The difference between stress incontinence and an irritable bladder

This episode continues the previous podcasts discussion on incontinence. It focuses on incontinence in women who have had vaginal deliveries. Dr. Kathy Maupin and Brett Newcomb disuss the importance that Hormone Replacement Therapy has on treating stress incontinence in women. 

How HRT helps women treat incontinence due to vaginal delieveries

This podcast talks about what incontinence is and how is effects women who have had vaginal deliveries. Dr. Kathy Maupin and Brett Newcom discuss how Hormone Replacement Therapy helps to treat this problem. 

Long term care and how to avoid it

This podcast goes into detail about the cost of long term care for the aging population. As people age the burden of care falls on families. With hormone replacement therapy adminstered earlier in life we can offset disease and aging symptoms so that we can stay healthier longer into our old age. This keeps us out of nursing facilities and hospitals posibly until only the last couple of years of life.

The cost of HRT is not much different than the cost of other anti-aging treatments

This podcast discussess the cost of hormone replacement therapy for both men and women. The hosts talk about the comparison of this cost and the cost that people already spend on treatments and medicine for health problems caused by aging. They make the point that the difference is minimal and often HRT is less than the total of other medicines and treatments found elsewhere.  

The loss of progesterone and it's effect on your health.

As women age, their levels of progesterone begin to decrease. This decrease causes an imbalance in the estrogen levels. Without progesterone, estrogen increases and leads to fibroid tumors. These tumors lead to heavy bleeding and often hysterectomies in peri-menopausal women. Progesterone is not needed post-menopause with the drop of estrogen levels. This podcast goes into detail about the purpose of progesterone and how it effects the body once it starts to decrease.

The onset of dementia and memory loss can be delayed with hormone replacement therapy

This podcast discusses memory loss, cognitive impairment, dementia and Alzheimer’s.  There are some specific things that differentiate these conditions and some are more noticeable than others.

Cognitive impairment is when you can’t remember names of people and places. You get confused, lost, often someone else has to end your sentences. It’s a problem with not being able to focus and concentrate. Often times it looks similar to A.D.D. It's normal for married people to not notice this change in their memory because they have a partner that is able to remember things, finish thoughts and remind them of common information.

When your memory loss gets to be so bad that you have trouble functioning, then you need to be tested with MRI’s for Alzheimer’s and/or dementia. If your scans show brain shrinkage, then you have Alzheimer’s. Common symptoms of memory loss are exhaustion, lack of energy, diminished social relationships and problems with sexual relations because of diminished energy or desire.

Often people are afraid to talk to a doctor about these symptoms because they don't want to be told that they have Alzheimer's and need to be institutionalized However, it is important to be tested. In women, with the replacement of testosterone, dementia can be offset for 10 years. In addition, with the replacement of estrogen dementia can be offset another 10 years. This equals 20 years that dementia can be offset by replacing testosterone and estrogen in women.

For this reason it is important to have the early stages of memory loss examined in order to evaluate the best method of treatment and hormone therapy.

Research in medical studies and how it applies to you.

This podcast discusses the proper way to sort through the enormous amount of information out there for consumers. It’s important to know how to determine if a study is reliable. In the world of medicine information is constantly discovered and publicized. Oftentimes people are not great at sorting through information and concluding what should and shouldn’t be taken seriously.

The steps to investigating research information begin with making sure you’re looking at it retrospectively; understanding that you are often looking at data that has already been created. Many published studies are using information that has been collected for an entirely different study and applying it to meet their own hypothesis. 

A common term in research is “data mining”. This is when a source working to create a study, searches data that has already been created. A database that is commonly used is the census bureau. Scientists create a thesis based on information that they collect. This doesn’t make a study less reliable. It does however mean you need to be careful and read closely. Usually when health studies are published, the results apply to a very small window of people. There are many factors that cancel out individuals and change the results. 

An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study about men getting mild cognitive impairment during middle age. The article stated that men are more likely to get it than women. I however don’t agree with this as I have research that says 62% of midlife women have this condition. In investigating this study further I saw that the women they studied were 70 years old and had no cognitive impairment. The problem is that by 70, women have already had MCI 30-40 years prior, so of course in testing, almost all of their subjects are going to present as not having MCI. The study is working with the wrong age group of women.  

Situations like this are why it’s important to have a skeptic mind when taking studies at face value. It’s important to ask questions and find all the facts before you assume that what you’re reading not only applies to you and your health but is even accurate information for anyone.

The cause and treatment for hyperandrogenism

A article in the Journal of Gender Specific Medicine talks about hyperadrogenism. This condition is the same as what my book refers to as testosterone deficiency syndrome.

Testosterone deprivation syndrome is an inevitable for both women and men. In women, however, it happens after 40 when our bodies are making too little testosterone from our ovaries to actually feel good and be healthy. When this happens, we hit a wall. If your ovaries are removed that’s it, you hit that wall immediately no matter what age you are.

Unfortunately, testosterone is only approved for use in male patients in most countries. However, the article makes the point that women are still getting it and its popularity continues to grow. Although testosterone is marketed towards men, women realize it’s use and importance in their own body. They want to be just as healthy as their male counterparts. Although it is FDA approved, there is no labeled option for women. Physicians have to refer female patients to a compounding pharmacy to have their prescription for testosterone made.

The article goes on to say that although TDS won’t necessarily cause death, women recognize the benefits of treating it for more than just libido. Other conditions such as depression and bone density are results of TDS and treating these are just as important as treating a diminished sex drive. TDS leads to many conditions such as memory loss, sarcopenia (or loss of bone density) and diminished sex drive. By replacing testosterone in women, these things are not only recovered, but more serious conditions such as dementia can be offset for 10-20 years.

It is important to be healthy. And with testosterone replacement therapy, women can have the same medical options as men and the ability to enjoy their older years.

Combining Testosterone and Arimidex to Treat Menopausal Symptoms and Breast Cancer

Many people question about the balance between HRT and Breast Cancer treatment and prevention. A study has shown that testosterone pellets are effective at decreasing symptoms that can’t be treated with estrogen in most breast cancers. The study used testosterone and arimdidex which is an aromatase inhibitor. It stops the aromatization (testosterone converting to estrogen and estrone.)

Estrogen is a hormone that stimulates breast cancer. It is important to stop that process in breast cancer patients. In menopausal women that have a history of breast cancer, there is a concern of taking testosterone in fear of it creating more estrogen that may lead to the onset of cancer. However just like most things, there is a way to offer this treatment so as to control the outcomes. Testosterone can be administered to women without risking breast cancer.

Pellets are the safest method of delivery because they create the least amount of estrogen. When this is combined with arimidex, there is no estrogen converted from testosterone. The results of the aforementioned study showed improvement in women’s menopausal symptoms. Also, none of the women had side effects from treatments or reoccurrence of breast cancer, and the cancer did not grow in three of the four women that had advanced stage breast cancer.

If someone with a family or personal history of breast cancer gets this combined treatment early, they will significantly decrease their chances of getting breast cancer.

The difference between anabolic steroids and testosterone used in HRT.

This podcast focuses on the use of anabolic steroids which are often talked about in the news in reference to an athlete’s use of them. Testosterone, in certain forms, is also an anabolic steroid.

Often older people who come in for consultations question whether or not testosterone used in HRT is an anabolic steroid. The answer is no. The testosterone used in hormone replacement therapy is simply the replacement of a pure hormone that the body is missing.

Anabolic steroids are not pure testosterone, rather replicas of hormones. The combination of the natural testosterone already present in the body and anabolic steroids causes the body to shut down. When used like this, your body ceases to produce natural testosterone. Often if someone discontinues the use of steroids, the body has the ability to repair itself. However if steroids are used consistently over many years, the hormones take an irreversible toll on the body.

Side effects of using anabolic steroids include infertility, small testes, early heart attack, high blood pressure, liver cancer, growth of tumors, breast development in men, severe acne, rage, mania, delusions and adrenal impairment.

Pure testosterone, given by BioBalance Health, has none of these side effects. It is healthy, safe and administered and controlled under a licensed physicians guidance.