New York Times article on hormone replacement therapy

3 May 2010, admin on the topic of Anti Aging News, Bioidentical Hormones Portland, Hormone replacement commentary

On January 15th, 2010 the New York Times published an article on hormone replacement therapy titled “Vigor Quest”.  The author, Tom Dunkel, interviewed a patient a 51 year old man that is currently using testosterone replacement to maintain his vitality and youthfulness.  Tom continues to report on the opposition from some physician groups that believe this type of hormone replacement therapy is unwarranted and provides no therapeutic benefit and may even be unsafe.  My opinion on this article is that it is mostly a balanced report on the pros and possible cons of age management based hormone replacement therapy.

Age management medicine or anti-aging medicine is typically defined as the use of certain hormones (thyroid, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, growth hormone, etc.), supplements, medication, nutrition, exercise, and stress management to slow the effects of aging.  The average person’s hormone levels start to decline after the age of 30.  Some people refer to this as the time when our body’s start to slow down, gain weight, and lose muscle tone.  At least this is what we may perceive or see externally.  Other factors that we sometimes neglect to consider when thinking about getting older is the increased risk of disease.  Cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and cancer are typically found during the second half of life.  There is increasing scientific evidence demonstrating the possible benefits of low dose hormone replacement therapy and how it may prevent such diseases.

Obviously I am a proponent of hormone replacement therapy including testosterone for men and estrogen for women.  Though I do not believe that hormones are the key to the fountain of youth.  Nor do I think everyone across American that is over the age of 50 should be on hormones.  I recognize there are potential risks associated with hormone replacement therapy.  It is my job as the physician to minimize these risk through appropriate lab testing, a thorough review of health history, and good clinical judgment.  When these are combined the patient receives the best possible outcome with the lowest possible side effects.