Cynthia Gomey of the NY Times explores the Estrogen Dilemma in her May 2010 article. In 2003, hormone replacement came to a screeching stop when the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study showed an increase in heart disease, strokes and breast cancer in women using HRT.
Since then, the pendulum is swinging back towards HRT. One researcher's critique of the WHI study was summed up as "the wrong drugs on the wrong population". The WHI study looked at women 10-13 years past menopause. They also used synthetic hormones rather than bio-identical hormones.
Researchers are now studying something called the "timing hypothesis". To summarize, the body must have the right type of estrogen early, when it is still able to respond to the estrogen to make a difference. When estrogen is given to late, the body does not respond and more negative effects are seen. New studies are evaluating 40-60 year old women on HRT, their mood, their memory loss, & risk of heart disease and cancer.
As an Age Management physician, I have always believed that TIMING is everything. A disease process can take over ten years to occur. To prevent a disease, we must begin much earlier and understand how everything is connected.
Once the degenerative process has started, the body does not respond as well. I am a firm believer in HRT for the right people at the right time. Using the holistic approach to understand each individual's disease risk, can make a difference.
My evaluations are very thorough and provide women the much needed baseline for their health. During my evaluations, I review their risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, cancer and then make recommendations on how to improve these risk factors. There are many women who see me the first time and are not candidates for HRT due to their lifestyle. But as they improve their lifestyle, in six to nine months they are good candidates for HRT.
The other concern with HRT is how traditional medicine is practiced. The traditional physician may give you hormones but they do not monitor you to see if you have achieved the target levels, check to see what your risk for chronic disease is, and how you can improve your health. I strongly believe all women should be monitored while on hormones. There is not one medication given in a medical practice that is not monitored except for women's hormone replacement and birth control. We monitor men on testosterone, why don't we monitor women on estrogen replacement?
"Because women can just say they feel different and that's enough". That I find ridiculous as a physician and a woman. I tell my patients that I am going to treat them just like a man! My program is monitored and if you do not wish to be monitored, I don't prescribe hormones. There are risk and benefits to everything and as long as women are healthy, takecare of themselves, have no personal history of cancer, they are great candidates for hormone replacement. Women who have chronic disease will need further studies to understand what their risk for hormone replacement is.
My goal for my patients is always to achieve Optimal Health. Why settle for normal when you can be optimal!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Milk: Is it healthy?
Milk-Does it help? Can it make acne worse?
Most people have heard that milk is good for them. It helps build bones and is an excellent source of calcium. However, there is a lot of controversy in this idea!
For the skin, the most recent dermatology literature discusses how acne is worsened with milk consumption. Milk comes from pregnant cows. Today, cows are kept in a constant state of pregnancy to produce milk. The later in pregnancy the cow is, the greater the amount of hormones the milk contains. When milk is processed, it is gathered from many cows at all different stages of pregnancy, so the amounts of hormones found in today's milk, is significantly higher than in the countries where there are no dairy farms, and cows are allowed to move throught their normal cycles of reproduction.
These high levels of hormones found in pregnant cows, specifically estrogen is being studied further. From an acne stand point, many people who have acne could be suffering from a hormonal imbalance. Consuming milk and or dairy products, worsens acne, because it can change or worsen hormonal imbalance. For some time now, I have recommended to my acne patients to be dairy free. For my Optimal Health patients, I recommend being dairy free for other reasons.
70% of the world is lactose intolerant, which suggest that biologically we were not suppose to be consuming dairy after infancy. The idea that milk builds bones is a myth. Milk is converted to lactic acid by the stomach. To maintain your natural acid base balance, your body pulls calcium from the bones when milk is consumed, and thus weakens bones, not building it! This becomes a greater problem after the age of 30 when our bodies are no longer building bone and are in a constant state of losing bone mass.
From a GI stand point, dairy intolerance can cause bloating, gas, nausea, diarrhea and weight gain! Weight gain occurs when consuming something the body can not digest. The body begins to preferentially absorb fat and sugar causing weight gain! And the extra estrogen found in milk or milk products such as chocolate can increase weight. And as my clients hear in our Optimal Health evaluation, the greater the body fat (from gaining weight), the greater the inflammation in your body. And this inflammation is the root cause of all chronic disease such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
So I recommend that all of you try being dairy free for one month. Avoid all dairy products which include milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream as well as anything with casein. This is whey protein, as well as processed luncheon meat such as pastrami, salami, bologna, and hot dogs! After one month, if you want, slowly add the milk back in your diet. If you have bloating, gas, etc, you most likely are dairy intolerant. For acne, this test will need to continue for three months due to the skin cycle being about 8 weeks.
Other sources of calcium are kale, spinach, sesame seeds, and almonds. For a milk substitute, try Almond milk or Cocunut. I really enjoy this as an alternative to milk! So remember, to look good, feel great...don't drink milk!
Most people have heard that milk is good for them. It helps build bones and is an excellent source of calcium. However, there is a lot of controversy in this idea!
For the skin, the most recent dermatology literature discusses how acne is worsened with milk consumption. Milk comes from pregnant cows. Today, cows are kept in a constant state of pregnancy to produce milk. The later in pregnancy the cow is, the greater the amount of hormones the milk contains. When milk is processed, it is gathered from many cows at all different stages of pregnancy, so the amounts of hormones found in today's milk, is significantly higher than in the countries where there are no dairy farms, and cows are allowed to move throught their normal cycles of reproduction.
These high levels of hormones found in pregnant cows, specifically estrogen is being studied further. From an acne stand point, many people who have acne could be suffering from a hormonal imbalance. Consuming milk and or dairy products, worsens acne, because it can change or worsen hormonal imbalance. For some time now, I have recommended to my acne patients to be dairy free. For my Optimal Health patients, I recommend being dairy free for other reasons.
70% of the world is lactose intolerant, which suggest that biologically we were not suppose to be consuming dairy after infancy. The idea that milk builds bones is a myth. Milk is converted to lactic acid by the stomach. To maintain your natural acid base balance, your body pulls calcium from the bones when milk is consumed, and thus weakens bones, not building it! This becomes a greater problem after the age of 30 when our bodies are no longer building bone and are in a constant state of losing bone mass.
From a GI stand point, dairy intolerance can cause bloating, gas, nausea, diarrhea and weight gain! Weight gain occurs when consuming something the body can not digest. The body begins to preferentially absorb fat and sugar causing weight gain! And the extra estrogen found in milk or milk products such as chocolate can increase weight. And as my clients hear in our Optimal Health evaluation, the greater the body fat (from gaining weight), the greater the inflammation in your body. And this inflammation is the root cause of all chronic disease such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
So I recommend that all of you try being dairy free for one month. Avoid all dairy products which include milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream as well as anything with casein. This is whey protein, as well as processed luncheon meat such as pastrami, salami, bologna, and hot dogs! After one month, if you want, slowly add the milk back in your diet. If you have bloating, gas, etc, you most likely are dairy intolerant. For acne, this test will need to continue for three months due to the skin cycle being about 8 weeks.
Other sources of calcium are kale, spinach, sesame seeds, and almonds. For a milk substitute, try Almond milk or Cocunut. I really enjoy this as an alternative to milk! So remember, to look good, feel great...don't drink milk!
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