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Fitness & Health | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com
JANUARY 2014 — BALTIMORE BEACON
Better solution to the ‘bedroom problem’ Dear Pharmacist: I have a bedroom problem. I took Viagra for several years, and it stopped working, so I was put on Cialis. Sometimes that helps, sometimes not. I’m too embarrassed to ask my doctor again. He says this is a part of aging because I am 58. Any suggestions? — T.M., Bethesda, Md. Dear T.M.: I have many! I’m stunned that your doctor hasn’t mentioned bio-identical hormone replacement for you, as in testosterone or “T.” The reason most men develop erectile dysfunction in the first place is because they are low in their natural ‘manly’ hormone, which starts to decline with age. The declining T causes a relative increase
in circulating estrogen, a hormone found in higher concentrations in women. Restoring testosterone puts balance back, so it’s my best recommendation for increasing mojo. Giving a man one of those super sex pills like Viagra, Levitra or Cialis is the equivalent of jump starting the car every two miles, rather than just fixing the battery. Why do men medicate themselves every weekend, when they can fix the root cause by balancing their hormones? A good physician should evaluate your hormones and neurotransmitters, and decipher if your problem is low testosterone, low dopamine, high cortisol, high estrogen, low progesterone, high insulin, low DHEA or oxytocin. Whether you’re a man or a woman, if
you’ve ‘lost that lovin’ feelin’, you need to You think it’s just me saying that to alarm evaluate and replenish your hormones. you? Not a chance. I would never scare you, Prescribed sex pills, as useful that’s not how I roll. as they are, can’t balance horA study published in March mones. 2010 in Circulation concluded, There’s another reason I get “Erectile dysfunction is a pohot under the collar about this tent predictor of all-cause topic. Men are dying every day death and the composite of from heart attack and stroke cardiovascular death, myocarthat may have been prevented. dial infarction, stroke and The clue that you’re headed for heart failure in men with cartrouble is erectile dysfunction. diovascular disease.” Think that out, it’s not hard Replacement therapy is DEAR to understand. If the blood isn’t controversial. Some studies PHARMACIST effectively flowing down south suggest the very use of testosBy Suzy Cohen to your penis, it isn’t flowing up terone increases heart attack north either, to your heart. risk, but I find flaws with those When your blood vessels are clogged, that studies. Balance is key. could cause erectile dysfunction years be[Editor’s Note: Last month, a review of fore a massive heart attack occurs. veteran medical records published in the What does conventional medicine do? Journal of the American Medical AssociaPrescribe a quick fixer upper so you can tion found an increased risk of stroke, heart have a night of fun, instead of helping you attack or death among male heart patients clear your arteries, improve vessel flexibili- with low-T who had T supplementation.] ty, correct hormonal imbalances and manThis information is opinion only. It is not age cholesterol. (They don’t even measure intended to treat, cure or diagnose your concholesterol correctly, but that’s another col- dition. Consult with your doctor before using umn.) any new drug or supplement. I think there is an incomplete knowlSuzy Cohen is a registered pharmacist edge or understanding of physiology or and the author of The 24-Hour Pharmacist hormones, because sex pills should not be and Real Solutions from Head to Toe. To your go-to drug for erectile dysfunction. contact her, visit www.dearpharmacist.com.
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