A Search for the "Fountain of Youth"
Oct 30, 2009 by Bill Rawls, M.D.
The miracle of capturing the resiliency of youth well into later years has been pursued by practitioners of the healing arts and others since the beginning of mankind.
While the historical myths associated with the proverbial “fountain of youth” abound, science has revealed legitimate practices, foods and therapies that are known to prolong life. While longevity and wellness would seem to go hand in hand, this is not always the case—it all depends on how you approach the miracle.
Conventional medicine has chosen to place all of its faith in synthetic drugs and surgical technologies. The approach does work at a certain level, but this miracle comes with a clause. Synthetic medicines are generally designed to treat the manifestations of disease (symptoms, abnormal lab values), instead of correcting the underlying causes. Without correcting the underlying causes, disease progresses—medicines beget more medications, with all the associated side effects. And though life may be prolonged, the vigor of youth is not restored. Surgery may offer a slightly more attractive miracle, but does not restore normal function and comes with an exorbitant price tag. The United States spends, by a wide margin, more on healthcare than any country in the world, yet is presently ranked 37th in the world for the health potential of its citizens.
A subset of “anti-aging” practitioners profess that hormone replacement is the miracle of youth. This group recognizes that hormones regulating many functions in the body decline with age and advocate artificially restoring all hormonal functions to youthful levels. While this does work with certain hormones (normal levels of thyroid hormone are essential for life and hormone replacement after menopause has shown benefit within a brief window of time), micromanaging all of the hormone systems of the body is extremely problematic. The inner workings of the human body are exceedingly complex and we just do not have enough knowledge to attempt what is being attempted.
The best miracle is the one that should be the most intuitive. There are well-defined factors that cause aging and disease. Identify and reduce these factors and the remarkable and almost unlimited healing capacity of the body is unleashed, cumulative damage stops adding up and wellness occurs. Interestingly, this is the miracle that is the most cost-effective; preventing a disaster is always less expensive than cleaning one up.
Categories: Anti-Aging, Disease Prevention,
Tags(s): Hormone Balance,
