BodyLogicMD Patient Responds to Roanoke Times Article

 

In response to your article (Age Matters: Do Men Need Hormone Therapy?), I felt compelled to respond to your comments. I do not mean to be disrespectful to or towards you in any way. I do not pretend to be a doctor, however I am through in researching ways to manage my health and do understand a great deal about the human body. Not claiming to be an expert, but I do know quite a bit more than the average lay person. I am merely trying to show that TRT is very safe and effective. I will back up my statements with clinical evidence. Most of the evidence is peer reviewed.

 

I too was like the gentleman from Bedford, VA.; I knew something was wrong with me. At age 37 things were not quite right with me. By age 43 I noticed huge changes with my body and overall state of health. I was suffering from anxiety, increase in cholesterol (285 mg/dL), triglycerides (245 mg/dL), blood pressure (150's/100's), PSA (0.5 ng/mL), "beer belly", fatigue, onset insulin resistance, loss of motivation, sexual dysfunction and "man boobs". My biological markers were not looking good at all.

 

I was experiencing these things despite eating a healthy diet and regular exercise (treadmill and weight lifting). In the gym I was getting weaker. In my personal life I was suffering due to lack of motivation and other factors. Lets face it I was very depressed. I began researching TRT at about age 40 and have accumulated a four foot high stack of papers on the subject. At the age of 44 I began TRT after years of research. I am very glad that I did not listen to the mainstream doctors and took charge of my health.

 

I went to my family doctor, then to a urologist and finally an endocrinologist. I questioned my levels of hormones. In all cases they said, diet and exercise was all I needed. All of them wanted to mask my real problem by prescribing me medications for my 'symptoms". They wanted me on medicine for diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, anxiety and erectile dysfunction. That's five different medications! I refused to put those toxins in my body. The side effects are many which usually lead to more medication. So, being desperate and knowing what the real problem was, I went to see a doctor from BodyLogicMD, Dr. Heidi Archer. She is in Potomac Falls, VA. The doctors at BodyLogicMD are expertly trained in bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Not only that, they understand nutrition and exercise. They believe in taking nutritional supplements. They are on the cutting edge of the aging human. Is it expensive? Not at all, and I feel better now than at age 25!

 

**Dr. Camardi article comments in bold italics.

 

"Over the years, I have seen the discussion surrounding male hormonal aging evolve to the point where there is general agreement of its existence but a lack of consensus as to the safe management of this normal aspect of the aging process."

 

There is a lot of data out there that addresses the safe management of TRT. (1-10) The correct management of TRT is to restore the hormone levels to the physiological levels of a young man between the ages of 18 -25 (Shores MM et al 2004).

 

The critical values are the correlation of Free T to Estradiol, PSA and DHT. The management of the metabolic pathways of T is critical and is what most studies do not do. That is why men on TRT sometimes feel worse than when not on TRT. Free T must always be higher than estradiol; optimal would be double the amount of Free T to estradiol. To manage these levels usually chrysin is given and is double the amount of T prescribed. If that does not work then anastrozole is given, 0.5 mg twice a week to control the aromatase enzyme. To control DHT the supplements saw palmetto, nettle root, lycopene, beta-sitoserol and bioprene (this must be used in combination to be effective and there are supplements with this mix available) are used. Sometimes dutasteride in needed because it blocks both 5-alpha-reductase 1 and 2 and is considered more effective. All of the drugs mentioned can be compounded for a fraction of the cost as the name brands. My compounded anastrozole costs $20 and my T costs $30 per month. The brand name drugs would be in excess of $350 per month!

 

The "cookie cutter" FDA approved forms of bioidentical T cannot be custom tailored to each individuals needs. Compounded bioidentical T can be custom tailored to each individuals needs. This is the proper approach. Give West Pharmacy or the Kroger Compounding Pharmacy a call for more information.

 

"This is a natural part of aging and a condition where the natural decrease in the body's production of T could be countered with medication to correct the imbalance as logical as this seems we have not reached the point where this can be achieved with uniform safety."

 

This is simply not a true statement. Perhaps you should do some research into Abraham Morgentaler, MD, FACS and his studies which have been peer reviewed and destroys the works of Charles B. Huggins that were done in 1941 and the JAMA article released in January 2008 available at pubs.ama-assn.org/media/2008j/0101.dtl#1 (this is a horribly flawed study in about every way). I believe the real fear of both doctors and men is prostate cancer. In the many studies on T, there are none that indicate or even have any basis to show that T causes prostate cancer. In fact, men with low levels of T have a greater chance of prostate cancer positive biopsies. Dr. Morgentaler also shows that men with prostate cancer can receive TRT once the cancer has been taken care of. (11-39)

 

Please read Testosterone for Life (McGraw-Hill; 2008). It is very well written and clearly shows the safety, testing, method of delivery and multiple benefits of T. One question I have is why do doctors replace low thyroid hormone but do not replace low testosterone? Why is high cholesterol treated? They are part of the natural aging process.

 

Other studies related to TRT are from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 2008, Dr. Carpenter from the University of North Carolina of Public Health, who stated that "we should finally move on beyond the belief but unsupported view that high T is a risk for prostate cancer." Look into the works of Jonathan Wright, MD.

 

I have nearly 100 pages of reference material supporting TRT. I often wonder in amazement why doctors always treat their patients with the standard protocol when research clearly has newer better ways of treating patients.

 

"Before we discuss TRT, you should visit the Tried and True Triad of common sense health: restful sleep, a lean diet and stimulating exercise - all low tech, boring and very cheap in comparison with the cost of the drug, the lab tests and the doctor's visits."

 

TRT alone will not work as effectively if you do not do the Triad. The labs are cheap. You can get a comprehensive CBC and hormone levels from Life Extension Foundation for $269. That is cheaper than my insurance co-pay! Others are available for as little as $69. ZRT Labs is another source. No wonder health care costs are spiraling out of control. Labs from my doctor would have been $1400 plus!

 

"Now, the Triad is not easy, must be done by yourself and takes self-control, planning and discipline. But it works, and I'll say that it works better than TRT."

 

I am sorry I cannot believe you made this statement. If your hormones are out of balance, the only thing that is going to work is to restore them. Your hormones control nearly every aspect of the body. My weight loss using the Triad was minimal at best. Once my hormones were balanced my waist went from almost 40" to 34" and my weight has dropped from 240 lbs. to 208lbs! I have packed on some lean muscle mass. All of this would have been impossible without TRT.

 

In 2001 the American Aging Association along with the American College of Clinical Gerontology and the American Federation for Aging Research said that aging is no longer being described as an inevitable downward spiral about which nothing can be done. They said that exercise prevents pathology, but does nothing to extend maximum life span. The gerontologists agreed that exercise played a key role in health span, but like nutrition, there is some question about which type and amount is best. Exercise appears to help prevent disease and extend the number of healthy years.

 

It was concluded that DHEA has marketed effects on abdominal obesity and insulin resistance. Polyphenols have an effect on the inflammation response by preventing it. One discussion was that T is converted to estradiol in the male brain which protects against neural loss. Progesterone was key in this as well. They concluded that correct physiological hormone replacement is likely to become part of the neuroprotective regimen. The focus was on prevention and not waiting until symptoms become obvious.

 

"Some worrisome side effects have caused men I have seen using TRT to stop using it, making them psychologically worse off than when they started. The side effects are many and include problems involving prostate cancer, blood clots, liver toxicity and abnormalities of lipid metabolism."

 

Unfortunately this is true if you use the synthetic anabolic steroids. Methyltestosterone, developed in the 1900's and still used today, is known to cause liver cancer. I do not believe methyltestosterone is naturally occurring in the body. It is not T itself that causes these problems it is the kind of T used. Bioidentical T has the exact same molecular structure as T formed in the body. Unfortunately the FDA considers synthetics the same as naturally occurring substances. How wrong can that be? It is like saying that synthetic wood behaves the same as natural wood when exposed to the elements. To class bioidentical T in the same class as the synthetics is like mistaken identity of someone who is accused of committing a crime when they are innocent. There is no evidence to support bioidentical T causing any of the problems that you mentioned. If T causes abnormalities in lipid metabolism why is it that my cholesterol went from 285 mg/dL and a ratio of 5.1 to 188 mg/dL and a ratio of 2.2? It done the exact opposite of what an endocrinologist said that it would do. My triglycerides went from 245 mg/dL to 107 mg/dL. (40-67)

 

I am going to share my labs with you before and after TRT. According to what you said about TRT I find it curious that I feel super now that my hormones are balanced. Clearly you can see that my estradiol was 4.4 times higher than my free T. Estrogen dominance is a horrible thing in the male. This balance must be reversed, if not you spiral into an unhealthy state prone to all the nasty things you mentioned TRT would do to you. Thank God I did not listen to mainstream medical doctors. Please pass this info along to the man in Bedford, VA. At least give him a chance to make a difference in his life and to get the real facts.