Age Management M.D.'s Philosophy of Healthy Aging

Age Management M.D. is a unique medical practice that emphasizes the enhancement of health over the treatment of illness. Traditional medical practices follow a "fix it when it breaks" or "diagnose and treat" approach. Age Management M.D. is focused on prevention and wellness, resulting in a more dynamic life throughout middle age and beyond, i.e., 21st century medicine focused on optimal health and longevity.  Menopause and Andropause (the male menopause) can be a rewarding time of life.

The Aging Process

Scientific studies have shown that by the age of 40, most adults have significantly altered levels of several essential hormones, showing signs of approaching perimenopause, menopause and andropause. These lower levels contribute to a slow but steady decline in energy, loss of muscle mass, increased body fat, weaker bones, loss of skin tone, lapses in memory and diminished sexual drive and activity. These symptoms of aging become more and more noticeable as the years go on, beginning with the approach of menopause.

Research during the last decade has lead us to a new definition of the term "healthy". Being really healthy in this expanded sense of the word means living with the energy and vitality of someone many years younger; this in turn adds life to our years and years to our lives. The Age Management M.D. clinic can help you achieve this state of health. Based upon a thorough and comprehensive assessment of your history, an analysis of your blood, and evaluation of other biomarkers of aging, the Age Management healthcare team will design a program tailor-made for your particular needs and goals, whether you are a man experiencing andropause or a woman with menopause symptoms. The team will help you understand the status of your current biological age and will help you utilize that information in a way that can make a meaningful difference in the quality of your life. Your customized program will be a unique synergy of hormone modulation, optimal nutrition and supplementation, stress management, and exercise; it will be your guide to optimal health and longevity. Your hormone levels and nutritional supplementation will then be monitored regularly with ongoing communications between the healthcare team and you via tele-phone, e-mail, fax, and regular mail.

When you commit to the Age Management program, our healthcare team will become your guide and partner to a fuller, more vital life. Our caring and committed team is with you every step of the way. Age Management M.D. is setting the standard in Age Management Medicine, so your success is our success.

What is Menopause?

Menopause refers to that time in every woman's life when menstruation ceases completely. The ovaries' output of estrogen and progesterone diminishes severely. In addition to signifying the end of a woman's ability to have children, changing hormone levels affect the entire endocrine system. This is a process, which takes approximately 3 to 5 years. The transitional phase is referred to as the climacteric, or peri-menopause. Menopause is considered complete when a woman has had no periods for a full year. Although timing varies from woman to woman, menopause is generally complete in the early 50's.  Technically, menopause can occur anytime between 35 and 55 years.

What is Andropause?

Andropause, the male equivalent of menopause is real, although more subtle than menopause. Estrogen levels in women decline abruptly after menopause. With men, there is a gradual decline in androgens, the male sex hormones, usually starting in the 40's. Along with the decline in androgens is a rise in SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin), which are proteins that bind to testosterone that limit the amount and effectiveness of this hormone as men age. As with the age-related decline of human Growth Hormone (hGH), the loss of testosterone contributes to the familiar "pot belly" and declining muscle tone in middle-aged men. The symptoms of the male menopause include a waning interest in sex, difficulty in having and maintaining an erection, and decreased sexual satisfaction, as well as fatigue, depression, irritability, aches and pains, and stiffness.

Our hormone system is best understood if you think of it as a cascade (Figure 1), with the brain at the top followed by the pituitary gland, then target organs (i.e., ovaries, thyroid, testicles), and finally physical and mental functions (i.e., skin thickness, menstrual periods, sex characteristics, aggression, hair distribution, etc.).

This part of the day is devoted to establishing measurements on a number of indicators of biological aging. This is important to do this for two reasons:

• We believe it is essential to fully understand your state of health, prior to embarking on any hormone -modulating program.

• By establishing a baseline, we are able to track your progress objectively.

Before actually arriving at Age Management MD for the Complete Evaluation day you will have a battery of blood tests done to assess hormones, fitness and other factors. During the Complete Evaluation day we will do the following tests to round out the picture of your biological age. Bone densitometry and body composition.  Physical Therapy evaluation of strength, balance, range of motion, and resting VO2. Also a nutritional assessment, and then coaching.  Taken together with the blood tests, they present a remarkably complete picture of your current state of health and vitality, whether you are in perimenopause, menopause, andropause or are post menopause.

Why supplement?

Even an individual in menopause with the healthiest diet needs to supplement his or her intake of vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, and antioxidants. The nature of our food supply makes this a necessity. Our soils are depleted of vitamins and minerals from years of over-farming, chemical farming, "bioengineering" of foods, harvesting while still "green", prolonged storage systems and acid rain. Our bodies are now forced to deal with more stress than ever. Although the Paleolithic man had a stressful life just trying to survive, in some ways, he was better off than we are today. His body never had to deal with car exhaust, rooms filled with cigarette smoke, smog, outgassings from of-fice equipment, trans-fats, overly "refined" and processed foods (rather than whole foods) and refined sugars in his food. Our bodies need the proper weapons against these new enemies. We simply can not get them from our food, so we must supplement our diets to ensure healthy aging.

An important part of your MedBACE Day is your meeting with our nutritional consultant, to go over your test results, review any existing medical conditions or lifestyle issues, and work with you to design a personalized eating program and nutri-therapy component to further you in your anti-aging goals. There will be no one perfect "diet" to follow, since the cornerstone of our anti-aging program is that the particular needs of each patient vary from individual to individual. What follows is some basic information on our overall dietary philosophy:

The diet most synergistic with hormone therapy and relief from menopause symptoms is reminiscent of the Paleolithic diet eaten by our ancestors. That is a diet high in nutrient-dense foods (such as fruits, vegetables, lean meats and essential fats) and low in refined, overly processed, fats and simple carbohydrates. For thousands of years the human diet was very simple: If it grew from the ground, fell from the trees, or ran across our path, we ate it.

The Benefits of Exercise

As people begin aging, they lose lean muscle and their ability to utilize oxygen de-creases. Joints become stiff and metabolism slows down. Are these changes inevita-ble? No. They are directly related to decreased exercise. Through a regimen of consis-tent exercise we can rebuild our muscles, increase our metabolic rates, lower our risk of heart disease, improve our posture and increase the very quality of our lives, even after menopause.