HEALTHY AGING

 

Dr Steven R. Goldstein MD, Hormone Specialist NYC, has worked closely with his patients for over twenty five years in private practice to help them through Perimenopause, Menopause and various gynecologic changes in their bodies as they age.

 

For thousands of years people have been searching for the fountain of youth and never found it. Dr Goldstein believes that the key is healthy aging. He says Ponce de León left Spain six hundred years ago looking for the fountain of youth. We are still looking. The key is “healthy aging” not anti-aging.

 

As women age and enter Menopause (average age 51), the ovaries stop producing estrogen. Twelve consecutive months without a period is generally accepted as the transition of a reproductive woman over to a menopausal one. The lack of estrogen in a woman’s body negatively impacts over three hundred tissues and over two hundred bones. While the vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats are well known and are devastating to endure, there are even more severe effects on a woman’s body. Consider that a lack of estrogen during menopause can affect cardiovascular health as studies have shown an escalation of LDL (bad cholesterol) in menopausal women.

 

There are also effects on bone health, as estrogen helps to reduce the risk of osteoporosis related fractures in women. Women without estrogen will experience brittle bones (osteopenia) and eventually osteoporosis. Muscles are also affected by the loss of estrogen, and sarcopenia (muscle wasting) results. Women in Menopause will also notice an increase in their waist line as central adiposity increases because of a lack of estrogen. Add to the above vaginal atrophy and vaginal dryness, both of which result in painful intercourse and affect intimate relations with a partner.

 

Faced with all of the aforementioned, how is a woman to age healthy? Eating right, exercising, doing all the right things to stay healthy. However it is not enough to ward off the devastating effects of a lack of the hormone estrogen.

 

Dr Steven R. Goldstein, a Hormone Specialist NYC, uses hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to replace the estrogen lost during Menopause. Hormone replacement therapy for menopause is not a one size fits all approach. Dr Goldstein works with each patient to custom tailor a therapy for them. Unfortunately, a lot of “therapists” who are part of the anti-aging movement believe that simply flooding the body with estrogen via “natural” means such as compounded substances is the answer. It is not so.

 Proper Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) focuses on the woman’s symptoms, not her levels of estrogen. And the estrogen needs to be balanced with sufficient progesterone (progestin) to avoid cancer.

With estrogen replacement via Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), exercise, proper diet and a healthy lifestyle with healthy habits such as not smoking, a woman will continue to age but will age healthy and without the ailments brought on by a loss of estrogen.

 Dr Steven R. Goldstein MD is a Certified Menopause Practitioner, a past President of the International Menopause Society, and a Past President of the North American Menopause Society in addition to many other accreditations and positions held.