The Future of Medicine is Here

Hi there,

It has been quite a while since the last post. I've been updating my knowledge and learning a new and exciting kind of medicine - Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine. Achieving longevity (long life span) is one thing but more importantly, how do we maintain a good health-span (living healthy for as long as you live till the day you die. Dr Ron Rothenberg describes this as the rectangularization of the functionality curve. This means that we should strive stay as functional as possible for as long as possible.

The specialty of Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine is one specialty that aims to achieve this through early detection, prevention and reversal of age related decline. By optimizing our dietary intake, optimal exercise regimes, nutritional supplementation and balanced hormone replacement we believe this can be achieved.

It was thought that our hormones decline because we age. However, we now know that the reverse is true....we age because our hormones decline. This is the basis of the neuro-endocrine theory of aging. With this in mind, by replacing the hormones in a balanced fashion, aging and other declines in bodily functions can be halted and potentially reversed.

The human body has 2 major control or regulatory systems namely the nervous system and the endocrine system. The hypothalamus situated in the brain is the major connection between these 2 systems which work seamlessly with one another. The endocrine system produces hormones which function as messengers to other endocrine organs and non endocrine cells. Through this hormonal symphony, our bodies are able to function the way it does. The major endocrine glands include the pituitary gland, the thyroid gland, the adrenal glands, the pancreas, the testes in men and ovaries in women.

Hormonal imbalances can affect people at various ages from adolescence through adulthood and old age. In adolescence, problems such as acne and premenstrual stress (PMS) are related to hormonal imbalances. Those in their 20's and 30's may suffer PMS, migraines, breast tenderness, fibroids, endometriosis, ovarian cysts, infertility, fibromyalgia and weight gain. Measures taken to balance their hormones may relieve and potentially reverse these conditions. Women who go through menopause often have sleep disorders, hot flashes, bloating and weight gain, low libido and decreased bone mass and strength which respond well to balanced hormone replacement. In men, the term andropause has been given to describe male menopause. Unlike menopause which occurs as soon as a woman stops ovulating, andropause presents more gradually with low libido, reduced energy, reduced muscle mass and increased fat. All these changes in men and women translates to more serious illnesses such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. By replacing waning hormones back to it youthful level, chronic illnesses may be prevented.

When deciding on hormone replacement therapy, it is vital to choose hormones which are identical to the ones produced by our body called Bio-identical Hormones. These bio-identical hormones derived from all natural plants such as soy and wild yam, provide a safe source of hormones for both men and women and is available in the oral or cream form for application onto the skin. Replacement of hormones should be carefully tailored and monitored by well trained physicians to ensure physiologic and balanced replacement of hormones.

I am reminded of a story I heard at an Anti-Aging Conference which struck a cord in me.

" A professor and his medical student were walking along a river bank one day when the student heard a cry for help from a person drowning in the river. The student being a good swimmer jumped into the river and dragged the drowning man up the bank. Seeing the man's lifeless body he starts to administer CPR and to his joy manages to resuscitate the person back to life. They continued their journey along the river and very soon they heard another cry for help. The medical student again swam to the rescue and saved another persons life. These events repeated itself with more and more people drowning and crying for help. The exhausted medical student finally said, " I don't think I can keep going much longer." To this, the wise Professor replied, "Why don't you go up stream and stop whoever is pushing all these people into the river in the first place?"

Finally, the future of medicine is here and we have the means to battle chronic disease at its roots and "prevent people from falling into the river". I am extremely excited to be part of this specialty and look forward to maintaining the health-span of my patients, my family and I.

Aerobic Exercise for Health optimization and fat loss

Here is a guide for the physical activity portion of your health optimization program.

As you already understand the first component to good health/weight loss is a proper diet. Next in line is Exercise.

Everyone knows that you need to exercise to achieve weight loss and for health maintenance, but what exercises, how to do it and how frequent? We will cover these areas in an easy to follow guide.

There are 2 major components to exercise: Aerobic, Anaerobic.

Aerobic Exercise promotes fat loss, endurance and cardiovascular benefits depending on how it is performed. There is no better way of losing fat than performing Aerobic exercise at the fat burning zone. How’s do you do this?

First and foremost, lets determine your fat burning heart rate:
(220-age) x 75%

As you perform aerobic activities maintain a heart rate at the fat burning rate +/- 10bpm throughout. You can do this easily if you have a heart rate monitor that is commonly attached to exercise machines or get a heart rate monitor for outdoor activities. Alternatively you could count your pulse rate for 15 seconds and multiply it by 4 every once in a while while exercising. At the fat burning rate, your body will rapidly use up the freely available blood glucose and glycogen stores and start burning fat for energy. Exercising at a heart rate greater than the fat burning zone will result in the body burning protein (muscle) for energy and this is detrimental.

Aerobic Exercises include walking, jogging, cycling, swimming and any other physical activity that increases and maintains heart rate at the fat burning zone. Therefore washing or polishing your car, mopping the floor and climbing up the stairs could be considered aerobic exercises.

You should perform 30 to 45 mins of aerobic exercise at your target heart rate 3 times a week (e.g., Monday, Wednesday, Friday). Alternate aerobic exercises with strength/resistance training on the other days of the week. Finally leave 1 day for your body to relax and recharge.