When it’s time for romance, these three little hormones of love are a BIG thing. And if they are not in balance, it can lead to a real problem.

Take for instance the case of a recent patient… a 42-year-old, happily married, mother of two high school students, who appeared to be the picture of health on the outside. She exercised regularly, ate whole foods and had no real abnormal stresses in her life.  But she said things were not right with her in the bedroom.

“Back in the day,” she related with a grin, “I was always willing and sometimes the promoter of our lovemaking; however, lately, it feels as if those old flames have fizzled out.  Is that it? Is our love life destined to be this way forever?  I mean, the kids will be leaving for college soon, and my husband and I will have more time alone.  Is there any chance it’s just my hormones?  Is there any ‘love potion #9’ you can give me for my problem.”

I thought for a moment over all the marriage classes my wife and I attended when we were younger and asked her the usual questions- “Do you and your husband get away on dates or vacations alone?” I asked.  “Yes,” she responded.  “Do you have a time in the day you can connect on a husband to wife level.  Not talking about the kids or money or business issues.”  (Many couples end up just being business partners or roommates after years of marriage and forget to connect on a romantic level.)  “Yes,” she responded and told me they had attended marriage groups, learning those same skills of maintaining a happy marriage. “Thanks for reminding me,” she added.

“It might very well be your hormone balance, then,” I said, and proceeded to run a hormone panel.  I checked not only the ovarian hormones, but also, the three ‘hormones of love’, Oxytocin, Dopamine and Serotonin. These hormones are also referred to as our ‘happy hormones’.  When you’re attracted to another person your brain should release dopamine, your serotonin levels increase, and oxytocin is produced.

Sure enough, the lab results revealed that she was not producing a sufficient amount of any of these hormones that increase desire for sex and lovemaking.  When we rebalanced her dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin, she felt her old self return.  Her libido improved, her husband’s advances were met with enthusiasm and, as an extra benefit, her orgasms increased.

It’s no wonder that so many people are turning to Bio-identical Hormones!

Kathryn H., a 72-year-old, retired radio and TV personality was being interviewed by another female media host on a local health-talk radio show.  Her introduction began like this:

H.G.  ” Thank you for joining us this afternoon, Kathryn.  The reason I’ve asked you here is for you to share with our listening audience some of what we talked about at coffee last Friday. Truthfully, I was amazed.  You were telling me how you feel better now than you have in several years, in fact better than you have since your early 50’s.  My first question to you, is, what have you been doing?  I had always been under the assumption that as a person grows older, they look and feel older.  Now, you’re telling me it is possible to “anti-age”.

K.H.  “Thanks for inviting me “She began, then chuckled.  “While I can’t say it’s possible to grow younger as the years pass, I can say that since I have been following the Integrative Medical Program at The Renewal Point, I have better control of my weight and my husband and I are both happy with my renewed desire for sex and love.  Yes, my years have increased.  I am now older but feel younger.”

The accolades we receive from our patients at The Renewal Point are typical of Kathryn’s interview.  It is just as she said, while it is not possible to ‘anti-age’, you can slow down, stop and in many cases reverse the signs and symptoms of aging.  And, the good news is that this is not accomplished by magic or even following a rigid routine.  At The Renewal Point, we follow a simple, Four Cornerstone, time tested, science-evidenced protocol that has been proven to work.

As an example, tests from medical centers and universities around the U.S. of senior men and women on the effects of improving Nutrition, Exercise, Hormone Balance and Toxin Elimination concluded the following significant improvements.

• Energy 83%
• Memory 59%
• Productivity 65%
• Strength 73%
• Body fat 68%
• Lean muscle 73%
• Libido 80%
• Sexual performance 60%
• Facial appearance 68%
• Skin tone 55%
• Athletic performance 68%
• Pain relief 35%
• Better Sleep 50%
• Sense of well being 70%
• Frequency of illness 53%

It’s never too late.  No matter where you are in life, no matter age…we can help!  Our methods are simple, time-tested, and science/evidence based.

With over 30 years of experience and numerous board certifications and credentials, Dr. Watts, MD, ND, MSNM is an expert in the science and art of Integrative and Age Management Medicine.  If you are interested in learning more about things you can safely do to live a happier and longer life, we encourage you to call us at 941-926-4905, email us at info@therenewalpoint.com, and/or RSVP for an upcoming seminar.

Reference:

Hormone Modulation, Low Glycemic Nutrition, and Exercise Instruction: Effects on Disease Risk and Quality of Life. Journal of Antiaging Medicine. Vol 4, No. 4, July 2004.

Have you checked your adrenals?

As a physician, I am frequently reminded of just how fragile our bodies are to fall ill. At the same time, I am amazed at our ability to recover once the root cause is detected and corrected.

Take, for example, a new patient I had… a “fun-loving woman, fully engaged in life” had taken a turn….she had become “listless, moody, thrown out-of-sorts by petty things for months now.” She had seen her primary care physician who diagnosed depression and placed her on an antidepressant.

When she entered my office, she fell into a chair as if she were throwing herself into bed for a long nap. It was only 10:00 in the morning!

“I’ve always made myself available to my husband and children,” she lamented. “Now, I don’t have the energy to keep up. Everything seems impossible for me. The worst part is that I can’t explain why I feel so exhausted – and guilty for not being able to keep up.”

“To make matters worse, I own a growing, successful business. I can’t keep up there either. Bickering and gossip among the staff has taken a toll on me. I can’t handle it anymore. I dread going in this morning. I just want to go home and sleep for a few days – but I can’t.”

“The fatigue has made it impossible to keep up with my social calendar. I’m missing out on gym classes and girl time with my friends. They’ve given up asking me to join them. Forget keeping up with the kids’ school events.”

“What to do? I’m exhausted but can’t sleep, hungry all the time, and gained so much weight – frustrating!”

Sometimes it’s easier to see from the outside looking in. We can all get ourselves overly committed as our modern “pedal to the metal” lifestyles start whirling out of control.

Like this patient, every one of us will have periods of fatigue. But, after taking some time off – a vacation, a little sleep – we recover. However, this patient was not recovering in the way she was used to and she knew something was wrong. Based on her symptoms, I suspected an issue with her adrenals and, just as suspected, her lab tests revealed a condition called “Adrenal Fatigue.”

Jacqueline Redmer, MD, MPH explains, “Subclinical Adrenal Fatigue or burnout can develop when the adrenals (two small but very important glands that manage stress) have been working too hard for too long to keep up with high physical, psychological, emotional or toxic stress.”

In this case, I advised:

1. Reduce commitments and add in more fun, free time, and things you enjoy.
2. Set goals to obtain adequate sleep.
3. Laugh as much as possible.
4. Make good dietary choices – Limit alcohol and sugar.
5. Hire a business coach to help with the office.

While lifestyle changes are a must, this did not reverse all of her symptoms. Her Integrative Medical Plan to boost recovery included:

1. Herbs and vitamins (based on lab tests) to assist her adrenals.
2. Natural Hydrocortisone until her own adrenals picked up.

A few weeks into treatment, she was feeling better. Within two months, she weaned off the antidepressant – didn’t need it. She began to feel like her old self again, only now she has gained a new perspective on how to care for herself.

At The Renewal Point, we’ve helped thousands of men and women recover from adrenal fatigue. In this particular case, lab testing revealed that the solution would be supplements and natural hydrocortisone.  In other cases, testing reveals that toxins, genetics, or an underlying illness is at fault ~ in which case there may be a different plan of care.  This is why we always start with testing ~ it assists us in quickly getting to the root cause of the problem in order to determine the most appropriate action to take.

If you have been experiencing any of the symptoms listed above, we can help!  For more information or to set up an appointment, you can give us a call (941-926-4905), email us (info@therenewalpoint.com), or fill out the contact form here on our website: https://www.therenewalpoint.com/contact/

Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue:  Fatigue, Difficulty waking in the morning, Prone to infection, Craving sweets and salty foods, Difficulty concentrating, Irritability, Depression, Increased P.M.S.

Key Words: Adrenal Fatigue as opposed to Adrenal Insufficiency (Addison ’s disease) or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (C.F.S.).

References:

J.L. Wilson: Clinical perspective on stress, cortisol and adrenal fatigue.Adv Integr Med. 1 (2):93-96 2014

K.A. Head, G.S. Kelly: Nutrients and botanicals for treatment of stress: adrenal fatigue, neurotransmitter imbalance, anxiety, and restless sleep.Altern Med Rev. 14 (2):114-140 2009

Rakel, David. (2017). Integrative Medicine. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier.

Since the discovery of telomeres, doctors and scientist have dreamed of using them to control aging.  In 1973, Alexey Olonikov discovered that telomeres, which are tiny units of DNA at the very end of each chromosome, shorten each time the cell divides.  Hence, as you get older and your telomeres get shorter, you are at increased risk for many age-related diseases including death.  The theory is that if you can keep your telomeres from shortening, you can live much longer with a higher quality of life.

Most recently, Ronald DePinho, a cancer geneticist at the Dana-Faber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston, was surprised to find that when he gave a certain enzyme, called telomerase, to older animals, these animals showed a dramatic reversal of aging.  (Telomerase prevents the telomeres from shortening and even has the ability to lengthen them.)  He described the outcome as near ‘the mythical Fountain of Youth’ that was searched for by Ponce de Leon.

The downside to giving telomerase to humans, at the present time, says DePinho, “is that it seems to help existing tumors grow faster.  If treatment can be made safe, it could lead to breakthroughs in treating a variety of diseases of aging.”

While the possibilities of telomerase are exciting, it looks as if the technology is still in the research phase.  So until the science can be worked out, should we (humans) just sit around and do nothing about our telomere length?  Is there anything that can be done now?

The good news is – Yes!  There are many proven health strategies that can slow telomere shortening while effectively decreasing premature aging.  At The Renewal Point, we have become experts at two of them, namely hormone balancing and exercise.

HORMONE BALANCE-which has been so valuable for women in many other ways has also been shown to slow down telomere shortening.  Dr. Richard Cawthon of the Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, found that telomere lengths were longer in postmenopausal women who had taken hormones (no matter what age they started at) than in postmenopausal women without a history of hormone therapy.

HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING- which is known to trim and slim our bodies has also been found to slow down telomere shortening.   In a recent study published in Mechanisms of Aging and Development, the author’s state:  “There is a direct association between reduced telomere shortening in your later years and high-intensity-type exercises.”

At The Renewal Point, we use the science/evidence-based methods of bioidentical hormone balancing and physical training, to help our patients achieve healthy aging. Together, with nutrition and toxin elimination, we see improvements in sexuality, brain function, body composition, physical conditioning, cardiovascular health, skin, hair, nails, energy, and vitality.

With over 30 years of experience and numerous board certifications and credentials, Dr. Watts, MD, ND, MSNM is an expert in the science and art of Integrative and Age Management Medicine.  If you are interested in learning more about things you can safely do to live a happier and longer life, we encourage you to call us at 941-926-4905, email us at info@therenewalpoint.com, or RSVP for an upcoming seminar.

References:

1. Sex Hormones Modulate the Length of Telomere. Rodrigo T. Calado, et al. Blood 2006 108:182. www.gloodjournal.org/content/108/182
2. The Immortality Edge. Dave Woynarowski et al. 2010
3. Telomerase Reverses Ageing Process. Ewen Callaway. Nature News. Nov 2010.

  Hormone Balancing Made Simple

“I miss the old me. I’m irritable, tired, lots of brain fog…. having trouble sleeping through the night… and forget about sex,”  a patient told me as she sat in my office.  She had recently moved to Sarasota and had been on hormones prescribed from another physician in her previous town for over a year.  She was taking them faithfully, but still not feeling much better.  She did say that at least her hot flashes and vaginal dryness had resolved… “I’m glad for that,” she said, “but I just want to feel like myself again. I used to have energy, focus, and a pretty good sex drive, but all that seems to have changed with menopause.”

When I asked to see labs that were drawn prior to beginning hormone therapy, and then after, to see if they had balanced, I was surprised to hear that no hormone lab tests had been run.  “My doctor just began me on an estrogen pill in the morning and a progesterone pill before bedtime. Later, we switched to an estrogen patch and kept the same pill at night,” she added, “but….” and she began to tear up.

When a series of blood and salivary test results came back, we found her answers.  Her cortisol levels were low all day long, relating to an adrenal fatigue problem.  Her estrone levels were high, contributing to irritability and increasing a tendency toward Estrogen Dominance.  Her testosterone levels were practically non-existent, explaining her brain fog and lack of libido.  Blood tests also revealed a persistent low progesterone level, although she was faithfully taking her nighttime dose of progesterone.

Through lab tests, we knew how to correct the problem.  After a few weeks, she was sleeping through the night.  Within two months, her irritability had calmed down.  And within three months, her libido was back where she wanted it.

While the only way to tell if you truly need hormone replacement therapy is through blood, saliva, and/or urine testing, there are some symptoms in both men and women that can provide clues as to whether or not you might be experiencing hormone imbalances. These include…

Fatigue

Brain fog

Low sex drive

Mood swings

Vaginal dryness

Erectile dysfunction

Depression/Anxiety

Trouble sleeping

Memory loss

Irritability

Weight gain

Hot flashes

Most patients come to our practice because they are experiencing one or more of these symptoms.  From there, we determine which tests are most appropriate to run.  And, from there, we run these tests every 6 months to make sure they continue to stay on track.

From the inception of The Renewal Point 20 years ago, one of our mottos has been “Test and Correct”.  We continue to practice this today because of how important it is to personalize every regimen we give to our patients.

If any of the above symptoms are bothering you, we encourage you to reach out to us.  You can give us a call at 941-926-4905, visit our website at TheRenewalPoint.com, or email us at info@therenewalpoint.com.  You CAN live the life you imagine!

Ka-put / Kä ‘pŏŏt – no longer working, broken down; inoperative.

It’s not “all in your head”

Women should feel healthy, vibrant and strong throughout their adult lives. If you’ve been told, “It’s all in your head,” or “learn to live with it,” read this patient’s story…

She visited The Renewal Point several years ago, at the age of 52. During her evaluation, she lamented that since menopause her health had taken a dive. She suffered from fatigue, brain fog, depression and insomnia. She had frequent bouts of mood swings and lack of romantic desires, both affecting her marriage.

She also experienced a recent history of sensitivity to cold. Her body temperature ran low. She was also disturbed about significant hair loss, constipation and had severe muscle aches. Additionally, she had recurring sinus infections, headaches and cystitis for which she had been given numerous antibiotics and pain medication.

She sought the care of her physician, who, after a general exam told her “Your blood tests are all normal.” He recommended treatment with antidepressants and sleep medication.

She did as prescribed but still feeling ‘punk’, she discussed her health problems with a friend. This friend told her that there may be natural solutions for her problems and recommended The Renewal Point.

The Plan of Care

The symptoms she experienced are common to women in her age group, caused by hypothyroidism, hormonal imbalance, poor nutrition and lack of essential vitamins and minerals. All the antibiotics that she had taken for infection had killed her normal colon flora leading to yeast overgrowth.

Through The Renewal Point, she was prescribed natural bioidentical hormones, natural desiccated thyroid and placed on a yeast-free eating plan. She was given recommendations for vitamins and minerals.

Within a few months, her fatigue and depression and other symptoms had disappeared.

By three months, she was able to discontinue medications and slowly weaned off her antidepressants. She told me, “I haven’t felt this good in years.”

Lack of energy is one of the most common reasons that women and men come to see us.  While almost everything about lack of energy is negative, the one upside of it is that it alerts us to an underlying problem.  While it’s normal to have some ‘low energy’ days here and there, consistently low energy levels are a telltale sign that you need to seek help ~ the type of help that gets to the root of the problem, not just the symptoms.

If you have been experiencing any of the symptoms listed above, we are here to help! For more information or to set up an appointment, you can give us a call at 941-926-4905.

References:

Rakel, David. (2017). Integrative Medicine. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier.