Tag Archives: HGH

Age Management 101: How to Feel Like You Did in Your 20s No Matter How Old You Are

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Are you losing your edge? Feeling less energetic? Gaining weight around the middle despite your best efforts? Is your skin less supple and smooth, becoming more wrinkled? Are your libido and sexual performance declining? Do you wish you could look and feel vibrant, active and youthful again?

Beginning as early as your late 20s, the hormones you want low typically begin to rise (e.g. insulin, cortisol) and the ones you want high begin to decline (e.g. testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, pregnenolone, human growth hormone (HGH), DHEA, thyroid). As a result, men and women begin to experience changes in attitudes and moods, mild depression, fatigue, loss of mental sharpness and memory, lower sex drive, skin wrinkling, muscle loss, belly fat, loss of energy, and reduction in physical agility.

It’s commonly a result of these hormone changes. And there is a solution.

Comprehensive Age Management Medicine is a medical specialty that involves evaluating you for symptoms and signs of degenerative aging and decline and slowing down that process through hormone optimization, proper nutrition, and exercise. It’s not just about living longer, it’s about living better.

If you’re experiencing any of the symptoms of hormonal decline, I encourage you to make an appointment with a physician who specializes in Age Management.  It may just be the best decision you ever make.

Please continue to follow our updates and make THE BODY WELL your go-to source for information on Age Management and Hormone Optimization.

 

DHEA: Your Body’s Most Abundant Androgen

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DHEA (de-hydro-epi-androsterone) is the most abundant androgen in the human body. It is, importantly, a precursor of estrogen, testosterone and other hormones. Most of your body’s DHEA is produced in the adrenal glands, although small amounts are synthesized in the gonads, skin and brain. After production, DHEA is released into the bloodstream, where it can be converted into either estrogen or testosterone as needed.

DHEA levels peak at around age 20, then decline by approximately 10 percent per decade, with great individual-to-individual variability. By age 70, DHEA levels reach a level of 10 percent to 20 percent of young adult levels.

Low DHEA levels can cause:

  • Fatigue
  • Low sex drive
  • Loss of strength and muscle mass
  • Depression
  • Impaired immune function
  • Joint pain

Optimal DHEA levels can help:

  • Increase endurance
  • Increase testosterone levels
  • Increase lean muscle mass
  • Decrease body fat %
  • Improve memory
  • Boost immune function
  • Promote flexibility

Some studies show DHEA may help improve energy and libido, eliminate abdominal fat, increase muscle tone, improve immune function, regenerate tissue (bones, muscles and skin), improve cholesterol levels, maintain emotional well-being and improve the body’s ability to cope with stress.

Optimizing DHEA levels, as part of a complete Age Management Program, helps restore youthful amounts of this and other crucial hormones, resulting in more energy, improved immune function, enhanced well-being and better cognitive (brain) function.

If you’re in the West Hollywood, Orange County, Beverly Hills, or Los Angeles area, schedule an evaluation with Age Management / Hormonal Optimization expert Dr. Mike Carragher.  If you live out of the area, we can take care of you as well, requiring only an annual visit to The Body Well for your anti-aging Age Management Program. Dr. Carragher will request a blood panel, schedule a comprehensive evaluation, and discuss the best individual treatment options for you.

Call (323) 874-9355 to book an evaluation, or for more information e-mail drmike@thebodywellusa.com

Testosterone Optimization in Men

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A large percentage of men who have been told their testosterone is fine actually have low testosterone. Often the total amount of testosterone is read as adequate, but the amount of usable testosterone is low. 

Testosterone levels gradually decline at a rate of about 1-2% per year starting your late 20′s. Because this happens so slow, men often do not notice these symptoms and do not realize how low their testosterone actually is until years later. Most men in their late 30 and older are operating at about 50% of your optimal range. We usually treat males who are over 35 years of age but there are some exceptions.

Many men suffer needlessly because their testosterone is never checked, they are in the “range” or the wrong test is ordered. Men as young as 25 to 30 years in age are presenting with low levels of testosterone, which was not the case 10 or 20 years ago. This is possibly a result of environmental toxins, plastics, pesticides, pollutants and/or xenoestrogens in the environment.

Men with low testosterone may have subtle to profound symptoms, ranging form poor motivation, anxiety, weight gain, and loss sense of well being to profound depression, and loss of sex drive. Men with low testosterone cannot only enjoy an improved quality of life with testosterone supplementation, but it will also provide a significant decreased risk for heart disease, cancer, diabetes and death.

Testosterone optimization can result in: 

  • Decreased aging of heart and better circulation
  • Protects against heart disease
  • Lowers cholesterol levels
  • Decreased risk of heart attacks and strokes
  • Decreased risk of diabetes
  • Decreased body fat
  • Increased lean muscle
  • Decreased brain aging
  • Improved memory, mental functioning and ability
  • Improved concentration and focus
  • Decreased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s
  • Increased sense of well being and mood
  • Increased energy, stamina and endurance
  • Increased sexual potency and frequency
  • Decreased osteoporosis
  • Decreased risk of prostate cancer

If you’re in the West Hollywood, Orange County, Beverly Hills, or Los Angeles area, schedule an evaluation with Age Management / Hormonal Optimization expert Dr. Mike Carragher.  If you live out of the area, we can take care of you as well, requiring only an annual visit to The Body Well for your anti-aging Age Management Program. Dr. Carragher will request a blood panel, schedule a comprehensive evaluation, and discuss the best individual treatment options for you.

Call (323) 874-9355 to book an evaluation, or for more information e-mail drmike@thebodywellusa.com

Video: The Body Well Helps Prepare Olympic Athletes for LONDON 2012

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As the 2012 Summer Olympic Games draw near, I am especially excited!

Over the past year I’ve had the unique opportunity to work with a number of Olympic athletes as they prepare for the upcoming London Games.  In fact, The Body Well team has been working with athletes from several countries including the United States, Japan, Austria, Colombia and Israel.  I was interviewed with one of the athletes, swimmer and Olympic medalist Marcus Rogan, for a segment that aired recently on Austrian National Television, and I am pleased to share this interview with you [see video link below].

It has been a fun and rewarding year!

As is the case with many of my patients, I performed baseline lab testing, including comprehensive hormonal panels, intracellular vitamin, mineral and nutrient analysis, physical exams as well as baseline fitness testing including VO2 max.  Based upon these results as well as personal goals and type of competition, I have created customized programs for each athlete to optimize individual performance.

One of the more challenging problems I encountered was decreased hormone levels from overtraining and stress.  And how to best optimize those levels while working within strict World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) Guidelines.

I have approached this through custom nutrition and nutraceutical prescription, lifestyle counseling including adequate sleep and stress managment, and Intelligent Exercise counseling so the athletes can work with their coaches for optimal performance.  I have also been able to offer personalized meal planning, preparation and high quality food delivery through The Body Well’s partners, Eat Naked and Wholesome2Go.

Our results have been amazing, as our athletes have excelled in their respective Olympic Trials and are in their best forms as they begin to leave over the coming week for London.

We wish all the athletes well and will be cheering loudly from Los Angeles!

Man, Are You Getting Fat?

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Are you a guy who can’t seem to lose that extra weight around the middle?

There is hope!

Research shows a strong connection between weight gain in men and hormonal imbalances.  Low testosterone and high cortisol levels are related to increased body fat, especially in the midsection, as well as decreased lean muscle mass in men.  This excess body fat furthers the hormonal imbalance by converting more testosterone into estrogen.  Increased body fat and lean muscle loss means more fat and less muscle to carry around, resulting in fatigue and low energy levels.

It’s a vicious cycle.

Weight gain in men is also affected by high stress.  Stress leads to increased cortisol levels in the body, and prolonged stress and heightened levels of cortisol increase the production of fat cells and a slowed metabolic rate. Elevated cortisol also increases appetite, causing men to eat more and male weight gain naturally follows.  Making matters worse still, high cortisol levels diminish testosterone levels, which are already decreasing as men age.  Low testosterone causes low energy and fatigue, meaning less physical activity and still more weight gain in men.

Another vicious cycle!

To boot, as men age, thyroid disorders, particularly hypothyroidism, and low levels of the human growth hormone (HGH) also cause weight gain by decreasing the body’s metabolic rate.

So what’s the solution?

A Comprehensive Age Management Evaluation and Program allows us to measure and appropriately optimize hormone levels as an integral part of an overall care plan.  With the help of Age Management and Hormonal Optimization, we can bring your testosterone, cortisol, estrogen, HGH and thyroid hormones, among others, into optimal ranges. This balance will best position you for maximal body fat loss, an increased metabolic rate, better energy and a more vigorous life.

If you’re in the West Hollywood, Orange County, Beverly Hills, or Los Angeles area, schedule an evaluation with Age Management / Hormonal Optimization expert Dr. Mike Carragher.  If you live out of the area, we can take care of you as well, requiring only an annual visit to The Body Well for your anti-aging Age Management Program. Dr. Carragher will request a blood panel, schedule a comprehensive evaluation, and discuss the best individual treatment options for you.

Call (323) 874-9355 to book an evaluation, or for more information e-mail drmike@thebodywellusa.com