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See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog/ Mitochondria are discussed in antiaging advertising like they are understood by the common man. Even TV discussions and podcasts discuss mitochondria like we are all biology majors, but to most people mitochondria is a word but most people don't know really what they are. Most people think Mitochondria are "good", but what are they? Some examples of ads that use the word Mitochondria, reads "Take these Anti-oxidants every day and you will heal your mitochondria, and live longer…" "Your mitochondria are sick and need to be treated with BLANK to bring you back to health, just buy…." In reality, most students of biology and medical doctors are the only people who understand what they are and how they work, what can make them "sick", and how to make them operate normally within each cell of our body. Simply mitochondria are organelles that take BS and Oxygen and make energy. You can think of it as "breathing for the cell" , by taking blood sugar and O2 and creating energy, CO2 (carbon dioxide) and water H2O. Mitochondria are the tiny determiners of our ability to metabolize food and make the energy the cell needs to do its job effectively. I bet you never thought anything about the fact that when you breath oxygen it goes into your blood stream on your red blood cells, and delivered to your tissues by diffusion through capillaries and enters the cells within your tissues…but what does it do then to sustain us? That is where Mitochondria come in…as they work as I described in the previous paragraph. Another important piece of information about the mitochondria is that they are passed from mother to child, which means your metabolism is secondary to the genes only your mother gave you! We call this genetic communicator that tells cells how to function metabolically, mitochondrial DNA! To locate our mitochondria, we must take a microscope to the human body, and successively dissect her into smaller and smaller parts: A whole human body, divided into organ systems eg. Skin, Gastrointestinal system, then divided into smaller parts called tissues such as muscles and neuro-tissue. Smaller still are the specialized cells that make up the tissues, call cells. Smaller still are the mitochondria that are located within each cell in the body, providing energy to the cell, to make the whole-body work! Mitochondria are small, oval, sub-cellular " energy packs" located inside every cell in our bodies. These small oranelles within our cells turn sugar (glucose) from our food, into ATP (energy) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2). They act like miniature lungs, taking in sugar which is made of oxygen and carbon, and returning CO2 as a by-product. Scientists say that mitochondria's activity is "respiration"! The CO2 passes out of the cell and is excreted by the lungs. So why do we use Mitochondria as a catchword for a way to sway lay people to buy a product to keep them healthy? It is a way to explain complicated physiology to people who aren't trained in a particular science like medicine or biology, and a way to sell products. The word mitochondria is associated with sickness and how to get better and it becomes a catch word everyone knows and wants to "fix". However, if it is a fad or an advertising method to sell something, knowledge of what mitochondria need to make energy, is a valid pursuit. In short, your cells need plenty of oxygen, healthy foods, exercise and a clean environment to make energy effectively in your mitochondria. Because our food sources do not have adequate nutrition for us and our mitochondria, we must eat foods that are particularly packed with nutrients and or add supplements such as resveratrol, Alpha-Lipoic Acid, L-carnitine and omega 3 oils to heal our "sick mitochondria". All the while we are trying to "help our mitochondria" with nutritious food and supplements, many of us are inactivating our mitochondria just when we need them most! How you ask? Those of the many people who take statins are inactivating their mitochondria 24-7. That is how a statin works! Statins inactivate mitochondria to decrease the production of cholesterol in the cells. So why are we killing our ability to make energy and to be healthy, just to decrease our chance of getting heart disease later? Statins are only worth the risk if you have already had a heart attack or are about to have one and have narrowed atherosclerotic arteries. Statins don't treat anything, but your cholesterol lab values, and only prevent additional buildup of more plaque. Some of my patients think statins are cleaning up the arteries, but they do not do that! The risk for a heart attack includes blocked arteries, inflammation, smoking and a high Homocysteine level and Family history. To clean up blood vessels, Zetia is the atherosclerotic cleaner-upper without the risks of a statin! Zetia leaves your mitochondria alone! To know if you actually have atherosclerotic plaque, you should h

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog/ One of my patients asked me why I was putting her on Metformin if she wasn't really diabetic yet, another woman I was consulting on asked why I'd put her on a dangerous drug, and another patient with Fatty Liver refused to take Metformin because it is for Diabetes and not for Fatty Liver! These patients made it clear that I had to create a Healthcast and blog about the miracle drug, Metformin. Metformin has been around since 1994 while early in my private practice. Metformin quickly became the first line therapy for type 2 diabetics. was the first line of treatment for type 2 diabetics. In that 40 years using Metformin for diabetes has opened a whole range of other diseases and conditions that Metformin can be used for, such as: Reducing risk of Cancer recurrence, all cancers Weight loss Lowering triglycerides Treating insulin resistance Treating Prediabetes Mood Disorders, Psychiatric problems Decreases NAFL from becoming Liver cancer Polycystic ovarian Disease Infertility Aging and the symptoms of aging People on Metformin have a lower rate of mortality How does Metformin work? Metformin exerts its hypoglycemic effects by: decreasing glucose production from the liver increasing insulin receptors' sensitivity in various body tissues increasing secretion of growth differentiating factor, which reduces appetite and calorie intake. When I find a patient with signs of Diabetes, a high HBA1C, and or an elevated fasting Insulin level (above 10), or consistently elevated FBS I prescribe Metformin for patients who don't have AODM yet, but who will progress to it if they are not treated and learn to eat low glycemic foods, and to exercise. Generally, the patients that I label with Metabolic Syndrome, revert to normal and don't proceed to AODM. I also use this drug for weight loss because most weight gain in women after 40 is because they have become menopausal and have a loss of testosterone which causes them to gain weight and become insulin resistant. Metformin, Diet and Exercise all work together to reverse the process and decrease a woman's chance of getting AODM. What medical Diseases and Problems Do I use Metformin for? Other patients who may or may not have IR, but who have elevated liver enzymes from Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFL) are placed on Metformin to reverse this problem as well. I have seen many patients who thought they were doomed to having fatty liver and possibly developing Liver Cancer, become healthy, lose weight and normalize their previous Fatty Liver. High Triglycerides (TGs) are generally from too many simple carbs over time and increase as insulin resistance gets worse with aging and length of time eating the wrong diet. Diet and exercise are necessary to drive the TG down to normal, but patients rarely stick to these lifestyle measures unless they see a visible change in their body composition. Metformin can make that possible and be the factor that leads patients to a healthier lifestyle. "Cancer Loves Sugar" so I try to explain that the 2 largest factors in recurrence of a cancer or even getting any cancer are obesity and dysregulation of blood sugar with insulin resistance. Both can be transformed by diet exercise and metformin! You can literally decrease your cancer risk by losing weight and not eating simple carbohydrates. Elevated Prolactin levels that are not in the tumor range are lowered in both men and women with Metformin. The article in the latest Psychiatry Today shows a use for Metformin for mood disorders. Psychiatrists use metformin ER to decrease the weight gain often caused by anti-psychotics. They also find that metformin increases repair in the brain and activates the brain to increase Motivation, cognition, and dopamine. This is a benefit for patients who may be on antipsychotics for life and need help with the side effects. Countering Inflammation that causes osteoporosis, degenerative brain diseases, frailty and arthritis. Antiaging is stimulated by Metformin..how does it work? Improving nutrient sensing Enhancing autophagy Enhancing intracellular communications Protecting against macromolecular damage Delaying stem cell aging Modulating mitochondrial function Regulating gene transcription Lowering telomere attrition How Do I prescribe Metformin? There are two types of Metformin, the short acting form of metformin which is made to be taken with each meal to manage BS after eating for diabetics only, and the long-acting type of Metformin, which is called Metformin ER or XR, and this is the type I use for every other problem including IR, and Prediabetes. The long-acting form must be taken with a meal, or it simply will not work! Generally, the dose is started with on 500 XR tablet with the largest meal of the day, then increasing each week to the max of 4 x 500XR tablets per day if needed. I write smaller doses for less severe dysregulations, and larger for severe IR, Obesity, and

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog/ At BioBalance Health our primary goal for our aging patients is to reverse the process of aging and treat their symptoms and body composition changes that come with loss of Testosterone in women and men. We also have a secondary goal to make our patients healthy for a lifetime and prevent the many diseases of aging! The diseases of aging are also started when Testosterone is deficient, years before we actually are diagnosed with one of the diseases we associate with aging. I am listing the diseases of aging below so you can decide if you already have one of them or if your family history put you at risk for them. We treat preemptively for these diseases if we see any sign of them and often can prevent them, stop their progress or decrease the symptoms of these diseases. If you have one or more of the Diseases of Aging or they run in your family: Adult Onset Diabetes (Type 2 Diabetes) Vascular Disease High lipids Heart Disease Autoimmune disease after 40 Obesity Insulin Resistance Chronic fatigue Hypothyroidism High Cortisol Obesity Osteoporosis then BioBalance Health® can bring you back to health and prevent the diseases and symptoms of aging for you! Please go to our website to fill out our forms and we will call you to make an appointment! BioBalancehealth.com. If you have noticed that you look old in the mirror and have: Sagging facial jowls Large and deep eye circles Sagging lids Poor facial skin tone, and large pores Sagging body skin and loss of muscle mass and strength Crepey skin Loss of facial cheeks Deep parenthesis around your mouth Smokers lines above your upper lip Full face or body sagging Urine loss –stress or intermittent urine loss Loss of eyebrows, causing lack of facial definition Facial hair and acne Unwanted hair anywhere Brown spots Deep facial wrinkles And more…… Then make an appointment at BBH BBSkin® to have a consultation, develop a treatment plan just for you and take care of the visible signs of aging skin . Our weight Loss program can be combined with the BBH treatment and BBS beautifying skin treatments. We provide diet and exercise treatment plans, and then make them, more effective by adding Testosterone pellet therapy i(f indicated), and or medications like Ozempic, Rybelus, Appetite suppressants, Metformin and oteher cutting edge weight loss meds and individualize your treatment plan, while we follow your progress with our INBody Body composition scale. We also offer Lipo-plus and HydroxyB12 shots in our office for our pellet, weight loss and esthetic patients. Sometimes we incorporate peptide treatment and supplements to assist the rest of our diet program. Some people are more difficult than others to start weight loss…but as you heard from our patient who sent a letter to Dave and Trish. If this sounds like what you need and you are in the area of Kansas City or Saint louis where our offices are located, then go to our website and hit the button New Patients and change the course of the second half of your life!

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog/ BioBalance Health LLC turns 20 this year! We have been changing the lives of our patients for two decades. Every day I get amazing positive feedback, that makes me KNOW that I have found a unique answer to aging and a health program to treat all the symptoms of aging and prevent the diseases of aging with replacement of one hormone, TESTOSTERONE! We offer Replacement of bio-identical pellet Testosterone for men and women, and estradiol pellets for women combined with treatment of all other hormone deficiencies, and preventive treatment and lifestyle changes. We also have a very effective Medical Weight loss program that is very effective using multiple methods of weight loss and the newest weight loss medications tailored to your individual challenges. We even follow your weight loss with an advanced body composition scale. Our third avenue to fight aging is our medical spa, BioBalance Skin®, that fights aging and makes our patients look as good as they feel. I created BioBalance Health LLC to be the ultimate medical practice to treat patients over 40, to treat the symptoms and diseases of aging. BBH practices medicine the way it was meant to be –individualized for your specific issues—with the goals of bringing women and men back to robust health, physically, sexually, mentally and esthetically. BBH is my dream medical practice both for our patients and our medical and esthetic staff. My patients are amazed at their progress and ecstatic about how they feel, in contrast to the debilitated feeling they had before coming to us. Bio-identical Testosterone pellet treatment is the foundation of our Anti-aging treatment plans. Our goal is to bring you back to quality of life, with a great sex drive and a younger body and mind. I get a lot of positive feedback in the office from our patients who tell me the following things: "You saved my life!" "You saved my marriage! We love each other again and have recovered the sex lives we had in our 30s" "I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and have been limited by pain to sitting in a chair all day long. After my first Testosterone and Estradiol pellets, I painted the whole inside of my house" "My insomnia was severe and affected every area of my life but with testosterone pellets I sleep through the night and wake up refreshed. My medical problems have all improved." "I had ED and was treated elsewhere with Viagra and Cialis which improved my physical problem, but it didn't help my lack of desire. With BioBalance I got testosterone pellets and treated my prediabetes, atherosclerosis and I am healthier, and I have a sex drive and no ED!" "I am 68 and I feel like I am 35 again! Everyone asks me what I have done to look so good, and I just say BioBalance!" BioBalance Health is known for offering their new and follow up patient's hour-long consultations with a doctor to review all of a patient's health history, lifestyle and lab results finishing with an individualized treatment plan. Recently I was forwarded a letter from Dave Glover and Trish Gazall our key advertising voices in the Midwest on AM 1120, FM 97.1 They both have been treated for the symptoms and diseases of aging and weight loss with much success and this letter was sent to them, about BioBalance Health®. The letter- author wants to remain anonymous. Shortened. Letter to Dave Glover Dear Dave and Trish, I want to give a shout-out to BioBalance Health. BioBalance has made such a difference in my health! I remember about 10-14 years ago when you (Dave) had Crane Durham on your show, and he essentially said people are fat because they are lazy. At the time, I had been exercising regularly, with little to show for it. I had polycystic ovarian syndrome and had both of my thyroids removed, due to thyroid cancer. It was really demoralizing to know that people would make assumptions about my character and work ethic based on how I looked, without knowing anything about my medical struggles. At any rate, I eventually resigned myself to the fact that my body was destined to be fat and there was nothing I could do about it. Exercise wasn't helping and diets worked only if they were extreme and only for so long, so I finally gave up trying to fight it. Over the years, I listened to your advertisements for BioBalance Health and didn't give it much thought. But for some reason, I decided to give BioBalance a try in the summer of 2020. I was amazed at how thorough their medical intake and blood testing was! They asked me about everything — even a foul ball hitting my head at a Cardinals game was of interest to Dr. Sullivan and I had never given the incident a second thought. Dr. Sullivan determined that medications I was being prescribed for my thyroid replacement by my Primary Care Doc was not adequate. She also diagnosed me with a metabolic syndrome. After struggling all those years, it was a relief to know that there really was a biological element behin

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog/ Women always ask about my goal for their blood level of free Testosterone after insertion of testosterone pellets. That is a good question, and it is not easily answered. When I was trained by Dr Gino Tutera in 2002, and he taught me that the optimal range for Free T in women who take T pellets to be over 15 pg/ml. He taught me that each woman is an individual and the blood level that they need is specific to their metabolism and genetics. To determine the perfect level of T free for an individual we should follow the resolution of her symptoms after her T pellets are inserted. Today we will talk about the research done by Dr Rebecca Glaser, published in Maturitis 74(2013) that confirms my practice of adjusting the dose of pellets based primarily on the resolution of Low T symptoms. Prescribing pellet Testosterone for woman is not easy and her doctor must find her own ideal blood level. Testosterone replacement for women has been ignored as an essential hormone replacement for women, and until recently was not considered a major sex hormone in women. Premenopausal women have 15-20 times more testosterone than estradiol circulating in their blood streams. This makes testosterone the most prevalent sex hormone in premenopausal women, yet it is still mislabeled as a strictly male hormone! After late 30s to mid 40s women develop a deficiency in testosterone and develop a host of symptoms that doctors have sadly called the symptoms of "aging", when the symptoms are directly related to the lack of free T in a woman's circulation. Both pre- and post-menopausal women over 36 may experience the following symptoms of testosterone deficiency: Sexual dysfunction-lack of libido and loss of orgasmic function Anxiety, irritability, depression Physical fatigue Lack of the feeling of well-being Poor cognition Memory loss Insomnia Hot flashes New autoimmune diseases Arthritis Weight gain Muscle loss and physical weakness Pain Vaginal Dryness Irritable Bladder Migraine headaches Osteoporosis One of the reasons that the majority of doctors don't use T pellets is because it takes intense individual training after residency and time and attention to each patient, her symptoms, and time for multiple adjustments of dose before the maintenance dose is determined. This is something a doctor or nurse must do all the time to be good at it and the doctor must have a complete grasp of endocrinology, nutrition, and gynecology to become good at this type of T hormone treatment. Once the pellet dose is determined it is the most convenient dosing schedule (once q 4 months, only 3 doctor visits a year) with 100% compliance because the T Pellet dose is given in the office, very rare complications, and an amazingly complete resolution of symptoms, which has not been seen in any other T preparations, bio-identical or not, given with a different delivery system. With the right doctor or Nurse Practitioner, a knowledge of pharmacology, endocrinology, gynecology and nutrition, this form of T delivery to women brings them back to a more youthful body and mind as well as prevents diseases of old age such as Osteoporosis, Heart disease, Sexual Dysfunction, mood disorders and autoimmune diseases to name a few. In the research paper by Dr Rebecca Glaser: Testosterone implants in women: Maturitis 2013 Dr Glaser explains that there are many problems secondary to following blood levels to determine dosage, and explains why following symptom resolution is the preferred way to provide this type of Testosterone replacement: Specifically, Blood tests of free T are rarely repeatable and often wrong—it is not a good, repeatable blood test. The only thing less reliable is saliva testing which I don't recommend. No single blood test represents the true daily blood level of free T in pellet patients. How fast your body uses the available T up, varies by number of hours or sleep, stress level, estradiol and estrone levels and amount of exercise engaged in per day. Fat metabolic activity: T pellets are inserted into fat in the hip and as we are now discovering, the ability of fat to dissolve a steroid hormone placed in fat is individual and determines how quickly the pellet is dissolved and needs to be re-dosed. There is no test for this, so trial and error is needed using different dosage to determine ongoing maintenance dose. ARs (Androgen receptors) are distributed throughout the body and the number of Ars plus the "stickiness" of the receptors for free-Testosterone in the blood, is determined both by genetic makeup and age. ARs of people with dominant genetics from the northern latitudes, are relatively resistant to binding, and these receptors must have a higher blood level to respond at an optimal level. Women who have their dominant genetics closer to the equator, require less free T to achieve optimal symptom relief. The genes are not specifically discovered as of yet, it is impossi

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog/ At a get together of friends, I was pulled aside by a good friend who asked me how she could prevent dementia, because the mother she loves is in a memory care facility and she never wants that to be her future! My answer was brief, but I can now think of so many other things I could have recommended for her, and I thought I would share them with you, and I will give her a copy of the blog that goes along with these suggestions. I read research every day that tells doctors what causes dementia and increases risk of getting dementia at the middle or latter part of life. When I get to the basis of all the findings in the medical articles, it is detailed as I will discuss, But the basic qualities and problems to treat include INFLAMMATION, ATHEROSCLEROTIC VASCULAR DISEASE, OBESITY, HIGH SUGAR DIET, HIGH BP SMOKING AND ALCOHOL AND POOR DIET. Risk of Dementia Includes the following categories of Modifiable Risk factors: Low Testosterone and estradiol Chronic inflammation Obesity Diabetes High BP Depression Cigarette/cigar smoking Hearing loss Binge Drinking and excessive alcohol intake Sedentary lifestyle Lack of sunlight High carb diet—sodas, sugar Aging= low sex hormones, poor production of nitric oxide and poor absorption of oral vitamin Bs Chronic injuries and pain that cause chronic inflammation—get that knee or shoulder fixed! Chronic heart disease---arrythmia, atherosclerotic heart disease Foods to Eat Prevent Dementia Eggs in moderation Cumin Anything with protein Yogurt and other foods (Kambucho) with probiotics and lactobacciluus Clean fresh foods Meats and fish that are fresh or frozen, not preserved, or processed Steamed or fresh vegetables (not canned or processed) Seeds and nuts (raw and roasted without salt preferable) Foods to avoid to prevent dementia: Inflammatory foods and soy products Milk, especially cow's milk. (High carb content) especially skin milk! Soy All phytoestrogens Wheat Food with preservatives (all processed foods have preservatives) Modifiable risk factors Replace hormones that are missing with bio-identical hormones, non-oral delivery system Estradiol pellets, patches, gels, for women Progesterone for women who miss it or who have a uterus Testosterone pellets, creams, gels Thyroid replacement. Armour Thyroid for women and levothyroxine for men Neurotransmitters by taking probiotics Suppress LH and FSH –high levels increase risk of dementia and osteoporosis (new study) Take estradiol and testosterone for women—enough to suppress FSH and LH to pre-menopausal levels Replace Testosterone for men Keep Blood Sugar Normal Eat a low sugar and low carb diet— Treat prediabetes with meds Treat diabetes with meds Decease alcohol; intake to 1 4 oz glass of wine a day and Get to ideal weight Achieve Ideal Weight –Obesity and Overweight Increases Inflammation That Increases Dementia, so Decrease Inflammation Eat properly--Eat your base caloric intake or less daily Low carb diet Eat ½ X -1 X your body weight in protein daily Drink clear water equivalent to your weight in ounces (you weight 130—drink 130 oz of water a day) No Soda No alcohol until you achieve ideal weight No desserts or baked goods, rice, wheat products until achieve id3al weight Supplements—see below Exercise Daily Aerobic exercise--for > 40 minutes a day Weight training 3-4 times a week Red Light Therapy especially in the evenings—activate your mitochondria! Directed toward skin for 20 minutes a day Specific red-light therapy –to face or area of pain Natural light in AM Step outside at sunrise or early morning for 15-30 minutes—no sunglasses Sleep in a dark room with quiet at least 7 hours a night OK to take melatonin at bedtime to sleep Supplements -Take a multi vitamin every day like Thorne daily Nutrients 2/day + Antioxidants: Vitamins C, A, and E Vitamin D3 Vitamin Bs—Methyl B12, Methyl Folate oral or injections Anti-inflammatory supplements: Aspirin 81 mg/day Milk thistle Curcumin Omega 3 and 6 oils DHA NAC DIM Arteriorisol Minerals: Zinc 30-60/day Magnesium 300-600/day Electrolytes: especially in summer during exercise NUUN supplement\ Increase Nitric oxide and keep BP less than 140/90 Neo 40 RX Cialis daily 2.5- 5 mg/day Eat beets—lots of them Non-modifiable risk factors: Race (Am Indians and Blacks have a higher risk) Early age of menopause (without hormone replacement) Genetics: HLA-DR15 tissue type, APO-E ¾. And 4/4 Less than high school education Just a word about genetics. We now know that even if you carry genes for dementia, you can modify your genetics…there is hope! This new concept is called epigenetics, and it shows that the factors we employ above can put certain dementia genes "to sleep" and activate other genes that are going to make you healthier! We are no longer a puppet of our genes! Genetic Risk for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD), the most prevalent dementia, is partially driven by genetics. To identify LOAD risk loc

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog/ BioBalance Health® has always been on the cutting edge of the newest medical methodology available. In the fight against cancer, we are now using he newest genetic methodology to find cancers early, when they are treatable. Throughout my almost 40 years of practicing medicine, I have believed that medicine should embrace preventive care and be based on the belief that we should only react to a disease that is already established. Now we finally have one test that screens for 72% of the cancers that we can't screen for. It is hard to believe that out of the 55 types of cancer we can only screen for 5 Cancers! Medicine has only developed 5 screening tests that are currently in use to find cancers early. Galleri is one simple blood test that screens for 50 types of cancer, to find them at early treatable stages, before they create symptoms, metastasize, or produce any symptoms. Galleri was created for those patients who have a positive family history of cancer, or those patients who are fearful of getting cancer of any type, and for those patients who have been successfully treated for cancer who want to find out early, if they have a recurrence! Galleri It is the dream child of a company who has been testing and retesting it with the finest geneticists in the US. We are offering this test through our office as an option for those who need it to truly practice preventive medicine! With Galleri, you have a good chance of being cured of cancer through very early detection! Before Galleri® was invented patients only had 5 cancers that could be detected early by screening tests. The following list enumerates the 5 cancers we have screening tests for. Breast cancer: Mammography can find cancer after it has been growing for 11 years. Cervical Cancer: Pap and HPV Test only finds the virus and possibly the cells that might be cancer. Colorectal Cancer, Colon Cancer: Colonoscopy and stool tests Lung Cancer: Low Dose C-T Scan Prostate Cancer: PSA Test Routine screening tests are recommended because they have been proven to save lives by detecting some cancers earlier.3 The Galleri test does not preclude the use of the 5 screening tests that are currently in use, however there are more than 50 cancers that Galleri® can test for, and you receive your results in 10 working days. It is time to look at cancer more broadly, in addition to the 5 cancers that are routinely screened for today. The most important cancer is the one that you or your loved one may have — and curing cancer starts with knowing you have it! If cancer runs in your family, and you lose sleep worrying about it you should take the Galleri® Test. If your genetic relatives (father mother, aunt or uncle, sisters or brothers or children have had cancer then testing yourself for cancer with Galleri® will answer the question as to whether you have it or not. Our patients at BioBalance Health® are offered this test yearly for high-risk patients and as needed, often less often than yearly. The test is not covered by insurance as it is a new test…but can you wait until it is covered? Worrying about cancer can make you literally sick by stimulating your adrenal gland's production of cortisol. This worry impairs your immune system that protects you from cancer, putting you at higher risk! The only risk of Galleri® is the cost…$ 1,250 paid directly to the Galleri® company at the time of your blood draw. 50 Types of cancer detected by Galleri® The Galleri test is a multicancer early detection test that detects a common cancer signal across more than 50 types of cancer through a simple blood draw. A Adrenal Cortical Carcinoma Ampulla of Vater Anus Appendix, Carcinoma B Bile Ducts, Distal Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic Bile Ducts, Perihilar Bladder, Urinary Bone Breast C Cervix Colon and Rectum E Esophagus and Esophagogastric Junction G Gallbladder Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplasms K Kidney L Larynx Leukemia Liver Lung Lymphoma (Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin) M Melanoma of the Skin Merkel Cell Carcinoma Mesothelioma, Malignant Pleural N Nasal Cavity and Paranasal Sinuses Nasopharynx Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Appendix Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Colon and Rectum Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Pancreas O Oral Cavity Oropharynx (HPV-Mediated, p16+) Oropharynx (p16-) and Hypopharynx Ovary, Fallopian Tube and Primary Peritoneum P Pancreas, exocrine Penis Plasma Cell Myeloma and Plasma Cell Disorders Prostate S Small Intestine Soft Tissue Sarcoma of the Abdomen and Thoracic Visceral Organs Soft Tissue Sarcoma of the Head and Neck Soft Tissue Sarcoma of the Retroperitoneum Soft Tissue Sarcoma of the Trunk and Extremities Soft Tissue Sarcoma Unusual Histologies and Sites Stomach T Testis U Ureter, Renal Pelvis Uterus, Carcinoma and Carcinosarcoma Uterus, Sarcoma V Vagina Vulva The Galleri test is intended to detect a cancer signal and predict cancer signal's origin to inform diagn

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog/ Don't stop at the headline of a written article or blog about hormones or you who take hormones will unnecessarily feel anxiety all the time. Journalists and bloggers often get you to read an article by first scaring you with a scary title….then reassuring you in the article. This is the first and primary problem with making assumptions about hormone therapy from, including estradiol, testosterone and progesterone. Research Translated into Lay Language Generalize All Hormones into One Big Group When reading anything about "Hormone Therapy being dangerous or safe, the author is lumping hundreds of types of hormones into one category and by doing that, dooming hormones to look like a failure, when they are not. Not all hormones are alike, and the difference between how you take a hormone (oral, pellet, vaginal, etc.) changes the safety and effectiveness. The other factors that change the effectiveness of hormones like estradiol and testosterone include: Whether they are they are synthetic or bio-identical (made from vegetables to look just like your own hormones) What type of hormone is it? For example Estrogen has 3 human forms: Estradiol (young women's estrogen), Estrone (old women's estrogen from adrenal), and Estriol (pregnancy estrogen)…the type you take matters. Horses have over 17 types of estrogen and none of them are human, but we use pregnant horse urine to make Premarin for humans. The dose (the amount given). By lowering the dose of any hormone, you can make it ineffective! The number of times you take it ( 2-3 times a Day, daily, weekly, monthly) determines whether you can keep up with the dosing or not. This determines compliance. How you take it : oral,. Transdermal, pellet, or intramuscular determines the activity and the effectiveness as well as the side effects of a hormone All of these factors change the effectiveness of a hormone treatment in humans. Most of the time, the investigator of a medical study uses one type of hormone for his scientific tests, but generalizes the side effects or the effectiveness of that one specific type of hormone, to ALL hormones in that category, eg. Testing Oral Premarin and generalizing it to every type and kind of estrogen on the market. For instance, Premarin® a synthetic estrogen from Pregnant Horses, was the estrogen used in a study that determined that "estrogen" causes a woman to be at risk for blood clots. This is true of the oral hormone Premarin and many doctors took their patients off all estrogens based on that one study. Much later, years, other types of estrogen were tested for increasing the rate of blood clots and were found NOT to increase the rate of blood clots. After many studies of different delivery systems of estrogen, the final agreement is that all non-oral forms of Estrogen Do NOT cause blood clot formation in women taking them. That sounds like justice was served, but for the 10-20 years in between the Premarin study and the other studies and the time it takes to get a final agreement of doctors, women were denied all forms of estrogen from their doctors based on this inaccurate interpretation and generalization of one medical study! For example, if a scientific study stated that all ice cream flavors tasted the same, could I convince you that all ice cream, of all flavors, taste the same? Of course not, because you have experience eating different flavors of ice cream and you know that every flavor of ice cream and even different companies making the same flavor tastes different! That is the biggest clue to doctors reading a study. If the results don't match their experience, they question it and should follow their experience until more study is done. Some doctors follow blindly the results of studies or follow the ones they WANT to follow because it relieves them of work. That is one factor in causing doctors to stop prescribing estrogen based on the study that said all estrogens caused blood clots, was that of laziness! Hormone therapy requires hours of explanation, which means time in the office and doctors who are overworked found a way out for themselves to shorten their days! Not talking about hormones and stating, "I don't believe in hormone replacement therapy", was their mantra and the cause of so many women being untreated with postmenopausal estrogens! If your doctor says that, then flee! Find someone who can take care of you properly. The doctors aren't the only ones who create the atmosphere of false information. The medical research community is trying to do with the medications (hormones) called HRT (Hormone replacement therapy) and Testosterone. Researchers are trying to tell us that all hormone treatments are the same with the same side effects and the same qualities, no matter what they are made of (plants vs chemicals) or what hormone is contained in them (horse estrogen with 18 types of horse estrogen, none of which are similar to hum

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog/ Many people don't get what they need from their doctor's office appointment in this modern age of 10-minute doctor visits. They complain about it but don't know how fix the problem. I would like to challenge you to prepare yourself for your doctor's visit before your doctor appointment, because it is the only way you can get the treatment you need. Doctors are smart and the most intensively trained professionals in our society, but they are often not the best communicators. Your success when trying to get the right treatment is half your responsibility and half your doctor's. Here are a few things you can do to start the office visit for a problem you are having, in a way that helps your doctor come to the right treatment for you. PATIENT'S ROLE: DO write down your Chief Complaint (the primary problem you are seeking a solution to) and bring it with you. Think about it before your go to the office, or while you're in the waiting room. Then write down your symptoms in a list. These symptoms that you have, when they started and how severe they are, become the clues for your doctor to solve the mystery of your medical problem. If your doctor gets distracted, you can hand him the list of symptoms you have written down. DON'T launch into a long story! Stories are often convoluted and unrelated to what the problem you are seeing him or her for and will confuse the issue for your doctor. The office visit is not long, and you will waste your time talking about what you had for lunch instead of what is bothering you. Years ago I would accompany my MIL to the doctor and she would tell him everything that occurred since her last visit..what she ate, when she went to bed, trouble with her heating and cooling system…and I could see the doctors eyes glaze over. She never got to the reason she was there, and he doesn't have ESP, so it took multiple office visits to get to the bottom of a simple problem, so that she could receive treatment. Remember, are there either for a health checkup or for a problem. Tell your doctor what you are there for, in a few sentences. DO give your doctor any lab or radiology reports from your referring doctor at the beginning of a problem visit with a list of your symptoms so she can read them while you talk and get the clinical facts from them as you tell her what is wrong. Add any related problems that started at the same time as your primary problem. Remember, some symptoms that occur at the same time as your primary problem may be related to your medical problem and some may not. It is the doctor's job to help you decide what is related. An example is that sometimes a patient in our office will notice hair loss when they are taking testosterone and immediately think it is the T pellets, however there are many other medical conditions that cause hair loss. The many medical problems that are likely to be the cause include low thyroid, lack of protein in the diet, adrenal oversupply of cortisol, stress, autoimmune diseases, and medications. Your Primary problem may not be for the reason you think it is, but these other medical issues need to be evaluated to find the cause. On the other hand some medical problems happen secondary to a treatment, or a procedure, and infection or a trauma. You should tell your doctor those things that have happened around the time of your problem starting. My husband had symptoms of a Pulmonary Embolism on January 6th. He got a J&J vaccine on January 3rd. Was that the cause or was the fact that he had a positive covid test the cause? We will probably never know but now doctors have found that the J&J vaccine can cause PEs (pulmonary embolisms) on the second shot, and that is what might have caused his. His cause is figured out in retrospect with new problems that doctors encounter in their practices. Luckily, they treated the problem, and not the cause and he got better over night! IT is always better to know the cause of illness, but it is not always essential to treatment. Sometimes doctors cannot give you a definite diagnosis until they put you through the necessary tests to gather more information (clues). It is necessary to go through the testing to prove or disprove a diagnosis, so please be compliant and get the necessary testing for your doctor to put all the pieces together! BTW if you have had a test to diagnose a problem, then get the test and wait for the follow up appointment to get the results, unless it is an emergency. However, if the doctor said she would follow up by phone or email and you haven't heard in 7-10 days then call the office to make sure the test reached her and that she will contact you. You can't believe how many medical records; radiology reports and lab tests don't reach the doctor in this age of fax and email reports. However, it is better than waiting for the mail to come in like we used to do! Sometimes, doctors don't know the answer, or need you to

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog/ The list of the factors that bind T so you can't use it and those that produce estrogens block free testosterone in both men and women of all ages. The list of lifestyle choices and is much longer than the list of factors you can use to stimulate testosterone. Soy in many foods: It is a fact that foods that are processed have many "fillers" that are invisible to the person eating them. These fillers are often the culprit decreasing naturally produced testosterone levels and available or active T called free T. The biggest problem at the present is the addition of soy to nearly every processed food, even ice cream. Soy is a phytoestrogen. Phyto Estrogens in food (not medical estrogen) act as a female hormone, limiting the effectiveness of testosterone and the production of T. To avoid soy in everything you eat, you must do two things: 1. Eat basic meals cooked by you or a family member from fresh foods that do not include canned or processed foods, and 2. you have to look at the label and only buy products without soy. Currently there are only 2 brands of ice cream that don't add soy. Soy gives men a "Beer Belly" and all other foods with soy will also increase the fat collection in the abdominal area of both sexes. Soy is the primary proteins of vegans and therefore it is consumed in large volume therefore has more of an effect on lowering free T and T levels. Eating out of and microwaving in plastic containers (even drinking water out of plastic) causes our bodies to absorb the plastic chemical's estrogen. This does us no good and is a contaminant and toxin that we store in our body fat. It is the biggest enemy of T. It is everywhere and is considered the leading cause of lowering the average T level of men aged 15-40. It is everywhere so stop cooking in it and drinking from it when you can! Don't eat out of plastic bags, or microwave plastic containers, or plastic bags with food in it. Diabetes should be treated, and blood levels of sugar should be kept in control as low as possible for type 2 diabetes. Omega 6 fatty acids shrink the testes while the Omega 3 FA increase the activity of the testes Dairy has inherent estrogen in it and animal feed often contains soy, and that makes the milk and meat higher in estrogen. Trans Fats—Are in most processed foods. Chips, any snack food that is not dried fruit or nuts Commercial baked goods, such as cakes, cookies, and pies. Microwave popcorn. Frozen pizza. Refrigerated dough, such as biscuits and rolls. Fried foods, including french fries, doughnuts, and fried chicken. Nondairy coffee creamer. Stick margarine. Alcohol is a toxin and slows fat loss, damages the liver, and increases estrogen production in the liver, which inactivates testosterone. Obesity is dangerous to us in so many ways. The mere fact of being obese increases our risk for multiple diseases, but fat also converts testosterone in to estrone and estradiol in both men and women. The fatter a person is the less free testosterone he or she has. Being a Couch Potatoe. being inactive, is deadly for testosterone production and free Testosterone. Inactivity increases fat production and estrogen production. Moderate exercise every day is the answer! Over activity causes an increase in SHBG which binds testosterone. Marathoners and professional athletes run the risk of binding their good total testosterone so that it is not free to bind to Testosterone receptors. Fasting can cause increase in free testosterone by increasing SHBG. Humans were built to eat small amounts often, and eating one meal a day increases SHBG, that inactivates free T. Licorice root (in black licorice), Ashwaghanda and all mint family herbs even basil decrease active Testosterone blood levels. Phytoestrogens are in many women's natural supplements that are touted to decrease hot flashes. They only provide minimal relief, but also increase fat gain and estrone levels that cause inactivity of testosterone. Medications can lower the testosterone levels in both men and women Oral contraceptives increase estrone so much that they inactivate testosterone and suppress FSH and LH that stimulated the production of T from the ovary. Oral menopausal ERT and HRT binds up T and causes decrease of all of the benefits of T from replacement and natural T production however minimal after menopause. Finasteride and Dutasteride given to prevent hair loss or prostate enlargement causes a decrease of DHT to a point where sex drive, erectile function and muscle mass are impaired. Arimidex can cause an increase in testicular production of T, but in a small production of men and women it can inactivate the receptors for DHT and T. As the research about testosterone progress, we will find more and more lifestyle issues that decrease T total and T free levels that can interfere with normal production of T and free T in both men and women. As these are studied researched, we will update

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog/ What are the factors that stimulate or inhibit your own Testosterone (T) production? There are foods, supplements and activities that stimulate testosterone production, Just as there are foods, supplements and activities that lower your internal T production. Today I would like to address the factors that increase the production of testosterone in both men and women. However, there are limitations on these nonmedical pathways to a higher testosterone level: 1. One is your age. If you are a woman and menopausal then there are no foods or lifestyle changes that will stimulate your ovary to come back to life and make testosterone. Women have a finite lifespan for their production of estradiol and testosterone, and it ends at menopause. Estrogens can be made in the fat and the adrenal but pure testosterone is only made in the ovary, and when the ovaries "die" that's the end of testosterone production. 2. Men make testosterone throughout their lives, but their testes become resistant to stimulation around age 55, but they can become resistant as early as age 40, and then nothing other than T replacement will increase testosterone levels. 3. A person's body has a genetically driven sensitivity to the hormone Testosterone. Your heritage or the origin of your ancestors determine how you will "feel" with a particular blood level of testosterone. This has been studied by looking at the genetics of the T receptor on all the cells of your body. Receptors are more sensitive the closer you get to the equator in the western hemisphere, and the receptors are less sensitive if your ancestors' origin was closer to the north and south poles than if they were from around the equator. A certain level of testosterone doesn't have the same effect testosterone on both groups. In other words, those genes from around the equator need less testosterone to get the same effect as those people from extreme high and low latitudes. We are all different and our genes have an effect on our treatment. If you are a menopausal woman or over 40 then the manipulations of diet and exercise will be less likely to increase your testosterone production. There are foods and activities that inherently stimulate your internal testosterone production if you are a woman under 40 or a man under 50. After that you generally must replace your T to improve your symptoms of low Testosterone. Eating fewer fast foods and more of a well-balanced Mediterranean diet with fresh foods can optimize your testosterone production. High protein diets with grass fed animal foods and plenty of fish will optimize your testosterone production. Cholesterol containing foods provide the necessary building blocks for Testosterone in the body. Getting to your ideal weight will increase the free Testosterone in your blood stream making you feel your testosterone more. Getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night will increase the production of T, because T production is stimulated at night when you sleep. Sleeping in a dark room stimulates the production of Testosterone, Growth hormone (muscle development) and Melatonin (deep sleep). Daily moderate Exercise (not necessarily running a marathon) will stimulate your production of Testosterone. Supplements can stimulate production of Testosterone. There are several supplements targeted to stimulate testosterone that contain carnitine, inositol, choline. Protein in the diet provides the building blocks of muscle and testosterone and allow the activities and foods that stimulate the production of T have something to build with. People with a low protein diet (no eggs, fish, beans, milk products or meat) have a more difficult time making T. Most combination supplements that are touted on TV to increase your T are herbs and supplements that decrease estrogens like DIM, or supplements that increase your T by providing the hormones that are precursors to T like Pregnenalone and DHEA. Herb Fenugreek 500 mg increases free T production Decrease in DHT with the herb Saw Palmetto can decrease the production of DHT and increase free Testosterone, however it is important not to decrease the DHT too much because it is important in sex drive and building muscle. Ashwagandha decreases cortisol, and cortisol binding protein that inactivates T, therefore it can increase free T. If you are taking T supplementation, then don't take this supplement because it can cause you to not feel your free T. Zinc piccolate and Arginine improves prostate function and health, therefore your volume of ejaculate increases, and free testosterone is improved as well Lastly supplements that increase your erectile function by increasing Nitric Oxide e.g. Neo 40.

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog/ Sexism and bigotry are still alive and well in medicine. I have experienced this often during my 40 years in medicine. Women are considered hysterical to the medical man (and some women) which has been what men think about us since time began. This has passed it's "sell-by" date, as has the bigotry against people of color, but it is present, and we must somehow get what we need and get around the attitudes of medical personnel. My best advice is to not act hysterical because the male brain then flips to the thought that we are imagining this medical symptom! But if you cannot help it then have someone with you who can talk like a man---"just the facts", don't embellish and don't give them a long story…they lose interest, and forget why you are there. Tell the ER Doctors and EMTs" That you think you or your loved one is having a heart attack The estimated time you started having these symptoms If you took an aspirin, then tell them Have your medical history written on your iPhone app: look up this icon on any iPhone Have a list on the iPhone app or on a list in your wallet. Give all this information to your healthcare provider right away. Answer questions succinctly and quickly…no stories! We are successful at treating heart attacks and preventing disability and death in older men, but women of all ages and people of color, both sexes, are not being treated optimally, certainly not as well as their older white male counterparts. "Despite a decline in the number of overall heart attacks, this number is rising among young adults," Dr. Banco adds. "And young women and young Black adults have poorer outcomes after a heart attack compared to men and white adults." Journal of the American Heart Association: symptoms of heart attack Chest pain, pressure, chest tightness, burning in the chest Shortness of breath Left arm pain, Jaw pain Upper back pain Heart burn Passing out As doctors, we have been taught that women have different symptoms than men when having a heart attack, AND we have been taught that men have many more heart attacks than women. Only half of that is true. Women have fewer heart attacks when they are compared to young men of the same age, BUT women reach the same rate of heart attacks as men after menopause and if they are not replaced with estrogen. Our female patients at Biobalance Health actually have fewer heart attacks than is normal for their age after menopause because they are replaced with estradiol pellets. Young adults 18 to 55 years old who come to the emergency room with chest pain may wait longer and get less thorough workups when they're female or Black, a new study suggests. But they have fewer heart attacks than men and women as they age. The studies show that the care women receive is biased and are not considered at risk for heart attacks. An expert Gulati say in Everyday health, "There is implicit bias in how we care for women," Gulati says. "Women are still not seen to be at risk for heart disease (https://www.everydayhealth.com/heart-disease/). It is still seen as a man's disease, despite the fact that cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in both men and women." Delay in treatment should not be discounted. It can mean the difference between life and death and health and disability. "Time is heart muscle," Dr. Gulati says. "So, these noted delays and less aggressive care of women have the potential to translate into delays in care, less diagnostic testing, deaths at home for some discharged, and continued worse outcomes after a heart attack in young women — particularly young Black women." If you have the symptoms of a heart attack, you should take a baby aspirin (81 mg) and call 911. Time is obviously very important to the heart and lack of oxygen from a heart attack damages the heart muscle and therefore can leave you with a damaged heart that will limit your activity and lifestyle. No matter who you are, you should tell the EMT that you think you are having a heart attack, and they will go as fast as possible to the hospital and treat you on the way. If you cannot talk then make sure you partner with your partner and make sure you help each other communicate with the EMT and doctors. Remember you only need to tell them that you think it is a heart attack and that your symptoms are, (choose yours), chest pain or chest pressure, shortness of breath, left arm pain, jaw pain, and or upper back pain.

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog/ Most of you know that when I replace Testosterone hormones for my female patients who lose testosterone as they age. I only used Bioidentical Estradiol and Testosterone in the form of long-lasting subcutaneous pellets. I have limited my practice to only use this type of delivery system because pellets deliver a steady supply of Testosterone, without daily variation in blood levels, and have the fewest side effects of any type of testosterone replacement. However, nothing is perfect, and it is important to know what the side effects of any treatment are. There is no medical care that I know of that does not have associated side effects in a small percentage of patients. There are several problems that can occasionally occur after pellet insertions. We follow a strict sterile procedure protocol and provide a complete instruction sheet to our patients and verbal instructions on how to take care of the insertion site. Despite all precautions, a few patients have complications associated with their pellet insertion. I will dedicate the accompanying blog to the side effects of the pellet insertion procedure. The side effects can be caused by allergy, infection, as well as not following our instructions. The problems that are possible, but rare: Expulsion—the pellet comes back out Allergy Infection Seromas: Fluid around the inserted pellets Reaction to numbing medicines Remember that the procedure safety is only as good as the operator and choosing your doctor carefully for experience and attention to safety. The more experienced your doctor is in pellet hormones and the more she concentrates on pellet only therapy, the less risk you will have. For a full video describing these issues and the treatments, please go to my website biobalancehealth.com watch the Healthcast for #603. This presentation will include the slides and audio explaining the procedure and side effects. You can also go to You Tube to view the short lectures and slides about the side effects of testosterone pellets in women.

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog/ Most of you know that when I replace hormones for my female patients, I only use Bioidentical estradiol and Testosterone in the form of long-lasting subcutaneous pellets. I only use this type of delivery system because pellets deliver a steady supply of T and have the fewest side effects of any type of testosterone replacement. However, nothing is perfect, and it is important to know what the side effects of any treatment is. There is no medical treatment without any side effects. There is no medical care that I know of that does not create complaints by patients. There are several problems that occur during the first 4 months after the T pellets are inserted and usually present during the first 4-12 months of treatment. I will dedicate the accompanying Healthcast to later side effects of Testosterone pellets and what we recommend to lessen these effects. Of all the types of testosterone replacement for women, pellet replacement has fewer and less severe side effects than all other forms of testosterone for women. The later side effects include: Facial Hair and Acne Androgenic Hair Loss Voice Lowering Weight Gain For a full video describing these issues and the treatments, please go to my website biobalancehealth.com watch the videocast for #602. This presentation will include the slides and audio explaining them. You can also go to You Tube to view the short lectures and slides about the side effects of testosterone pellets in women.

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog/ Most of you know that when I replace hormones for my female patients, I only use bioidentical estradiol and testosterone in the form of long lasting (3-6 months) subcutaneous pellets. I have limited my practice to this type of delivery system because pellets deliver the most stable dose with the fewest side effects, while supplying a steady supply of testosterone compared to other delivery forms of bioidentical testosterone. However, no medical treatment is perfect for everyone, and it is important to know what the side effects of any treatment is both as a doctor and a patient. There is no medical care that I know of that does not create complaints of some form by patients. Sometimes it is because they have not listened, or not read our literature given them at their appointment. We try to prepare patients for the temporary symptoms of their first Testosterone insertion There are several problems that occur during the first 4 months after the T pellets are inserted. These side effects are treatable and temporary. and usually present during the first 4 months after the first pellet insertion. I will dedicate the accompanying Healthcast to the early side effects of testosterone pellets and what we recommend lessening these effects. Of all the types of testosterone replacement for women, pellet replacement has fewer and less severe side effects than all other forms of testosterone for women. The immediate side effects of this type of testosterone Temporary issues in the first 4 months: Vaginal Itching-not an infection! Clitoral enlargement! Hyper-sexuality Weight Gain=muscle gain These four complaints compose the most common phone calls we get after treatment with Testosterone pellets, even though we give our patients handouts preparing them for the adaptation changes the female body goes through when readjusting to testosterone blood levels in their bodies. The changes caused by testosterone deficiency occur slowly, so slowly in fact that you may not realize the numbness of the vulva and vagina, the shrinkage of the clitoris and vaginal opening, and lack of libido and muscle mass that accompanies loss of T. It takes several months for reversal of those deficiency symptoms and the adaptation that takes place as everything goes back to the normal you were accustomed to when you were younger, before testosterone became deficient. It is the re-adaptation to testosterone that causes the symptoms during the first 4 months. For a full video describing these issues and the treatments, please go to my website biobalancehealth.com watch the videocast for #601. This presentation will include the slides and audio explaining them. You can also go to You Tube to view the short lectures and slides about the side effects of testosterone pellets in women #600-603.

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog/ Most of you know that when I am replacing hormones for my female patients, I only used Bio-identical estradiol and Testosterone in the form of long-lasting subcutaneous pellets. I only use this type of delivery system because pellets deliver a steady supply of T and have the fewest side effects of any type of testosterone. However, nothing is perfect, and it is important to know what the side effects of any treatment is. There is no medical treatment without any side effects. There is no medical care that I know of that does not create complaints by patients. There are several problems that occur during the first month or two after T pellets are inserted, and others that occur after months or years. To be completely candid, I will spend the next Healthcast #601 describing the side effects that occur during the first insertion cycle from Testosterone pellets, and the measures and treatments we use to prevent and treat them. For a full introduction to this series of 4 lectures, please go to my website biobalancehealth.com and look for the videos which will have the slides and audio explaining them. You can also go to You Tube to view the short lectures and slides about the side effects of testosterone pellets in women.

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog/ 50% of men who receive Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) have elevated Red Blood cell counts, and high Hemoglobin and Hematocrits. The numbers that are considered normal are usually normal for men at sea level, and an elevated H/H doesn't necessarily mean that a man will have any negative effects If you have lung problems, or disease: For those men who have COPD, Chronic Bronchitis, or asthma, high counts are an adaptation that help you live with a compromised ability to oxygenate your blood. You should not get your blood dumped because the high counts are keeping you alive! If you live at high altitude or if you spend a large amount of time at high altitudes, then you don't necessarily need your blood phlebotomized because you need higher counts to live or vacation there. Men who live at high altitude have adapted to a lower oxygen level making more RBCs. If you are an extreme athlete, or you train excessively you may have high red blood counts to help you collect and distribute oxygen during your exercise. You won't have to remove blood unless this level remains a year after you stop excessive exercise. Why are doctors telling us to get phlebotomies (blood dumped) all the time? The problem with having a diagnosis of Erythrocytosis from TRT is that it is almost always confused with the disease called Polycythemia Vera (PCV). PCV does carry with it a high risk of blood clots, strokes and heart attacks. The two conditions are completely different, but ER doctors and surgeons only know that a high H/H is a sign of PCV, and PVC causes blood clotting…but they don't know that elevated H/H from TRT or adaptation to a disease doesn't cause the same medical problems as Polycythemia vera.. One of the ways we can separate the disease of PVC from the condition of Erythrocytosis: The CBC will show us the difference. PVC his elevated RBCs, H/H, Platelets and WBCs…all of them are elevated. Erythrocytosis only has an elevated RBC, and H/H. If your doctor gets excited about your elevated blood count, please tell him we have evaluated you for PVC and you don't have that, so you are not in danger for clotting or CVDx. Here are the differences between PCV and Erythrocytosis from TFT: Polycythemia Vera Erythrocytosis Blood test: high RBC, High H/H and High platelets, High WBC Blood test: only high H/H and RBC Abnormal Platelets, increase clotting Normal Platelets, no increase clotting Genetics: + Jak 2 mutation Genetics: no mutation Cause is genetic requires blood dumping to lower all counts or hydroxyurea meds Causes: High Altitude, TRT, COPD, Familial cause Treatment: requires blood dumping to lower all counts or hydroxyurea meds Treatment not necessary to keep it below HCT of 50. Some people do better with higher counts especially COPD, High Altitude Living, exercise at high altitude. A lot of Research that supports the theory that these patients are at risk for blood clots and coronary artery disease. No research paper that says high H/H from T causes CVDX, Stroke, or Blood clots. Abnormal platelet number and function cause the vascular diseases and clotting TFT is associated with normal platelet counts and functions. Jak 2 increases clotting factors and platelet production, and erythropoietin from the kidneys and increases clotting. Way it works: T directly stimulated the bone marrow to make more RBCs. No other blood products are elevated Remember: It is not T that causes high H/H to require blood dumping, it is the confused medical community that goes crazy when they see high H/H and cry malpractice! In many cases we are dumping blood to appease the primary care doctors. We ideally would like to keep a man's H/H below 20/55. Other reasons for elevated H/H: Do you have COPD, Asthma or chronic bronchitis? Don't get your blood dumped. The high counts are helping you. Do you have, or have you had elevated platelet count with your elevated red blood cell count? If you have, please tell your primary or your BioBalance Health Nurse Practitioner you will be evaluated for PCV with a genetic test. Do you live for part of the year at high elevation? If yes, then it is not necessary to phlebotomize you to get your counts down because you need those RBCs. Do you eat high iron foods (liver, braunsweiger, pate, bone marrow, Deep green leafy veggies) ? If so of if you are taking iron, you can stop because you shouldn't need it while taking T, because the bone marrow is stimulated to make more red cells with T. Do men in your family die of CVDX before age 50? Then you might have PCV! Get an iron panel + a Jak 2 genetic test. Blood Phlebotomies: Men over 70, should only have 250 cc removed at one time and told not to exercise for a few days. Blood pressure and blood volume take longer to equilibrate after the age of 70. Make sure these patients have a lot of water and that they drink it and eat something after the phlebotomy. Remember you just removed blood

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog/ A doctor must have an ideal, healthy range for any test which they are using to diagnose a patient. Diagnosticians cannot decide whether this ideal level or "reference range" is accurate without a great deal of scientific investigation, so he or she uses what is listed on the lab report which results in misdiagnoses. Blood panels are expensive and should have the information listed with the result that explains what circumstances make the test fall into the healthy and asymptomatic range. This is a problem with most large national labs, and it is leading to great numbers of misdiagnoses. Let me give you some examples of the problem with how labs are reported: Female Estradiol Published Lab Reference Range Postmenopausal: Estradiol is the female estrogen that disappears after menopause. Before menopause the average blood level of E2 is 60-250 pg/dl depending on the pre-or post-ovulation stage of the menstrual cycle. That range of estradiol is healthy for women. Lack of estradiol (which occurs at menopause and creates disabling symptoms) is unhealthy for women and the reference range should show that lack of E2 is "abnormal" and not within reference range. The lab considers that Estradiol levels are "normal" after the age of 40, if they are Female FSH Female LH Published Lab Reference Range Published Lab Reference Range Postmenopausal: 23.0 – 116.3 mIU/mL Postmenopausal: 10.0 – 54.7 mIU/mL FSH/LH are 2 pituitary hormones that do not cause symptoms when they are under 23 and 10 respectively. If a woman is premenopausal, or on sufficient estrogen replacement after menopause their FSH and LH are low, and they are asymptomatic. We test FSH and LH hormones to find out if is a patient is menopausal. If her FSH is over 23, and estradiol is under 60 then the patient is menopausal OR they are taking enough Estradiol to suppress their LH and FSH levels to normal (less than 23/10 respectively). Why do the labs consider very high FSH and LH levels to be "normal" or "in range" even though these elevated hormones cause many symptoms in menopausal women? High LH and FSH are not healthy or normal, but the lab says that anyone over 40 is normal with these extremely high FSH and LH. None of this is reported or mentioned on the lab sheet. The reference range for FSH and LH is listed under "Normal "if the FSH and LH are higher than 23/10, even if the FSH is extremely high and the patient is symptomatic! Recently studies have shown that High LH and High FSH levels themselves cause osteoporosis and dementia. It is now even more important to give a woman enough Estradiol to suppress these 2 hormones. Female Testosterone Free Published Lab Reference Range Postmenopausal: 0.2 – 5.0 pg/mL Free Testosterone levels for women: Finding a test that can correctly report testosterone levels when they are in the low range, such as female blood levels, is difficult. Testing for accurate female testosterone levels to compare with a reference range, has many problems. For instance, no one really claims to know what the "normal" level of free T is for is for young healthy women. Large scientific studies looking at free T levels in young healthy women are just now commencing. However even though the test for free T in women doesn't have a reliable, repeatable blood level based on pre-menopausal healthy women, I still use it for a marker to tell me if a patient's free testosterone level improved along with the resolution of her symptoms. I was trained to only test for the free T with the normal number for young premenopausal women is > 7 pg/ml. Male Testosterone Free Published Lab Reference Range: 35.0 – 155.0 pg/mL T and free T for men: The reference range for men is very low. The way the lab obtains these numbers for their reference range for testosterone is by using the blood levels of men who come to their lab to get their testosterone drawn. This results in the "reference range" not representing healthy young men, but representing "sick men" of all ages, usually old men, who are having their blood drawn at the lab for other reasons. Testosterone and free T decrease with illness and with age. The way the reference range of T and T-free is skewed to a much lower level than is optimal. With a low range misrepresenting the ideal, men who have low T and free T and are symptomatic and are not treated. The range I use is 400-1500 the average for healthy young men between 20-40 years old. No man feels good with a total T of 234-400, the low end of the range considered normal for men by Quest and Labcorp. This misrepresentation is preventing many men from treatment. The way they derive their blood range for total T and free T is not scientifically sound, and that affects whether a man is treated or not. Physicians who treat aging men know and should know that testosterone decreases as a man age (after age 40), and becomes symptomatic at age 55, on average. Most men are symptom