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Anti-aging Medicine: Wave of the Future, or Wrong Turn?

Anti-aging medicine is out of our general area of expertise, but it relates to one of our main interests: aging well. Hormone replacement therapy for men is nothing new. Years ago, I remember my father, a medical doctor, talking about the benefits experienced by some of his aging male patients after receiving testosterone injections. More recently, Ive received emails from older readers telling me how much better they feel and how much better their training is going after their doctor prescribed testosterone supplementation. One particularly enthusiastic 61-year-old man told me shortly after he started taking a testosterone pill under his tongue -- his testosterone had been found to be "low normal," and he had experienced a lack of muscle tone and a tendency to shift fat to his waistline, even though he was keeping his body weight stable and training regularly with weights -- that he was experiencing "a vast increase in energy." A month later, he reported that his doctor had switched him to a testosterone patch which "provides the same level of rise and fall of the testosterone level as is normal in young men." He said he was making "phenomenal" gains in body weight and strength. "I have not experienced anything like it since I was 20 years old," he wrote.

This man understood that the long-term effects of testosterone replacement are largely unknown, but assured me that he was being carefully monitored by his doctor for negative side effects. "The physical effects are too good to do without," he added. I still receive positive reports from him from time to time. He is now almost 65 and tells me hes still slowly getting stronger.

But it was not until doctor David Chauvin, an emergency room physician from Ohio, visited with us earlier this year that I realized that anti-aging medicine is a fast-emerging specialty. Immediately before coming to Albuquerque, Dave was in Las Vegas, Nevada, talking with the doctors at the Cenegenics Medical Institute. With close to 600 patients, Cenegenics is probably the countrys largest "age management medicine" practice. Dr. Barry Sears, who developed "The Zone Diet," is a high-profile patient, and three-time Mr. Olympia Frank Zane (58) wrote in the summer 2000 issue of his Building the Body newsletter (www.frankzane.com) that he is taking supplemental thyroid, human growth hormone and testosterone prescribed by Cenegenics Dr. David Leonardi.

[We received an email dated 11/19/2008, from Ann Castro, Director of Public Relations, submitting a letter from Cenegenics CEO Kristy N. Berry. The letter says Cenegenics Medical Institute is the world's largest age management medicine practice, with over 15,000 patients worldwide. In addition, Berry states that Cenegenics is not part of the anti-aging movement. "Unlike our 'anti-aging' counterparts, Cenegenics is pro-aging--regarding aging as a natural process (not a disease) that can be managed," Berry writes. "Furthermore, we do not claim to affect aging at the cellular level, claim to increase longevity or use pseudo-science." For more details, please visit their website: http://www.cenegenics.com ]

Dave Chauvin brought me a packet of material on anti-aging medicine. One of the things I learned was that the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M) now has 8500 physician members and, according to A4M president Ronald Klatz, MD, DO, the membership is doubling every year. Clearly, this is a trend worth watching.

The article which follows is an outgrowth of my discussions with Dave Chauvin. I asked Dave to give our readers an overview of anti-aging medicine, with special attention to its most controversial therapy, multi-hormone optimization. Many traditional physicians question the wisdom of restoring hormones to the levels of youth; they believe thats too aggressive, at least until we have a better understanding of the long-term consequences. Some physicians, such as well-known alternative medicine proponent Andrew Weil, MD, dont believe in anti-aging medicine; they believe the aging process should be accepted and adapted to with conservative and healthful tactics, not fought. In a recent issue of Modern Maturity magazine, Dr. Weil said, "Healthy aging is having the physical faculties, mental faculties, and energy to do what you want as you move through life and being comfortable with the aging process."

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Anti-Aging Medicine - Clarence Bass