What is Anti-Aging Medicine?

What is Anti-Aging Medicine?

If you have had your cholesterol tested, taken a lipid-lowering drug, had a mammogram, or taken HRT with thyroid, testosterone, estrogen, melatonin, or DHEA, you have experienced anti-aging medicine. This form of medicine is based on the very early detection, prevention, and reversal of age-related disease. 90% of all adult illness is due to the degenerative processes of aging. This includes heart disease, most cancers, adult-onset diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, autoimmune disease, glaucoma, and Alzheimer's.

With early detection and appropriate intervention, most of these diseases can be prevented, cured, or have their downward course reversed.

Techniques for rejuvenating the body and lengthening life are already available to the doctors of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M). This chapter contains just a few of the most exciting developments.

Anti-aging medicine is the newest clinical medical specialty, the "optimum" of wellness and longevity, and employs extensive therapies and treatment in the preventative health care field far beyond just cholesterol testing and mammograms. A profound paradigm shift in the way the medical establishment views aging and age-related disease is now underway.

Our nation's health care system demands a radically different approach to how we view and medically treat aging. The demographics of aging necessitate we change from the current disease-based model of medicine, to a more preventative one, otherwise the U.S. will go bankrupt under the weight of the 76 million strong baby boomer generation as they reach retirement age in 2011, and develop the chronic, degenerative diseases of aging!

Physicians practicing anti-aging medicine seek to enhance the quality of life as well as its quantity, limiting the period of illness and disability toward the end of one's life. Anti-aging medicine encompasses life style changes (diet and exercise); hormone replacement therapies as needed -- determined by a physician through blood testing (DHEA, melatonin, thyroid, HGH, estrogen, testosterone); antioxidants and vitamin supplements; and testing protocols which can measure not only hormone levels and blood chemistry, but every metabolic factor in your body right down to the cellular level. Many of the dreaded diseases of today, such as Alzheimer's and osteoporosis, are preventable and treatable, even reversible, with proper modification of life styles, nutrition and medication.

Anti-aging medicine will forever change the way society views going to the doctor's office. Instead of waiting until a person is sick or exhibiting some type of symptoms, a person will visit the doctor, perhaps two times per year, to monitor potential illnesses or conditions -- before they occur. The advances made in modern medicine in beating the leading causes of death today (cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes) have been achieved via early detection and prevention techniques, rather than through disease-based treatments.

Exercise -- A Powerful Anti-Aging Prescription

A study by Ralph Paffenbarger and his colleagues involving 17,000 Harvard alumni found that men who burned 500 to 1,000 calories a week on physical activity (the equivalent of walking 5 to 10 miles) had a 22% lower risk of death for all causes, while those who expended 2,500 calories a week also added 1 to 2 years to their extended life span. People who are physically fit, eat a healthy, balanced diet and take nutritional supplements can slice 10 to 20 years off their biological age -- the true age that your body should be measured, in terms of function, rather than your chronological age as measured by the candles on your birthday cake.

Diet for Life

The biggest health problem facing Americans today is obesity. More than half of us are over our ideal weight and more than one-third are obese enough to significantly raise the risk of disease and premature death. Nutrition is one of the greatest weapons against disease. Keeping fats below 30% and cholesterol intake below 200 mg will markedly cut your risk of heart disease. Eating five servings a day of fruit and vegetables lowers your chances of getting cancer. And a recent study found that eating nine to ten daily servings of fruit and vegetables along with three servings low-fat dairy products is as effective as medication in lowering high blood pressure, and can help reduce or eliminate your chances of stroke.

Antioxidants Reduce Cellular Disease

Free radicals are highly reactive bits of molecules formed during the process of converting oxygen and food into energy. Like tiny exploding grenades, they can damage cells and the DNA. Thousands of studies support the idea that free radical damage contributes to age-related illnesses like cancer, heart disease and the aging process itself. Antioxidants (Vitamin A, C, E, and selenium) protect the cells by neutralizing the free radicals and may help prevent disease. Supplements of antioxidants can have a profound effect on risk of disease. For instance, a study at UCLA School of Public Health found that men who took 300 mg of vitamin C daily had a 45% lower risk of heart attack compared with men who took less than the U.S. Government Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA). Vitamin E also lowered heart attack risk by 41% in a large-scale Harvard study, while other studies showed that supplements of dietary fiber, and vitamins E and C probably do significantly reduce the risk of cancer.

HGH Reverses Aging

Starting at age 20 or so, HGH levels begin to decline about 14% each decade so that by the time we are 65, half of us have little or no HGH. The decline of HGH is accompanied by many of the miseries we associate with aging from saggy skin, to a potbelly, to a lack of vitality. But what would happen if HGH could be replaced in people who show signs of aging?

On July 5, 1990, Daniel Rudman, M.D., and his colleagues at the Medical College of Wisconsin made medical history with an article in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. It was the first clinical trial of elderly men on HGH. They compared the effects of six months' of HGH injections on 12 men, ages 61 to 81, with an age-matched control group. The result made headlines all over the world. Those taking the hormone injections gained an average of 8.8% in lean body mass and lost 14% in fat, without diets or exercise. Their skin became thicker and firmer and the lumbar bones of the spine increased. In other words, HGH had turned their flabby, frail, fat-bulging bodies into their sleeker, stronger, younger selves. In language rarely used in conservative medical journals, the researchers wrote: "The effects of six months of human growth hormone on lean body mass and adipose-tissue mass were equivalent in magnitude to the changes incurred during 10 to 20 years of aging."

Since that time, tens of thousands of studies in the world medical literature have documented the benefits of HGH therapy. These studies suggest a wide range of effects when HGH is replaced: reduced body fat, increased muscle mass, higher energy levels, enhanced sexual performance, regrowth of vital organs, restoration of youthful immune function, stronger bones, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, faster wound healing, smoother, firmer skin, regrowth of hair, sharper vision, elevated mood and improved cognition.

Replacement therapy with injectable HGH should only be done under the supervision of a doctor experienced in its use. While some studies have shown side effects of HGH replacement, such as joint pain and carpal tunnel syndrome at higher doses, these disappeared when the dosage was lowered.

There has also been concern whether HGH could stimulate the growth of cancer cells, but no study to date has found a higher rate of cancer in the tens of thousands of children and adults who received HGH treatment over the past 30 years. Two years ago, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved HGH therapy for use in HGH deficient adults; hardly a move the FDA would make if genuine compelling evidence existed of HGH's danger.

Stimulating HGH Naturally

Two-thirds of the older population will not require injections of HGH to get the age-reversing benefits. Instead, they can stimulate their own hormone levels naturally through a program that combines nutrient supplements, exercise, and diet. Commonly available nutrient supplements have been shown in scientific studies to release HGH. Moderate to intensive aerobic exercise, such as riding a stationary bike or running, can raise HGH levels one and a half to two and half times higher. High intensity weight training can increase levels three to four-fold. You can also maximize the effect of exercise and HGH releasers by losing weight if you are over your ideal body weight (obesity inhibits HGH release), following a diet that is low in fat, high in healthy proteins, and avoiding sugary, starchy foods -- insulin stimulating foods. Chapter 5 reviews hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and the tests that should be conducted by your physician to monitor your progress.

EDUCATE YOURSELF

• Optimize your antioxidant protection by eating 5-10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day and supplement with a high quality, high potency multivitamin/ antioxidant nutriceutical.
• For maximum longevity, limit fats to 30% or less.
• Exercise at least 15 minutes daily to maintain the minimum yet significant longevity benefit to over all health. With exercise, more is better: try for one hour a day, five days a week (check with your physician first).
• Look young, think young, and be young. "As a man thinketh, so shall ye be." True words - the mind-body connection is a powerful force in medicine, healing and longevity. Looking good will help you in feeling good.
• Drive a large vehicle and always wear seat belts. Odds are 200% better of surviving a crash than in a subcompact.
• Find a physician who will be your partner in your personal anti-aging medical program.
• Early detection and prevention is the cornerstone to longevity. Most cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, and all heart disease is curable if caught at Stage I (the earliest possible detection stage of disease
• Don't accept "You are just getting old" as an excuse for not feeling youthful and energetic. Fatigue, depression, slowed thought, truncal obesity, weakness, aches and pains are all treatable and reversible signs of aging that should alert you to a need for anti-aging medical intervention.
• If you are over the age of 45, have your hormone levels checked by a physician at least once a year.
• Maintain sexual performance and refuse to accept diminished function - this ability is an absolute indication of health and longevity.
• Apply for membership in the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. Your participation as a member of A4M is a powerful vote for advancing this new paradigm of science. A4M now represents more than 7,500 physicians and scientists in 50 countries, who believe aging is not inevitable. Join us in saying "NO" to the old reality of degenerative diseases of aging. Together we can change the reality of aging and eliminate old age disease. Together we will help usher in the ageless society of healthful, modern-time disease-free life spans of 100 years and beyond.