Category: General

Andropause, somatopause, and other age related hormone changes in men. By the time men are between the ages of 40 and 55, they can experience a phenomenon similar to menopause, called andropause.  Alternative names for Andropause have been suggested including the Male Menopause, Androgen Deficiency in Aging Male (ADAM) and Partial Androgen Deficiency in Aging Male (PADAM)[i].  Unlike women, men do not have a clear-cut benchmark such as the end menstruation to mark this transition. Andropause is defined as a time in the life of men when hormones decline. Most of us know that testosterone declines as we age but many people do not realize that other important hormones can be affected. Somatopause is a decline in growth hormone levels. Somatopause signifies the gradual decline in growth hormone production by the adult pituitary gland in both men and women that begins at approximately age 30 and continues at a steady rate throughout life. Growth hormone is secreted by the anterior pituitary gland. A very busy gland, the anterior pituitary also secretes thyroid stimulating hormone (promoting thyroid activity), adrenal corticotropic hormone (promoting adrenal activity) and other hormones. When levels of these hormones go down cognition (brain function), energy level, libido (sex...

By Steve Parcell, ND I had to write about this today as I heard about the crisis in Flint, MI again in the news. As a certified expert in chelation I think I know something about lead.The media is not talking about how to mitigate the lead levels IN PEOPLE only the water. This needs to be discussed. A book could be written about the deleterious effects of lead on humans but lets just put it this way...its bad. Lead is a very toxic heavy metal that can diminish IQ in children. The WHO has stated that there is "no safe level of lead." If I had a patient that may have been exposed I would check a blood lead level. If any lead is detected at all DMSA at 10 mg per KG twice a day needs to be started along with other chelators that help pull it out without the lead being reabsorbed. This must be medically supervised. For more information on how to cheaply get the lead out give us a call.

Thyroid Health! Wilson's Syndrome: Low Temperature Syndrome by Dr Fluss Do you suffer from low body temperature, weight gain, fatigue, cold intolerance and yet your thyroid labs always come back normal? Are you already medicated for hypothyroidism and yet you still suffer from these symptoms?  Thyroid health is more than just having adequate blood levels of T3, T4 and TSH. How the thyroid hormones affect the cell receptor sites and what they do in the cell makes a big difference in how you feel.  Our thyroid gland is our body’s metabolic control. All systems become out of balance when the thyroid gland is not functioning optimally. No wonder you don't feel well when your thyroid hormones aren’t working properly. Thyroid hormones regulate heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, metabolism and the rate at which food is converted into energy. I had the pleasure of attending a conference with Dr. Wilson, MD as well as becoming certified in Wilsons Protocol. Dr. Wilson has based his clinical practice on “Low temperature syndrome” or what he coined as “Wilson’s syndrome”. He noticed that he had a large proportion of patients complaining of typical hypothyroid symptoms such as weight gain, fatigue, cold hands and feet, hair loss...

Dr. Sasha Fluss ND at NatureMed Clinic Boulder/Denver   Boulder is the Mecca for endurance sports. We see a lot of athlets competing at all levels from professional to weekend warriors and in a wide variety of sports from triathalon to swimming to climbing to cycling. Once reason I love working with athletes is that optimizing performane and athletic capacity is really about optimizing health. It is about the little things that give you that extra push. Whether it be extra energy in the morning to get up and complete your workout or less fatigue running up those hills or better recovery from workouts and injury prevention. There is so much we can do when working with athletes looking to increase their fitness and performance at any level. Here are some things to consider and components I generally look at: Iron levels: very important especially at altitude. Iron is what carries oxygen in the blood to our tissues and muscles so we are able to run up that mountain! Levels can be tested in the blood and optimal levels are much higher than what your doctor would call deficient. Optimal iron levels can be achieved via supplements, injections or IVs. Often injections or...

Great article. The three main problems masters athletes need to get screened for are plaque in the arteries (atherosclerosis), electrical disturbances (arrythmia), and unhealthy changes to the wall of the heart muscle (cardiomyopathy). One thing that the article failed to mention is the importance of prevention through detailed screening. EKG, stress echo and calcium scoring can be used to evaluate whether an athlete needs to back off on exercise. Conventional medicine is not great at this type of screening because it is geared toward intervention once the problem has occurred! My masters athlete workup fills this need.