Do you remember how you felt and thought when you were 17 or 18? No, I’m not just talking about your adolescent obsession with your sexuality – I mean the feeling that the world was yours to conquer! Don’t you remember that drive and ambition you had, that feeling that you could do just about anything? We all felt invincible and immortal at that age.

Your youthful optimism was not born merely out of naiveté and inexperience. In fact, that energetic, optimistic drive to conquer the world was largely a product of hormones – yes, those same raging hormones that drove your newly discovered sexuality. Most of the important hormones in our bodies were at their peak in our late teens: Testosterone, DHEA, Estrogen, Progesterone, Pregnenolone, Dopamine, Vasopressin, Oxytocin, Growth Hormone and Thyroid. High levels of these hormones were responsible for much of the passion as well as the emotional and physical energy of our youth.

Sadly, as we aged, all of our hormone levels began a slow, relentless decline. As these levels dropped, all too often so did our passion for life. At first the more moderate hormone levels of maturity were an advantage: in our late 20′s and early 30′s we still enjoyed great self-confidence and we were very sexually self-aware, but our maturity enabled us to pay attention to the necessary activities of adulthood. That’s why for most people this phase of life, young adulthood, is often the most creative and productive. But as we continued to age and as the hormone levels in our brains and bodies continued to drop, so too did much of our drive, our self-confidence, our zest for life and our physical and emotional resilience.

Usually these emotional and physical declines are slow and imperceptible. Because this decline occurs so gradually, most of us simply adjust our expectations – in spite of an emotional range that may be tending toward depression, and a declining physical capacity, we continue to think we are “normal.” Too often we grow slower, weaker and fatter, until finally we get to the point that we no longer care that we don’t care about much! This process may be normal, but as far as I am concerned, it is not acceptable.

To illustrate this connection between hormone levels and emotional health, consider women in menopause. In their late 40’s and early 50’s, women often undergo a relatively rapid drop in estrogen, testosterone and progesterone. The mood swings, hot flashes, memory difficulties and personality changes associated with this phase of a woman’s life are well known. Tragically, a great number of women in menopause end up on anti-depressants simply because their doctors don’t know how to respond to these symptoms of declining hormone levels. The obvious connection between a woman’s hormone changes and her depression seems to go unrecognized by many physicians.

Some doctors point out that standard hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women seldom relieves the depression. But then, why should it? Traditional hormone replacement therapy does not come close to replacing the hormones that have been lost.  Take estrogen as the most common example. Estrogen is not a “hormone,” but a class of hormones, each with widely differing effects.  The estrogens usually given to women during hormone replacement therapy in the United States are far different from the normal mix of hormones found in healthy, premenopausal women. Astoundingly, for reasons rooted in history rather than science, the usual approach is to recreate in the human woman the normal estrogen balance of a pregnant horse! I’m not making this up. Two thirds of the estrogens found in Premarin, the most commonly used choice in estrogen replacement, are estrogenic hormones found only in horses, donkeys and zebras – never in human beings.

The point I’m making is simple: the best way to recapture the energy and vitality of youth is to rebuild the body’s endocrine support and restore youthful hormone levels. But this process is far more complex than most physicians are prepared to cope with. Using what are called bio-identical hormones – that is, the same hormones normally found in human beings – is a good start. But doing a thorough and effective job requires replacing and balancing all of the hormones found in our youth, not just a few of them. At a minimum, this needs to include Testosterone, Estrogen, Progesterone, Pregnenolone, DHEA, and Thyroid levels. Balancing this complex mix of hormones requires that they be measured and adjusted on a regular basis, because levels in our bodies change constantly, affected by diet, physical activity, emotional and physical stress levels, the amount of fat and muscle in our bodies, and the amount we exercise.

Very few clinics anywhere have the experience and expertise to handle properly all these complex medical challenges like we do at Longevity Medical Clinic. In fact, I cannot think of anyone in the area who has the track record we enjoy at Longevity, successfully treating thousands of patients in the delicate science of proper hormone replacement. If youthful vigor and vitality are the goals you’re seeking, you’re in good, capable and experienced hands at Longevity Medical Clinic.