Philadelphia Bioidentical Hormones Expert, Kenneth Varano, D.O. Discusses Stress and Cortisol
A "go-getter" attitude may have a negative impact on your health...
Would you consider yourself a “go-getter” in life? A recent article published on Telegraph.co.uk warns that go-getters and high-fliers have a higher risk of “hostility-related heart attacks” and a wide range of other cardiovascular-related health challenges. Psychologists classify these ambitious behaviors under the title, Type A personality. Although Type A personalities are a perfect fit for fast-paced, high level corporate positions, there’s a payoff to the prestige in the long run. Chronic stress leads to the overproduction of “stress hormone” known as cortisol, and oftentimes causes a wide variety of health complications, ranging from adrenal fatigue to cardiovascular disease.
For more on stress and cortisol in the workplace, read: Is your work making you sick
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Milwaukee Bioidentical Hormones Expert, Kenneth Raskin, M.D. Explains How Watching Too Much T.V. Can Shorten Life Span
According to a recent article published on HealthKey.com, watching too much television can shorten our longevity. Studies have indicated that watching too much television can increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.
According to Dr. Prediman K. Shah, director of the cardiology division of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, the more we’re inactive, the more we jeopardize our long-term health.
When we’re watching TV, we’re not using our muscles. Muscle contraction helps the body break down glucose to use as energy and when the glucose isn’t broken down properly, insulin resistance can occur, oftentimes leading to the onset of type II diabetes.
Read the full article: Watching T.V. Shortens Life Span
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Contact Milwaukee-area bioidentical hormones expert, Dr. Kenneth Raskin
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Louisville Bioidentical Hormones Expert Dr. John Abell Answers Your Questions
Louisville Bioidentical Hormones Expert, John Abell, M.D. Discusses Why Vitamin D is the Hormone of the Century
Did you know that adequate vitamin D levels can prevent against a variety of age-related diseases and health challenges such as osteoporosis, diabetes, arthritis, heart disease and cancer?
To find out more about this super-hormone, read: Vitamin D: Hormone of the century
Register for a FREE Louisville Bioidentical Hormone Therapy Seminar
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- Contact bioidentical hormones doctors in Louisville and get more information about bioidentical hormone therapy.
- Watch Louisville bioidentical hormones expert, John Abell, M.D. discuss the effects of estrogen dominance during and after menopause on YouTube.
- Contact Louisville bioidentical hormones expert, Dr. John Abell
- Become a fan of Louisville bioidentical hormones expert, John Abell, M.D. on Facebook.
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Subscribe to our other blogs:
Want to stay up to date on the latest news and views about bioidentical hormones, fitness and nutrition? Subscribe to Bioidentical Hormones Experts blog.
Interested in the lighter side of menopause? Meet our Menopause Maniacs and follow their blog: Menopause Maniac.
International Women's Day
This past Monday was the official International Women's Day, but we shouldn’t need a special occasion to remind us; we should honor women all the time. And even though this blog is about the male menopause, we need to acknowledge that more women know about menopause than men do about MANopause (actually called Andropause). We men need to get with the program, spread the word that we too have issues of aging that can be addressed and in some cases eliminated.
Perhaps the best way to honor another person is to take care of her (or him) AND take care of ourselves. Most of us are loved by women, and too many women have to put up with men neglecting their bodies and health. That’s terrible. In many cases, men feel it’s not “manly” to take on those issues. (Sure, it’s more manly to over-eat, get fat and die earlier than we might otherwise – go figure).
If we give up on ourselves, we give up on our mates, too. Believe me when I say a woman – or anyone for that matter — is more attracted to a man who takes care of himself than to one who doesn’t. Let's grow older together — in a way that maximizes health and honors men and women both.
Report and Review of My Progress
I get a gold star or gold medal, as it were, for making wonderful progress on my BodyLogicMD program. Dr. Jennifer Landa and I just talked about my health and hormone status. I had the usual blood work-up done and it showed that my body is working far better than I expected. My blood sugar is down. My testosterone is up – as it should be (needs some minor adjustment with new supplements). As I reported in an earlier blog, I am not taking prescription medications anymore. My libido is good. Blood count, liver function, sodium and calcium are all within normal range. I feel so much better – from a depression level of about 7 or 8 (on a scale of 10; with 10 the worst) now more like a 2 or 3 and holding steady. I have lost between 8 and 10 lbs, depending on which scale I use. That’s very rewarding and mostly due to limited eating – only the good things I should eat – and exercise (which I need to do more of). My goal over the next few months is to lose at least one pound per month. I think that's doable even though I am going on vacation for 10 days in April.
Why would I not love the program! I know it works and my primary physician even agrees that it does.
Loving it.
Food: Friend and Enemy
I must say one of the things I have had to get used to is eating the right foods.
I love to cook, so fortunately I can pretty much cook the foods we need to eat. Since my restrictions are pretty wide-ranged – no dairy, no glutens/wheat, no meat of color and no sugar – it actually makes it easy to focus on fish, vegetables, fruit, chicken/turkey, eggs, etc. What’s been harder to do is find recipes that fit with these foods. (Recently I discovered a really great recipe for shrimp bisque. Instead of cream or milk, it called for me to cook brown rice and then put it thru a food processor. That takes the place of the dairy and is really good.) I am challenged to be inventive with cooking on the diet. Sometimes when the rest of the family wants red meat, I just cook me up some fish – I love tilapia.
I have always bought the best ingredients – like organic everything I can get my hands on – so I doubt I am saving much money. But that’s O.K.
For breakfast, I have oatmeal (quick 1.5 minutes in the microwave) with fruit on top and soymilk or rice milk. Really good-tasting to me. I also recently found gluten-free frozen waffles, yummy with a boiled egg on top. Protein for breakfast is really important to keep me feeling full through lunch.
I was at an important reception in Washington, DC, and, as is often the case, all of the food being passed by waiters contained cheese or wheat. I just refused them and waited to have a really good dinner of scallops after.
Frankly, it’s not worth cheating on the diet, as it just means I get back my IBS and reflux - AND I have to exercise more to “use” up the calories. Not worth it.
Besides, I like the mantra, “you are what you eat.” Now on to my lunch of egg salad on rice bread – I like that, too.
Unhealthy: How Do You Know?
When you have gotten better or healthy again after being sick, have you ever thought, “I didn’t know how sick I was until now?” That has happened to me many times.
It occurred to me today that, after about nine weeks on the BodyLogicMD bioidentical hormones/nutritional-supplement program, I feel so much better. I didn’t know how unhealthy I was. How depressed I have been.
I know about depression. For one thing, I worked for the National Mental Health Association for eight years and I have an undergrad degree in psychology. My father had bouts of depression, albeit never diagnosed as such, for most of his life after being discharged from World War II. (Now in his 90s, he is in a state of dementia, so awareness of depression isn’t there.) I have often fought mild depression as well.
And my andropause (MANopause) seemed to have magnified it. As I reported before, my cortisol (stress hormone) tests showed I had almost no cortisol by 10:30 a.m. each day! (If I hadn’t been so depressed, I would have been manic about this terrible news.) Low cortisol is often a symptom of MANopause.
Well, today I can tell you I feel beyond that issue. I know how depressed I was, now that I am not depressed anymore.
How about you? How are you feeling? Can you really tell how “sick” you are until you make an effort to do something about it and get better?
Physical Exam Report – I’m a Go!
Recently I visited my primary physician. As I reported to you before, I had stopped all of the prescription drugs she had given me as I didn’t need two of the three (for reflux), and I wanted to see if my cholesterol and triglycerides would remain low as they did for the BodyLogicMD tests. If so, I could continue not taking the statin. Dr. Holly Marshall was fine with my not taking the drugs, as the levels were low according to the results of a recent blood test.
My bioidentical hormones doctor Dr. Landa had suggested I have a bone scan as the BodyLogicMD test results indicated I might have a low bone density level. She was right to be concerned, as recent tests showed my bone density was borderline osteoporosis. So, my primary physician gave me a prescription for the Fosomax once-a-week pill.
At my physical exam with Dr. Marshall, I was disappointed that my body weight loss wasn’t greater. Therefore, I am going to get back to a much more regular weekly gym and exercise routine. Even though my belly fat is less – by measure of my belt position – I must increase resistance exercises to transform more fat into muscle tissue.
I am good to go to a new level over the next three months. I’ll keep you posted.
It’s American Heart Month
A few weeks ago I decided to stop taking my low-dosage prescribed statin — a medication for cholesterol and triglycerides — without asking my primary physician. (I’ll know next week if my cholesterol level is below normal or not, as I have an appointment with my primary.) When I had my test for the BodyLogicMD bioidentical hormones program, my cholesterol was way low — too low. Dr. Landa pointed out what I already knew: low cholesterol is as bad as high. The body actually needs the “fat” in the diet to help keep the brain functioning optimally. Besides the fact that levels can be kept low with exercise and diet — the best way to control cholesterol — the statin medication makes me feel bad. My thinking is fuzzy, and I have strange muscle aches (for which I take QC-10). So, I’m taking a supplement to ward off the side effects of another medication. Bad.
What the heart likes is not only a good diet but regular exercise — aerobic is the best. So if you’re like me, what is “good aerobic exercise”? Well, from what I have been able to gather, it’s 30 minutes of treadmill with your heart at 130+ beats per minute.
So, take heart, men. Do it, lose weight, feel better, look better and, likely, live longer.
Why not????
O.K. This is a Maniac Post
Today, one of the first of 2010, I heard on the radio that health care costs for last year were equal to $7,600 a piece for every living man/woman/child in the U.S.! That’s outrageous!
We can’t afford to be sick in this country. The whole thing is completely NOT RIGHT.
I am trying to do whatever I can to stay out of the medical care monopoly/system. And I want to do whatever I can to not get old-looking – even though I’m O.K. with getting older. I have always been against getting trapped in the medical system. (It’s like what happens when you get trapped in the legal system: you lose control and the process is often endless.) I don’t like to take prescription pills because, even though they might cure what ails me, they always have side effects or just make me feel out of it. Not to mention the fact that taking such medications supports the medical-care complex of health insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry. The per-person cost proves to me that health care is out of whack with reality — and with affordability. We each need to do what we can to reduce our own health care costs.
And at those rates: Well, OMG, it’s no wonder we must control health care cost if we are ever to hold down inflation.
My BodyLogicMD program is, in my opinion, not only about looking as good as I can and feeling fit, it’s about me doing my part to reduce the $7,600 average annual expense for health care. It’s like reducing my carbon footprint — only in this case I’m reducing the giant footprint of the health care industry.
Wow! How about you helping, too?