Living with Intention is pleased to announce the 2010 Health Seminar Series, addressing a number of timely and cutting edge innovations in functional medicine.  Seminars are free, open to the public, and will be held at the offices of Living with Intention, 8495 Fishers Centre Drive, Fishers, IN.  Each one hour seminar will include a lecture presentation as well as opportunity for questions.

Dates and Topics:

• “Menopause and Hormones:  The Safe Bioidentical Alternative” — Thursday, June 24, 7:30 pm
• “Chronic Fatigue and Stress:  Where Did My Get Up and Go Go? — Thursday, July 29, 7:30 pm
• “Allergies — Ferer meds, Fewer Sneezes” — Thursday, September 30, 7:30 pm
• “Obesity:  Weight Loss Demystified” — Saturday, October 16,  10:00 am
• “The ABCs of Toxins and Detox” — Saturday, November 13, 10:00 am

Everyone knows about menopause.  As women age, estrogen and progesterone levels decline.  When they fall far enough, symptoms develop:  irregular menses, fatigue, hot flashes, memory lapses, mood swings, hair loss, insomnia, bloating, poor libido, and more.

As it is with women, so it is with men.  As it is with menopause, so it is with “andropause.” 

With men, the primary hormone involved is testosterone (T).  The symptoms of low T?  Poor libido, fatigue, muscle weakness, erectile dysfunction, depression, insomnia, mood swings, memory lapses, cognitive slippage, and more.  Sound familiar? 

Is it hopeless?  Is this just an inevitable, unavoidable part of aging?  Not at all!  Just as hormone replacement can be safely and effectively accomplished with women, so, too, with men.  The aging clock can be slowed down, even turned back a bit.

The goal of Functional (Anti-Aging) Medicine is to get at the “root cause” of symptoms, the “root cause” of disease.  Why is the body not functioning properly?  How can we restore optimal function?  With andropause, the “root cause” is clear:  declining testosterone levels.  The treatment?  Increase testosterone levels.  It really is just that simple.

How do we raise T levels?  Well, exercise for one.  That’s right.  Exercise increases testosterone production.  Beyond that, we can supplement, and we have lots of options.   DHEA supplements raise T levels.  Clearly, testosterone shots and/or transdermal gels raise T levels.  Human chorionic gonadatropin (hCG) shots raise T levels.

Safe, effective, anti-aging, functional medicine is available today.

Healthy cholesterol?  Isn’t cholesterol bad?  Not at all! 

In fact, cholesterol plays a very important role in every cell in your body.  Without cholesterol, cell membranes cease to function, and vitamin D and hormone production comes screeching to a halt.

So cholesterol is actually a good thing … as long as it’s where it’s supposed to be and isn’t where it’s not supposed to be.  Like so many things, it’s a matter of balance.

Cholesterol, you see, doesn’t just float around in the bloodstream by itself.  It gets packaged inside a carrier molecule known as lipoprotein.  While there are many different types of lipoprotein, the two primary ones are known as LDL and HDL.  LDL carries cholesterol throughout the body, taking it where it’s needed.  HDL molecules transport excess or unused cholesterol back to the liver, where it’s broken down to be recycled. 

As designed, the process works well.  When, however, something (poor diet choices, genetic predisposition, sedentary lifestyle) disrupts the proper LDL-HDL equilibrium, bad things happen.  Cholesterol starts accumulating where it shouldn’t.  The result?  Inflammation and premature aging.  Blocked blood vessels.  Strokes.  Heart attacks.  Bad stuff.  Very bad stuff.

So, then, how do we maintain the balance … naturally?  What’s the Functional Medicine (a.k.a. Anti-Aging Medicine or Alternative Medicine) approach to lowering LDL and increasing HDL? 

Answer:

1. First, a diet low in processed carbohydrates, saturated fats and high in soy, extra-virgin olive oil, tree nuts, beans, and garlic.
2. The big gun supplemets:  Niacin & Co-Enzyme Q10
3. Other worthy weapons:   Omega 3 Fish Oil, Probiotics, Policosanol, Rutin, Red Yeast Rice, Tocotrienols (a form of vitamin E), green tea, rutin, hesperidin, pantethine (a part of vitamin B5), phytosterol esters.

Wow!  In a fascinating, 5-year long study, researchers at the University of Chicago found a greater than four-fold increased risk of developing coronary artery calcification in “bad” vs. “good” sleepers.  At the beginning of the study, none of the trial participants had evidence of arterial disease.  Of those who slept fewer than five hours a night, more than one in four developed coronary calcification.  In contrast, fewer than one in sixteen of the “good” sleepers, those who slept more than seven hours a night, developed calcifications.  Those who slept between five and seven hours?  You probably guessed it:  about one in ten developed the problem.  [JAMA. 2008;300(24):2859-2866]

 Insomnia and sleep deprivation are HUGE problems in our stressed out, high-pressure, chronically-fatigued American culture.

 Things you can do to improve your sleep:

• Try to maintain a steady schedule:  rising and going to bed at the same time each day.
• Avoid distractions when it’s time to sleep – No TV, radios, or laptops.  (In fact, such devices produce an electromagnetic field that reduces your body’s ability to produce melatonin, a hormone that helps you feel drowsy.)
• Keep the room as dark as possible – darkness triggers melatonin production.
• If you exercise, great!  But not in the late evening.
• Avoid snacking two to three hours before bedtime. 
• Consider a non-prescription sleep aid such as melatonin, valerian root, L-theanine, magnesium, or 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP).

There is a safe, effective approach to treating sleep disorders.  Functional Medicine – check it out.

 Tired of being tired?  Day after day?  For as long as you can remember? 

You’ve been to the doctor and your thyroid checks out fine.  It’s not that you’re anemic.  In fact, everything is “normal. ”   You just don’t feel good. 

It may be that your adrenal glands, those tiny little hormone factories that help you deal with stress, are getting worn down, pooped-out, just plain, well… tired.  In his book, Adrenal Fatigue, James L. Wilson cogently details this vastly underdiagnosed disease. 

But if it’s so common, why is it so frequently missed?  Great question!

Conventional medicine basically embraces the notion that there are but two problems that can befall the adrenals.  Either their hormone production is excessive (Cushing’s Disease), or nil (Addison’s Disease).  The problem with this understanding is quite simple:    Bad things happen long before the we get to  Addison’s Disease.   Pathology long precedes complete adrenal exhaustion, and that pathology is “Adrenal Fatigue.” 

Interestingly, as practitioners of “Alternative” or “Complimentary” — I personally prefer “Functional” – Medicine have  embraced the reality of Adrenal Fatigue for some time, we’re now beginning to see some movement in the ranks of conventinal endocrinology.  While not openly speaking of ”Adrenal Fatigue,” terms such as “Relative Adrenal Insufficiency” are beginning to appear in the conventional scientific literature.  A shift, an emerging acceptance, is in the works.

The good news is this:  Adrenal Fatigue can be fixed… without prescription medication.  Diet, specific herbs called adaptogens, and other supplements can rejuvenate the adrenals and help restore a sense of vigor, vitality, youthfulness, and well-being.

Tired of runny noses, itchy-watery eyes? 

Tired of pills, nasal sprays, and boxes on boxes of tissues?

Interested in a definitive treatment, but DON’T LIKE SHOTS?

Dr. Elliott is pleased to provide the latest in definitive allergy treatments available today.  Compared to allergy shots, this treatment is …

• less expensive
• less time-consuming
• less painful, and
• safer

Interested?  Call for an appointment today.

Living with Intention, LLC:  317.863.5888

What makes a hormone “bioidentical?”  It’s very simple, actually — a bioidentical hormone is an exact replica of what the body makes.

Are there other kinds of hormones?  Absolutely!  Most hormone replacement products available on the market today are synthetic, not natural at all.  While these hormone molecules may be similar — more or less – to those  naturally produced by the body, they aren’t the same.  They look different.  They act different.  They ARE different.

What’s the big deal?  Why the fuss?  Here’s the bottom line:  Bioidentical hormones are safe.  They protect.  They promote health and wellness.  The same can simply not be said of synthetics. While synthetic hormones have been linked with increased risk of cancer, heart disease (and more), this is NOT TRUE of their bioidentical counterparts.  In fact, numerous studies have shown – for a long, long time – that bioidentical hormones actually protect us from the very disease states linked to their synthetic cousins.

Know what you need?  Know what you’re taking?

If not, find out.