.  It’s true, their synthetic hormones are unique – so unique, in fact, that at the molecular level they are completely different from the hormones that humans make in their own bodies.  That’s where the trouble starts and the dangerous side effects of heart disease, breast cancer, etc, come in.

Of course, when natural-based BHRT came along, synthetic hormone replacement then had competition, which spelled a loss of revenue for drug companies.  What better way to discredit their opposition than by putting out a scare campaign against BHRT? Yet, many of my patients, as well as millions of older men and women around the country, have safely and successfully been using natural based BHRT for over a decade.  It’s even been used longer in Europe.  Many people are enjoying the benefits of their former more youthful selves.

For Men:  Improved energy; fat loss, especially ugly belly fat; restoration of sex drive, better sleep, improved concentration and memory, happier mood, guard against osteoporosis, decreased risk of heart attack, alleviation of joint and muscle pain; reduced risk of prostate cancer.

For Women:  Alleviation of hot flashes and vaginal dryness (atrophic vaginitis), increased sex drive, decreased belly fat, improved skin thickening with diminished/banished wrinkles, improved energy, improved memory, sunnier mood, guard against osteoporosis and dangerous hip and wrist fractures; reduction/elimination of bladder and/or vaginal yeast infections; lowered risk of breast cancer and heart disease.

How To Get Started with BHRT

Getting started with BHRT begins with a visit to your doctor who is, hopefully, knowledgeable in administering BHRT.  If not, you can find an anti-aging doctor in your area that’s skilled in using BHRT through the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (see link below). Usually, Doctors of Medicine (M.D.’s) and Doctors of Osteopathy, (D.O’s), and (in most states) Nurse Practitioners (NP), are the health care professionals certified to administer BHRT.  You can also do a search for anti-aging doctors, or BHRT, in your area.

Once you get to a doctor, your current hormone levels will be assessed to see how deficient you are.   You may even opt to have your telomeres tested as well.  Some people, even at the same age, are not as deficient in their natural hormones as others. It all depends on your general overall health, nutrition choices, exercise frequency and lifestyle choices.  For example, women with more body fat, who exercise more frequently, likely have higher estrogen levels than thinner, lower weight women who don’t exercise much and/or may smoke.

The amount of deficiency of your own hormones determines the dosing for BHRT.  It is given in a prescription written for you by your doctor, the same as any other prescription you may be taking.  And, like your other prescriptions, it requires periodic follow-ups with your doctor to re-test your hormone levels and measure your response to them.       

Now, don’t confuse natural BHRT with over-the-counter herbal or homeopathic products that contain phytoestrogens (plant-based estrogens) and/or testosterone boosters.  Although these products can be helpful, they are much weaker dosages than the natural hormones used in BHRT, which are obtained only by prescription through assessment of your particular symptoms and hormone levels by your doctor.

The symptoms of aging can range from mild to dramatic in different people.  Yet, natural BHRT can dramatically improve these symptoms and/or prevent you from developing more.   They offer you the ability to feel and function like you did when you were 20 years younger when your hormones were at more ideal levels. They can really improve your quality of life as you get older and greatly decrease your risk of getting the chronic diseases of aging.

Stay Well,
Mark Rosenberg, M.D.

Directory of Anti-Aging Physicians and BHRT, http://www.a4m.com/directory.html

Natural Hormone Replacement THerapy http://www.beautymeetsstyle.com/successfully-reverse-aging-with-natural-hormone-replacement-therapy