Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones (26 page)

3. Natural bioidentical transdermal creams are the most effective delivery system. With cream, we are making a depot in your fat base. Your brain doesn’t receive hormones as hormones unless there’s a beat. By putting it in your fat base in cream form, every time your heart beats the blood goes through you and you get a little pulse of hormone.

4.
There’s really no cure for cancer. There is an understanding of cancer, however. If you give it what it wants, it stops, and it wants hormonal balance mimicking the way your body once made it. And when you understand cancer and give it what it wants, it stops bothering you.

5. One of the best but most overlooked ways to lose weight is to get to sleep early (between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m.). Doing so lowers cortisol and insulin.

PART TWO
M
EN AND
T
HEIR
H
ORMONES

Aging equates to disease.

Energy equates to health.

—Dr. Michael Galitzer

CHAPTER 12
M
EN AND
H
ORMONES:
I
T’S
N
OT
A
BOUT
E
RECTIONS
(W
ELL
, N
OT AT
F
IRST!
)

As men age and lose their testosterone, an “all-nighter” means not getting up to pee!

I
f men could understand the joy of replacing their declining hormones with real hormones, they would be flocking to their doctors’ offices. Most men are wrapped up in the thought process that testosterone is only for guys “who can’t get it up”! Not only do men experience the male equivalent of menopause—andropause—they also experience fluctuations exactly like women from environmental stresses and the stress associated with being a man in a very competitive world.

As men hit forty (and sometimes younger), hormonal changes occur that inhibit physical, sexual, and cognitive function. The first telltale sign of a typical middle-aged man is increased abdominal fat and shrinking muscles, which is a hallmark of declining hormones. Once broad shoulders begin to shrink and droop downward, there is a loss of well-being, sometimes manifesting as depression, fatigue,
alterations in mood and cognition, decreased libido, erectile dysfunction, prostate disease, and heart disease. All of these conditions are directly related to hormone imbalances that are correctable with diet, exercise, and bioidentical hormone replacement.

Even though a solution exists for men experiencing this hormonal decline, most still hide, run, and shrink from the therapy because somehow it is all tied up in their “manliness.” I feel bad as I watch older men regularly suffer the effects of hormonal decline because it doesn’t have to be this way. They lose their thoughts, run to the bathroom to pee constantly, lose their physiques, and quietly begin to fade to black rather than admit that all is not well. These men are in a state of hormonal decline, and it is correctable.

A
NDROPAUSE
I
S
R
EAL

Andropause, or male menopause, is finally becoming increasingly accepted. Andropause refers to the gradual but significant loss of testosterone, DHEA, and growth hormone: There is a slow and relentless decline of testicular function and, as a result, testosterone production.

We women lose our hormones (90 percent over a two-year period), and it’s so “in our face” that most of us would do anything to relieve the symptoms. But it takes men ten to twelve years to completely drain out; in fact, it’s so gradual that they do not attribute these “symptoms” to anything but aging. Most men have not realized that aging is declining hormones and that the decline can be slowed down and in some cases reversed with BHRT. Just as menopause is the change of life for women, andropause is the change of life for men. Every hormone has a “pause.” Andropause is becoming increasingly accepted by the medical community, yet there are still many doctors in this country and around the globe who don’t buy this premise. But look around you—men are falling apart, and it is happening younger and younger.

Other andropause symptoms to watch for include

• low energy
  
• fatigue
  
• loss in height or osteoporosis
  
• enlarged prostate
  
• depression
  
• anxiety
  
• less strong or less frequent erections
  
• impotence
  

Once men understand the benefits of real hormone replacement, once they “get it,” they’ll be as enthusiastic as the women who are on BHRT. Most women I ask say they would never give up their bioidenticals. The improvement in quality of life is so drastic, and so enjoyable, that life without them would be unthinkable. Men who have gotten turned on to real hormone replacement feel the same way. All of those symptoms men start to experience can be slowed down, and in most cases reversed, with bioidentical hormone replacement of the following hormones.

TESTOSTERONE

Testosterone is the hormone that gives men their strength and size. Most doctors don’t realize that testosterone starts dropping for young men in their early thirties, and it’s a long, gradual decline over the years. By the time a man is seventy, he typically has half the testosterone he had when he was thirty or younger.

Most guys think that as long as they can “get it up,” all is well, and for most men the erection is indeed the last thing to go. Way before that, you experience a general loss of vitality … just a tired, worn-out feeling. Your belly starts expanding, your doctor starts telling you things like “Watch your cholesterol,” you are put on statin drugs or blood pressure medicine. Your joints start aching, and your confidence begins to wane. It is crucial that men understand that testosterone loss is serious stuff, that low testosterone increases the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Testosterone is an “anabolic steroid,” meaning that it builds bone and muscle. The heart is the largest muscle in the body, therefore testosterone is vital to keep the “heart muscle” strong and pumping.
Testosterone also protects the heart by keeping cholesterol and blood pressure down. Age-related decline in testosterone closely parallels the increase in heart disease as men get older. Testosterone helps with heart conditions such as angina, and it increases blood flow to the heart.

The desire for sex as well as sexual sensation and performance is promoted by the stimulation of testosterone receptor sites in the nerves, blood vessels, and genitals.

Testosterone is also vital to the male frame; without it, the muscles begin to wither noticeably. A man who is experiencing testosterone loss can work out all day long but without results. Building muscle is impossible without testosterone. In fact, this factor alone is enough to get many men to consider replacement. No man wants his muscles to shrink. Testosterone also keeps your bones strong. Without it, a man can be prone to osteoporosis, which is not just a woman’s disease.

Testosterone protects your heart in other ways. For instance, it helps to prevent angina (pain or discomfort due to lack of oxygen to the heart muscle). Interestingly, age-related decline in testosterone closely parallels the increase in heart disease as men get older. This should tell you something.

The desire for sex, as well as sexual sensation and performance, is promoted by the stimulation of testosterone receptor sites in nerves, blood vessels, and the genitals. Low testosterone can lead to atrophy of the male genitals but can be reversed with testosterone replacement.

Testosterone is part of the template that tells the brain “All is well”—that this man is still reproductive (young). By now you know that bioidentical hormone replacement therapy is the secret to keeping your insides young and disease-free. It’s hard to understand why men are not jumping on this bandwagon, but I believe a big part of the problem is that the doctors do not understand the male hormonal system any better than they understand the female hormonal system.

Of all hormonal declines, loss of testosterone is the most common deficiency in men over age forty. Remember, a low or nonexistent sex drive is usually the last symptom to show up. Before that happens, the following changes in a man’s physical and emotional self make themselves known:

• shrinking muscles
  
• weight loss
  
• decreased stamina
  
• weaker erections
  
• fatigue
  
• depression
  
• irritability
  
• gallbladder problems
  
• enlarged breasts
  

Testosterone levels are established by blood and saliva tests. For men, the optimal range for total testosterone is between 6,000 and 9,000 pg/mL—the level you typically see in young, healthy men. According to Dr. Philip Lee Miller, men feel their best when their ranges are in the upper part of the normal range. Up to 99.7 percent of the total testosterone in circulation at any given time is bound up with proteins and is not in an active form. The amount of free, or available, testosterone should ideally be around 25 to 35 pg/mL.

If your numbers come back low, a qualified doctor can prescribe bioidentical hormone replacement therapy in the form of patches, creams, gels, and sublingual tablets or lozenges, or even injections. All testosterone products require a prescription. Proper treatment can restore your levels to a normal range so that you can experience reversal of a symptom.

This hormone decline is not going to stop. You really can’t ignore it. Every year, you go into further hormonal decline, so it makes sense that your hormone replacement needs would increase each year or more often depending upon your health and lifestyle. If you find that you are irritable or “testy,” testosterone can help, just as estrogen helps women who become “bitchy.” With hormones, too much or too little and you don’t feel “right.” Seemingly from out of nowhere, those seven dwarfs pop up again: Itchy, Bitchy, Sweaty, Sleepy, Bloated, Forgetful, and All-Dried-Up. They are real, and they visit men and women alike. The goal with balanced bioidentical hormone replacement is to send those dwarfs packing.

TESTOSTERONE AND PROSTATE HEALTH

After about age fifty or sixty, you may experience enlargement (benign prostatic hypertrophy, or BPH) or inflammation of your prostate gland, whose job is to contribute to the production of semen. The prostate is the male equivalent of a female breast; it has ducts just as in a woman’s breast, and in these ducts, testosterone makes food for the sperm. Without testosterone, prostate problems begin. No testosterone, no food for the sperm; no food for the sperm, no semen; no semen, no sex! Younger men don’t run out of sperm. Younger men don’t get enlarged prostates, and they rarely get prostate cancer. Why? Because their bodies make a full complement of hormones, including testosterone.

Prostate disease is so common that men expect it to catch up with them at some point in their lives as they age. But it doesn’t have to. You can head off prostate problems by beginning bioidentical testosterone replacement as soon as you become the slightest bit symptomatic.

Once the prostate has begun to age and wither, prostate disease has an opportunity to occur. It’s time to get your prostate checked if urination is painful or more frequent at night. This is your body talking to you … it’s a warning. An enlarged prostate is just the beginning of a downward slope. It’s another sign. I’ll say it again—young men don’t get enlarged prostates. Young men don’t run out of sperm; young men rarely get cancer. Because they make a full complement of hormones, including testosterone. Their ratio of estrogen to testosterone is in balance.

Testosterone replacement will make you feel young again, and you will enjoy the amazing health benefits: protection against heart disease, mental decline, prostate disease and prostate problems, loss of libido, and deteriorating muscles.

Mainstream medicine believes that an enlarged prostate is exacerbated by testosterone. If a man has an elevated PSA test, he is immediately taken off testosterone or is given a hormone ablation drug to stop all testosterone production. Did this happen in nature?

Enlargement of the prostate is caused by excessive proliferation of
the cells in the prostate. While many doctors believe that excess testosterone aggravates BPH, numerous studies show that high testosterone levels are not a risk factor. In fact, the latest research suggests that it may actually be high
estrogen
levels that cause excessive proliferation of the prostate cells. New-thinking doctors are questioning this standard of care. Testosterone is your life force. When you were young and fully hormonally productive, you did not have prostate problems. It is only in testosterone decline that problems occur. Does it make sense to take your testosterone away as a means to correct the problem? Doesn’t it seem that this would make the problem worse? The absence of testosterone takes away quality of life, and it also signals to the brain that all is not well … that you are no longer a reproductive person (remember, biologically speaking, we are here to perpetuate the species, and this includes men; otherwise we are not necessary). The “new thinking” is that you want to “put back” what you are losing in the aging process to perfect balance and stop the decline.

In his book
Life Extension Revolution
, Dr. Miller writes, “Evidence shows that prostate disease increases precisely as natural testosterone levels decline in the aging male and that the incidence of prostate dysfunction is at its lowest at the time when lifetime testosterone exposure is peaking.” Dr. Miller goes on to say, “Maintaining healthy testosterone levels is one of the most important things a man can do to protect the health of his prostate. The newest research suggests that low testosterone in combination with increasing estrogen may be the true culprit in prostate dysfunction.”