creekrat
MuscleHead
- Sep 9, 2012
- 267
- 143
Menopause and Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)
LifeXMD.com - November 24, 2012 - If you’re a woman approaching midlife, you may be wondering what surprises menopause will bring. You may already even be juggling some of the physical and emotional symptoms that are part of this time.
“This can be the start of a new and positive life stage,” says Professor Jane Fisher, clinical psychologist and director of research at the Jean Hailes for Women’s Health Foundation.
“Forget the stereotypes about older women having less to contribute. It can be one of the best phases of your life.”
Women may start experiencing symptoms in the five or so years leading to menopause, a period known as “perimenopause.” This usually starts in the late 40s, with women reaching menopause – having their last menstrual period – in their early 50s.
The truth about hormone replacement therapy
“There has been a lot of misinformation about HRT,” says Dr Elizabeth Farrell, gynecologist with Jean Hailes for Women’s Health. “Some have inaccurately linked it with breast cancer. Get accurate information about HRT from a health specialist who understands this area. HRT is one of the most effective treatments for symptoms such as hot flushes and night sweats,” she says.
“Don’t suffer unnecessarily. Some women have been untreated and suffered more than they should have,” Farrell says. She advises women who are having symptoms that are interfering with their lives to talk to a physician experienced with HRT.
LifeXMD is the leader in comprehensive life-enhancing vitality support. Offering physician-supervised bio-identical hormone replacement as well as a full range of wellness modalities, we can help you defy the effects of aging, meet your fitness goals and get back to full enjoyment of your life. Visit www.LifeXMD.com today for more information or to schedule a No Charge Consultation.
2
Early Initiation of Hormone Replacement Therapy Halves Risk of Death for Menopausal Women
LifeXMD.com - November 17, 2012 - Physicians should aim to initiate hormone replacement therapy (HRT) as early as possible after menopause, as it can halve a woman’s risk of death or a serious cardiovascular event, say Danish Osteoporosis Prevention Study researchers.
The ten-year study found that initiating HRT less than two years after women have stopped menstruating resulted in a significant 52% reduction in death, heart failure or myocardial infarction compared to women not receiving treatment.
The study adds support to the ‘timing hypothesis’ for HRT – a theory that differences in cardiovascular outcome are explained by the time between menopause and the start of HRT.
Danish researchers followed 502 women aged 45-58 whose last menstrual period was three to 24 months prior to study entry or had perimenopausal symptoms for ten years. They compared them with 504 controls who were randomized to no hormone therapy.
They found a 43% decreased risk of death, an 86% decrease in heart failure risk and a 75% reduced likelihood of myocardial infarction in the HRT group compared with those not receiving treatment.
There was no significant difference between the two groups for cancer occurrence – 36 cases in the HRT group compared with 39 in the control group. Breast cancer rates were also non-significant between the two groups – 10 in the intervention arm compared with 17 in the controls.
Study lead Dr Louise Lind Schierbeck, registrar in endocrinology at Hvidovre Hospital in Denmark, said: “Our findings suggest that initiation of HRT in women early after menopause significantly reduces the risk of the combined endpoint of mortality or heart failure. Importantly, early initiation and prolonged HRT did not result in an increased risk of breast cancer or stroke."
LifeXMD is the leader in comprehensive life-enhancing vitality support. Offering physician-supervised bio-identical hormone replacement as well as a full range of wellness modalities, we can help you defy the effects of aging, meet your fitness goals and get back to full enjoyment of your life. Visit www.LifeXMD.com today for more information or to schedule a No Charge Consultation.
3
Finally, Affordable Testosterone Replacement Therapy
LifeXMD.com - November 20, 2012 -If you are concerned about the possibility of low testosterone -- lack of energy, reduced sex drive, just feeling old -- but have been putting off investigating testosterone replacement therapy because you thought it was unaffordable, it’s time to check out LifeXMD. We can develop a therapy program to both reach your goals and fit your budget.
Many offices require you to come in weekly for administration of medications or hormones. We can prescribe up to a six-month supply of custom-compounded medications and supplements, delivered directly to you without weekly office visits. LifeXMD saves you time, is much more convenient and there are no additional office visit charges. How much can you save by choosing LifeXMD? Most medical practices offering hormone replacement therapy require you to physically come into the office for your weekly injection of off-the-shelf, not custom-compounded testosterone. Typically, they charge $25 for each weekly visit and shot. That means that, over the course of 10 weeks, you would pay $250 for your medication -- not to mention the cost of gas, inconvenience and lost time for making 10 office visits.
At LifeXMD, we teach you how safely do your own injections and prescribe a 10-week supply of custom-compounded testosterone which is delivered directly to you at a cost of only $150. That’s a savings of $500 every 10 weeks, or more than $500 per year. In addition, at LifeXMD you are getting medication that is custom-compounded for you by a PCAB-accredited compounding pharmacy. PCAB accreditation represents the highest standards of purity, quality and safety for specialized compounding pharmacies.
In addition, if you qualify for our “American Hero" program -- Military, Police, or Fire service, you will receive a $100 discount off your initial physical evaluation and a 10% discount on all Medication Orders. It’s our small way of saying thanks to those who serve and protect us.
4
Is “Male Menopause" for Real?
LifeXMD.com - November 20, 2012 - As reported in Newsweek Magazine: You're a guy in your late 50s. You've just awakened and are looking at yourself in the bathroom mirror--as you do every morning. Only today you notice for the first time what must have been there for a while: the love handles, the once bulging pecs that now sort of sag. It gets you thinking. You realize that for some time you haven't had as much energy as you used to, you don't have as much interest in sex, there are times when you feel down and discouraged, and your friends tell you that you're more irritable than you used to be. Is this just aging? Is it simply the inevitable price of your nutritionally rich and exercise-poor lifestyle? Or is it a medical condition--one for which there might be a treatment?
Are you entering "male menopause"? You've heard the phrase, but is there really such a thing?
Like women, men experience a drop in the levels of sex hormones as they age. But in men, the pace of these changes is quite different. In women, levels of the main female sex hormone, estrogen, remain high for most of their adult lives, and then, around the age of 50, plunge over the course of five years. The lower levels of estrogen cause the physical and psychological changes of menopause, including the most obvious one: the cessation of menstrual periods. When a woman has entered menopause, it's not hard for her to tell.
With men, it's much more gradual. Levels of a man's main sex hormone, testosterone, begin to drop as early as the age of 30. Instead of plunging over a few years, the testosterone levels drop very slightly (about 1 percent) each year--for the rest of his life. This change is so gradual that many men may not notice any effects until several decades have gone by. Yet, by 50, 10 percent of all U.S. men have low levels of testosterone. By 70, more than half are testosterone deficient.
Do the progressively lower levels of testosterone cause symptoms in a man, the way lower levels of estrogen do in a woman? There is no doubt that they can, but it can be very hard to tell. Men with certain rare conditions that cause extremely low levels of testosterone develop a loss of muscle mass and bone strength, increased body fat, decreased energy, less interest in sex, erectile dysfunction, irritability and depression. In men with these rare conditions, testosterone-replacement therapy can improve their symptoms.
In the average man, however, linking testosterone levels to symptoms and predicting which men with low levels will benefit from treatment is tricky, for several reasons. First, there are many conditions that can cause the symptoms associated with testosterone deficiency. Alcohol abuse, thyroid and other hormonal disorders, liver and kidney disease, heart failure and chronic lung disease can all cause similar symptoms. Depression can cause many of these symptoms in men with perfectly normal levels of testosterone.
Second, some testosterone in the blood is "active" and other testosterone is inactive. It is low levels of active testosterone that cause symptoms of testosterone deficiency, yet doctors typically test just for "total" testosterone. Third, testosterone levels vary widely among men of the same age, including the majority of men without symptoms of testosterone deficiency. Fourth, testosterone levels fluctuate over the course of the day and vary widely among healthy men. For all those reasons, it's difficult to determine what a "normal" level of testosterone is.
Perhaps most perplexing, men experience symptoms of testosterone deficiency at very different levels: some men with what appear to be low levels of active testosterone have no symptoms, and some men with what appear to be "normal" levels of active testosterone have symptoms that improve with testosterone therapy.
Despite these complexities, symptoms due to testosterone deficiency in men older than 50 definitely occur and can be diagnosed and treated. As many as 10 million U.S. men may be affected. As the baby-boomer generation ages over the next 25 years, this number is expected to rise significantly.
So what should you do if you have symptoms that could reflect a testosterone deficiency? If you are older than 50 and have symptoms, see your doctor. The doctor should first determine whether the symptoms may be caused by other conditions. If not, the doctor should measure blood levels of total testosterone. The tests should be done in the morning, when testosterone levels are the highest, and repeated at least once to ensure accuracy.
LifeXMD.com - November 24, 2012 - If you’re a woman approaching midlife, you may be wondering what surprises menopause will bring. You may already even be juggling some of the physical and emotional symptoms that are part of this time.
“This can be the start of a new and positive life stage,” says Professor Jane Fisher, clinical psychologist and director of research at the Jean Hailes for Women’s Health Foundation.
“Forget the stereotypes about older women having less to contribute. It can be one of the best phases of your life.”
Women may start experiencing symptoms in the five or so years leading to menopause, a period known as “perimenopause.” This usually starts in the late 40s, with women reaching menopause – having their last menstrual period – in their early 50s.
The truth about hormone replacement therapy
“There has been a lot of misinformation about HRT,” says Dr Elizabeth Farrell, gynecologist with Jean Hailes for Women’s Health. “Some have inaccurately linked it with breast cancer. Get accurate information about HRT from a health specialist who understands this area. HRT is one of the most effective treatments for symptoms such as hot flushes and night sweats,” she says.
“Don’t suffer unnecessarily. Some women have been untreated and suffered more than they should have,” Farrell says. She advises women who are having symptoms that are interfering with their lives to talk to a physician experienced with HRT.
LifeXMD is the leader in comprehensive life-enhancing vitality support. Offering physician-supervised bio-identical hormone replacement as well as a full range of wellness modalities, we can help you defy the effects of aging, meet your fitness goals and get back to full enjoyment of your life. Visit www.LifeXMD.com today for more information or to schedule a No Charge Consultation.
2
Early Initiation of Hormone Replacement Therapy Halves Risk of Death for Menopausal Women
LifeXMD.com - November 17, 2012 - Physicians should aim to initiate hormone replacement therapy (HRT) as early as possible after menopause, as it can halve a woman’s risk of death or a serious cardiovascular event, say Danish Osteoporosis Prevention Study researchers.
The ten-year study found that initiating HRT less than two years after women have stopped menstruating resulted in a significant 52% reduction in death, heart failure or myocardial infarction compared to women not receiving treatment.
The study adds support to the ‘timing hypothesis’ for HRT – a theory that differences in cardiovascular outcome are explained by the time between menopause and the start of HRT.
Danish researchers followed 502 women aged 45-58 whose last menstrual period was three to 24 months prior to study entry or had perimenopausal symptoms for ten years. They compared them with 504 controls who were randomized to no hormone therapy.
They found a 43% decreased risk of death, an 86% decrease in heart failure risk and a 75% reduced likelihood of myocardial infarction in the HRT group compared with those not receiving treatment.
There was no significant difference between the two groups for cancer occurrence – 36 cases in the HRT group compared with 39 in the control group. Breast cancer rates were also non-significant between the two groups – 10 in the intervention arm compared with 17 in the controls.
Study lead Dr Louise Lind Schierbeck, registrar in endocrinology at Hvidovre Hospital in Denmark, said: “Our findings suggest that initiation of HRT in women early after menopause significantly reduces the risk of the combined endpoint of mortality or heart failure. Importantly, early initiation and prolonged HRT did not result in an increased risk of breast cancer or stroke."
LifeXMD is the leader in comprehensive life-enhancing vitality support. Offering physician-supervised bio-identical hormone replacement as well as a full range of wellness modalities, we can help you defy the effects of aging, meet your fitness goals and get back to full enjoyment of your life. Visit www.LifeXMD.com today for more information or to schedule a No Charge Consultation.
3
Finally, Affordable Testosterone Replacement Therapy
LifeXMD.com - November 20, 2012 -If you are concerned about the possibility of low testosterone -- lack of energy, reduced sex drive, just feeling old -- but have been putting off investigating testosterone replacement therapy because you thought it was unaffordable, it’s time to check out LifeXMD. We can develop a therapy program to both reach your goals and fit your budget.
Many offices require you to come in weekly for administration of medications or hormones. We can prescribe up to a six-month supply of custom-compounded medications and supplements, delivered directly to you without weekly office visits. LifeXMD saves you time, is much more convenient and there are no additional office visit charges. How much can you save by choosing LifeXMD? Most medical practices offering hormone replacement therapy require you to physically come into the office for your weekly injection of off-the-shelf, not custom-compounded testosterone. Typically, they charge $25 for each weekly visit and shot. That means that, over the course of 10 weeks, you would pay $250 for your medication -- not to mention the cost of gas, inconvenience and lost time for making 10 office visits.
At LifeXMD, we teach you how safely do your own injections and prescribe a 10-week supply of custom-compounded testosterone which is delivered directly to you at a cost of only $150. That’s a savings of $500 every 10 weeks, or more than $500 per year. In addition, at LifeXMD you are getting medication that is custom-compounded for you by a PCAB-accredited compounding pharmacy. PCAB accreditation represents the highest standards of purity, quality and safety for specialized compounding pharmacies.
In addition, if you qualify for our “American Hero" program -- Military, Police, or Fire service, you will receive a $100 discount off your initial physical evaluation and a 10% discount on all Medication Orders. It’s our small way of saying thanks to those who serve and protect us.
4
Is “Male Menopause" for Real?
LifeXMD.com - November 20, 2012 - As reported in Newsweek Magazine: You're a guy in your late 50s. You've just awakened and are looking at yourself in the bathroom mirror--as you do every morning. Only today you notice for the first time what must have been there for a while: the love handles, the once bulging pecs that now sort of sag. It gets you thinking. You realize that for some time you haven't had as much energy as you used to, you don't have as much interest in sex, there are times when you feel down and discouraged, and your friends tell you that you're more irritable than you used to be. Is this just aging? Is it simply the inevitable price of your nutritionally rich and exercise-poor lifestyle? Or is it a medical condition--one for which there might be a treatment?
Are you entering "male menopause"? You've heard the phrase, but is there really such a thing?
Like women, men experience a drop in the levels of sex hormones as they age. But in men, the pace of these changes is quite different. In women, levels of the main female sex hormone, estrogen, remain high for most of their adult lives, and then, around the age of 50, plunge over the course of five years. The lower levels of estrogen cause the physical and psychological changes of menopause, including the most obvious one: the cessation of menstrual periods. When a woman has entered menopause, it's not hard for her to tell.
With men, it's much more gradual. Levels of a man's main sex hormone, testosterone, begin to drop as early as the age of 30. Instead of plunging over a few years, the testosterone levels drop very slightly (about 1 percent) each year--for the rest of his life. This change is so gradual that many men may not notice any effects until several decades have gone by. Yet, by 50, 10 percent of all U.S. men have low levels of testosterone. By 70, more than half are testosterone deficient.
Do the progressively lower levels of testosterone cause symptoms in a man, the way lower levels of estrogen do in a woman? There is no doubt that they can, but it can be very hard to tell. Men with certain rare conditions that cause extremely low levels of testosterone develop a loss of muscle mass and bone strength, increased body fat, decreased energy, less interest in sex, erectile dysfunction, irritability and depression. In men with these rare conditions, testosterone-replacement therapy can improve their symptoms.
In the average man, however, linking testosterone levels to symptoms and predicting which men with low levels will benefit from treatment is tricky, for several reasons. First, there are many conditions that can cause the symptoms associated with testosterone deficiency. Alcohol abuse, thyroid and other hormonal disorders, liver and kidney disease, heart failure and chronic lung disease can all cause similar symptoms. Depression can cause many of these symptoms in men with perfectly normal levels of testosterone.
Second, some testosterone in the blood is "active" and other testosterone is inactive. It is low levels of active testosterone that cause symptoms of testosterone deficiency, yet doctors typically test just for "total" testosterone. Third, testosterone levels vary widely among men of the same age, including the majority of men without symptoms of testosterone deficiency. Fourth, testosterone levels fluctuate over the course of the day and vary widely among healthy men. For all those reasons, it's difficult to determine what a "normal" level of testosterone is.
Perhaps most perplexing, men experience symptoms of testosterone deficiency at very different levels: some men with what appear to be low levels of active testosterone have no symptoms, and some men with what appear to be "normal" levels of active testosterone have symptoms that improve with testosterone therapy.
Despite these complexities, symptoms due to testosterone deficiency in men older than 50 definitely occur and can be diagnosed and treated. As many as 10 million U.S. men may be affected. As the baby-boomer generation ages over the next 25 years, this number is expected to rise significantly.
So what should you do if you have symptoms that could reflect a testosterone deficiency? If you are older than 50 and have symptoms, see your doctor. The doctor should first determine whether the symptoms may be caused by other conditions. If not, the doctor should measure blood levels of total testosterone. The tests should be done in the morning, when testosterone levels are the highest, and repeated at least once to ensure accuracy.