In a novel and exciting series of experiments, Stanford Center on Longevity are rapidly advancing medicine’s understanding of this phenomenon by deconstructing the complex chemical symphony that orchestrates healing. Publishing in the August 10 issue of Science, Dr. Rando reports that his team has found a misfiring chemical signal that appears to prompt otherwise healthy cells to make the wrong kind of repairs. “The hope is that we may be able to turn those bad instructions off, and help older people heal more efficiently by making sure their cells are receiving the proper instructions,” explains Dr. Rando, professor of neurology and neurological sciences at the Stanford School of Medicine.

Here’s what’s going on: Adult stem cells exist in many kinds of tissues and organs and serve as a sort of building block cell that can develop into the kind of tissue required to repair damage. Stem cells in the skin can develop into healthy skin cells, for example, while stem cells in muscle can become muscle cells. However, in order for the body to repair an injury to a tissue such as occurs from trauma or a surgical incision, the stem cells must receive the appropriate signals from the surrounding damaged tissue. Some of those signals come from cells of the immune system that move into damage to help clear away debris from dying cells. Other signals come from uninjured cells in the tissue. When the stem cells sense these signals, they go through a precise series of processes, including dividing many times in order to generate enough cells that will be necessary to replace the cells that were lost.

Dr. Rando’s research has identified a protein called “WNT” (pronounced “wint”) that appears to have a profound effect of stem cell function. WNT is a protein that binds to cells and initiates a chemical signaling system that acts on embryonic stem cells, or cells in a developing fetus, and directs them to become different organs and tissues. Extrapolating from this research, it appears that, in older people, the WNT pathway in essence shorts out and misdirects stem cells in muscle tissue called satellite cells to become cells called fibroblasts, which make scar tissue. Still unclear is whether the protein is just produced locally in the damaged tissue, or whether it is a hormone-like molecule that circulates in the bloodstream. Although Dr. Rando’s research focused on the repair of acute trauma to muscles, he suspects that the same sort of problem arises on a lesser scale in repairing damage that results from the normal wear and tear of aging.

There is hope that a drug that blocks the misbehaving WNT pathway could boost the ability of older people to heal faster and better from muscle injuries, Dr. Rando says. There is also reason to believe that the same strategy could help boost the repair of tissues such as skin, gut, bone marrow and epithelium, as well as organs including the liver.

For some time, scientists theorized that stem cells “aged” as we do, and became less potent. However, Dr. Rando made news last year when his team performed a fascinating experiment in which he surgically attached the circulatory system of an old mouse and a young mouse, and showed that the old mouse’s stem cells functioned far better when they were literally exposed to young blood. “By sitting in an ‘old’ environment, the stem cells were in deep hibernation, but when exposed to the young blood they responded very well,” Dr. Rando explains.

“Originally,” he continues, “our excitement was around the question: What’s the great stuff in the young blood?” However, when he attempted to investigate the opposite question of whether the young mice healed less well when they were infused with the older mice’s blood, the next level of experiments showed that the problem was actually a suppressive activity in the older mice’s blood. “The ‘old blood’ environment makes the stem cells turn into fibroblasts, or cells that make connective tissue, rather than healthy muscle cells,” Dr. Rando explains. Further research revealed the connection to the WNT pathway.

The experiment raises several interesting questions. For example, could blood transfusions be a possible enhancement to wound-healing in the elderly? Dr. Rando doesn’t think so. For one thing, the nature of the experiments he performed would suggest that a patient would have to be exposed to ‘young blood’ for weeks or months to simulate the full exposure to a properly functioning WNT pathway as the mice received in the experiment. Another concern is that any approach that tinkers with cell differentiation in the body could have the potential to trigger unchecked growth in a particular type of cell, which could cause cancer.

Food for thought.

Bio-identical hormones are used to balance premenopausal, perimenopausal, menopause and postmenopause processes in women.  Although men and women both produce estrogen, progesterone and testosterone (and the precursors DHEA, androstenedione and pregnenolone), for practical reasons we will discuss them separate for each sex.

The two most important female hormones are Estrogens and Progesterone. These
hormones maintain a balance (agonistic and antagonistic) between them. The three
main estrogens are Estrone (E1), Estradiol (E2) and Estriol (E3). E2 is the strongest
estrogen produced by the ovary. Although mainly produced by the ovaries, the
peripheral conversion and activity of estrogen and progesterone (muscle, fat,
adrenal) plays a very important role in their metabolism, especially after menopause
or oophorectomy (surgical excision of ovaries). Estrogens are responsible for the
feminine shape of the female body, menstruation, vaginal lubrication, skin circulation.
Progesterone is responsible for preparing the uterus for pregnancy, size of breasts
(and estrogens).

With the progressive loss of eggs in the ovaries associated with age, women
experience several physiological changes: premenopausal, perimenopausal,
menopause and postmenopause, the production of female hormones decrease with
age. In women hormone decline starts around age 30.

Premenopausal refers to a woman who has healthy optimal hormone levels and is
still menstruating regularly.

Perimenopausal refers to a woman who has begun to have declining estradiol
and/or progesterone levels that result in erratic, inconsistent period with changing flow
patterns (may be heavy one month, lighter and shorter the next)

PMS refers to the cluster of physical and emotional changes occurring between
ovulation and menses.  PMS may occur in both premenopausal and perimenopause
since women are still having their natural cycles.

Menopause is defined as cessation of menses and loss of the ovary cycles and, on
average occurs at about age fifty.  Natural menopause is not considered to have
occurred until there has been no menstrual period for a full year.

Postmenopause refers to the years after the complete cessation of menses.

Deficiency of estrogens and progesterone produce hot flashes, droopy breasts,
vaginal dryness, painful intercourse, urinary incontinence, depression, poor libido,
weight gain.  Progesterone deficency: produce a myriad of symptoms: anxiety,
insomnia, panic attacks, heavier bleeding, cysts (ovarian and breast), PMS, weight
gain, fibroids and bone loss.  When these hormones become imbalanced, women
acquire an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, cognitive decline, osteoporosis,
mood changes.

Laboratory tests and physical findings can document the deficiency, after which a
natural supplement can be used (natural estrogen enhancer) or prescription bio-
identical hormones ordered by a health care provider.

A proper enhancement or replacement of the female hormones can have a visible
impact in the symptoms of menopause or the changes associated with the natural
process of aging.

Although Testosterone is recognized mainly as a male hormone it is also produced in
women and plays important roles in a woman physiology. Produced mainly from other
precursors in the skin and fat tissues, it is also produced by the ovaries and adrenals.
Production declines with age and is responsible for depression, decreased libido,
diminished muscle tone. DHEA supplements can increase the levels of testosterone or
this hormone can also be replaced by prescription forms using oral, external (gel)
injectable and pellets.

Benefits of Hormone Replacement Therapy with Bio-Identical Hormones:

Hormone receptors for estrogen, progesterone and testosterone are present on the
cells of the heart, blood vessels, bone, nerves, muscles, skin and most cells in the
body.

Medical data shows that restoration of normal physiologic ratios of hormones is
beneficial in alleviating symptoms and more importantly degenerative disease.
The closer we mimic the normal physiologic ratios of hormones, the better the
prevention of disease.

• Cognitive Function:  Normal levels and ratios of hormones protect us from
  cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease.
• Hormone replacement has a profound beneficial effect on mood, estrogen,
  progesterone and testosterone receptors are all over the brain.  Progesterone
  replacement with bio-identical progesterone leads to marked reduction of
  anxiety, insomnia and the need for medications.  Estrogen causes normal
  serotonin levels, preventing depression.
• Cardiovascular Health: E2 improves vascular wave function, decreases
  sympathetic outflow, prevents plaque formation, and decreases vascular
  proliferation.  Studies using transdermal E2 show that it decreases blood
  pressure. Transdermal E2 is anti-thrombotic and decreases fibrinogen.  All
  these cardiovascular benefits follow the use of bio-identical E2, non-bio-
  identical estrogens can have the opposite effect.
• Clinical studies concluded that hormone replacement therapy reduces colon
  cancer up to 34%.
• Clinical studies support the use of bio-identical hormones for the  prevention of
  osteoporosis and bone fracture.  35% fracture reduction.
• HRT also protects against loss of cartilage and osteoarthritis.  Stimulates bone
  formation.
• Transdermal bio-identical estrogens mimic normal ratios better, they have
  favorable anti-thrombotic and vascular effects
• Bio-identical progesterone is anti-thrombotic and breast cancer protective.  The
  best strategy for prevention of breast cancer lies in restoring a protective
  balance of hormones and nutrients and avoiding and removing toxins
• Restoration of testosterone benefits sexual function.
• The use of estrogen through the vaginal route relieves vaginal dryness, vaginal
• relaxation, loss of urine, and recurrent urinary tract infections.

There are many patented bio-identical hormones that are FDA approved that have been used for many years.

Please call us for details.

KEEP TRYING, failure is key—weight gain is a factor of calories over time, the more calories over a shorter period of time the more they go into storage. The fewer calories you take in the less you need to burn.  Always realize that if you aren’t burning calories you are storing them.  Just think less is more!

Try to eat moderately, don’t deny, have a TASTE…enjoy the meal, never hesitate to order what you love, just eat half or only a bite, remember, moderate and control your behavior.

WEIGH yourself often, keep a scale handy in the bathroom and weigh yourself daily. A morning “weigh-in” helps you keep track of your progress and lets you know how well you are maintaining your weight. Boxers weigh themselves to know how competitive they will be; think like a boxer and stay in fighting form!

Add EXERCISE to your daily regime, taking the stairs can cause you to loss 3 pounds a year, park your car as far away from the store or shopping complex entrance as possible to create “insensible weight-loss”. Try to exercise each day, try to do anything for 20-30 minutes, swimming is the best, bike riding or jogging on soft surfaces are great too.  Sauna is a form of “self-induced fever” and can also accelerate weight loss by revving up metabolism; it’s easy and strengthens the immune system too.

Eat a low fat high complex carbohydrate diet—stay away from all “WHITES”, white flour, white ride, white sugar, etc, as well, try to each as much grain and nuts as possible, they help speed up metabolism, slow hunger and are great for the brain.  AVOID all colas, use moderate alcohol and rarely eat fried or processed food.

Try 5 meals a day, e.g. GRAZE, try to space out your meals nibble on healthy things, carrots, celery, nuts and seeds are best!  Try not to do a coffee break with a pastry, but a fresh juice and have a bit of trail mix or watery fruit.  Watermelon and cantaloupe help diminish hunger.

Avoid the “pig out”, some people like to reward themselves with a big juicy steak or ice cream split after a busy day or a job well done; get happy with healthy foods and smaller portions.  Humans are opportunistic carnivores, they eat MEAT!  Red meat has selenium, zinc and iron, all necessary to make skeletal muscle and that helps burn calories.  Remember, think of the palm of your hand, that’s about 4 ounces, just about the amount of meat, fish or poultry you should eat at one setting!

Fad DIETS are not advised and we encourage you to call us to set up an appointment to learn more.

Happy Holidays!

After hearing about Tiger Woods and his marriage blow up, there is a silver lining in all the gossip.  Tiger recently had a knee operation and was given an injection of his own blood products to help him recover faster.  The medicine is very cutting edge, the science has become very proven and the technique super sophisticated.  Platelet Rich Plasma, “PRP” is your own blood plasma with highly concentrated platelets. Platelets are part of your blood system are a specialized type of blood cell involved in injury healing. Platelets also contain large reservoirs of natural growth factors. While a normal concentration of platelets circulating in your blood is 200,000 per micro liter, the platelet count in Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) can exceed 2 million platelets per micro liter. To be considered Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) the platelet count must be 4x or greater above the normal concentration.  PRP has got all the good healing things your body needs to regenerate and repair tissue, and with our highly refined technique, we just can localize the injury and inject it right where it needs to go.  As well, the serum has stem cells in it, which travel in the blood stream in minute quantities, these are concentrated too.  Think of it as “baby stem cell therapy”!

Normal Platelet Count

Concentrated Platelet Count

When concentrating platelets, 7 fundamental protein growth factors (also called cytokines) are concentrated.

• Platelet-derived growth factors – PDGFaa, PDGFab, PDGFbb
• Transforming growth factors – TGFb1, TGFb2
• Vascular endothelial growth factors – VEGF
• Epithelial growth factors – EGF

This concentrate also contains 3 proteins in the blood to act as cell adhesion molecules: fibrin, fibronectin, and vitronectin. Clinical data has shown that the concentration of growth factors may help optimized conditions for bone, muscle, cartilage and tendon healing.  Ponder this scenario, skiing down the slopes you fall down and tear a quadriceps muscle, ouch!  You see the orthopedic surgeon and you are told no workout or sport for 4-6 months, you might need a surgery and will have a long standing painful injury.  What if you could get 2-3 injections of your own healing factors, never need surgery and heal completely in 6-8 weeks, just like it never happened.  Think about it!

How is Platelet Rich Plasma made?

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is collected by drawing 20 – 60 cc of blood (500 cc is taken in blood bank donations), the blood is then put into the Harvest SmartPReP®2 Platelet Concentrate System and spun down separating the red blood cells, plasma and concentrating the platelets.

Is Platelet Rich Plasma Safe?

Since Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is autologous (from your own self) there is no chance of rejection or adverse effects and is FDA approved.

We look forward to seeing you!

In other words, you age depends not on the earth circling the sun each year, but on how well your DNA works within the environment you have created for it.  Genes don’t change, their expression does, and this outward physiological and observable expression of age, collectively known as a phenotype, can be altered by a number of variables, including modifiable factors, such as diet, risk-taking lifestyle, and environment. What are the modifiable factors of aging? There are 3 main areas we need to focus on.

The first is DNA and cellular functioning, from the genes that you are born with to the cellular machines like the mitochondria, all have a limited time of use and then succumb to apoptosis or cellular death. The connection of telomere and teleomerase have an integral action to play in controlling apoptosis. The telomere controls how fast your cells divide and thus age.  Telomeres can be given new life and kept healthy with the enzyme telomerase!  Did you know your telomerase levels can be increased by  reducing environmental toxins and adding vital nutrients and anti-oxidants to your diet.

The second area is organ system integration, which involve many complex areas, including endocrine system, immune system, digestive system, and the central nervous system. The organ systems are interconnected with a variety of neural connections and hormonal feedback loops.

The last area, is total body and mind homeostasis, or a strengthening of the mind and body and their unique relationship to the external environment.  Standing on a vista in the Rockies, viewing a snowy horizon creates less stress than walking the streets of Manhattan on a busy afternoon.   We need to know how to manage stress and what works best for us.  These separate, but interrelated areas are all modified by comprehensive and complete nutrition, moderate and constant physical activity and relaxing meditation or intentional internal stress reduction.

The latest studies tell us DNA is affected on a microscopic level by many chemical processes.  Glycation (too much sugar in the diet), inflammation (too much antibody production), oxidation (too many oxygen free radicals), and methylation, (protein alteration).  These are chemical reactions that occur to the DNA by the activities that cause an aging phenotype; alcohol consumption, obesity, smoking and excessive sun exposure.  We grow until age 40 and decline to age 80; therefore, we have to slow the aging process down to stay healthy and keep vitality.  It can be done!

People around the world, best known as the island people of  Pacific Okinawa and Mediterranean Sardinia along with the mountain people of the Caucasian region of Russia all show dramatic longevity and vitality.  This is part lifestyle, diet and genetic variance.  So what do you do to maximize your health and increase your longevity?  We suggest you learn more about yourself and have the following tests performed by a licensed Hall Longevity Clinic health care provider.

Basic blood work  (red blood cells, iron levels, white blood cells, platelets, kidney function, liver function, etc.)

Hormonal screening  (thyroid, testosterone, adrenal, cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, etc.)

Cholesterol and lipoprotein screening

Food allergy testing

Micro-nutrient assay

Telomere age testing

T Bar screening

Thank your for your interest.

It’s rather painless and can be done in less  than 15 minutes.  We test for all known communicable sexually transmitted infections and we can schedule your testing during your lunch hour or on the weekend.  Please call us for an appointment at 305 672 47 33 or pop into our office at 1674 Meridian Ave., Suite 430, Miami Beach, Florida.  If you have time, please have a look at the CDC sponsored website, STD Wizard, it may help you sleep better at night, http://www.stdwizard.org.  We look forward to seeing you.

• Dr. Hall will administer several tiny injections of BOTOX^® Cosmetic, Dynsport and Myobloc directly into the muscles that cause those moderate to severe frown lines between the brows.
• He will determine where to administer the injections by examining your ability to move certain muscles in your brow area. The location, size, and use of the muscles that create a furrowed brow vary markedly among individuals.
• No anesthesia is required, although your doctor may choose to numb the area with a cold pack or anesthetic cream prior to injecting. Discomfort is usually minimal and brief as Dr. Hall uses a very small needle.
• You can expect to be in and out of the Hall Longevity Clinic without downtime. You may see a marked improvement in the moderate to severe frown lines between your brows within days. Improvement may continue for as long as a month, and could last up to 4-6 months.

The machine is made of stainless steel to eliminate any carcinogens from contact from plastics including PCBs, estrogens, phthalate, adipate and styrene.

The machine can also be used as a regular Reverse Osmosis water (RO) filtration system and can be connected to an existing water source such as your tap/city water connection.

It produces both hot and cold water and you can have it anywhere, office, boat, airplane or cabin as it needs 110 volt hook up to plug it in.

The system works great!

At the most basic level, this is how it works: In younger people, the genes that control the health of muscle cells and regulate the muscle’s use of energy express themselves at optimal levels. As we age, some of these genes get turned up (up-regulated) and some of these genes get turned down (down-regulated). The genes that are up-regulated, or become more expressed with age, are those involved with cell repair, DNA repair, and cell death. The genes that tend to get down-regulated, or become less expressed with age, are those associated with a part of our cells called the mitochondria, which is responsible for efficiently turning nutrients into energy.

Based on these changing levels of genetic expression, it is not surprising to find that skeletal muscle in older people exhibits more cell death and mitochondrial dysfunction as compared to younger people. Without exercise, this leads to muscle weakness and impairment, and eventually muscle atrophy, known as sarcopenia.

Melov and his colleagues designed their study to determine whether muscle decline was reversible all the way down to the genetic level. To this end, skeletal muscle of a group of younger, healthy adults and a group of healthy, active, disease-free, older adults was acquired from all subjects. The muscle in both groups underwent genetic expression profiling before the older group embarked upon a resistance exercise program, and then again at the conclusion of the program.

The study identified 596 genes in the skeletal muscles that were expressed differently in older and younger individuals. Of these 596 age related genes, 179 were impacted by the resistance exercise performed by the older group.

At the end of the study, the findings were striking: As a result of the six-month resistance exercise program, the genetic profile of the skeletal muscles in the older individuals substantially resembled the genetic profile observed in the younger group. The expression of the 179 age-related genes impacted by the exercise had returned to younger levels!

The leg muscles of the older subjects were also 50 percent stronger than before training, but more significantly –– and because of the genetic changes –– the usual age-induced impairments in cell repair activities and mitochondrial function were reduced. The implications of this study are potentially enormous, since it is estimated that only about 12 percent of the population over age 65 engages in resistance exercise twice a week.

An amendment that went before the Senate Finance Committee on September 24, 2009 that sought to undo the deal was voted down by 10 Republicans and three Democrats,  including Max Baucus, the committee chairman.  We know who controls this group, and it isn’t the American people, it’s PHARMA!

The amendment, introduced by Florida Dem Bill Nelson, would have lowered the rate Medicare pays for prescription drugs for seniors who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Under the current system, the government pays for drugs for those patients at Medicare rates; under Nelson’s amendment, the government would have paid Medicaid rates, which are lower. That would have meant an $86 billion loss over 10 years for drug makers, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

But part of the deal the drug industry cut earlier this year with President Obama and other Democratic leaders was that further cuts wouldn’t be imposed on the industry.  A huge financial mistake for the average American!  Under that deal, which is included in Baucus’s bill, drug makers would subsidize a big chunk of the drug costs now borne by seniors when they hit the “donut hole,” a spending range where prescription drugs aren’t covered by Medicare.

What all this means, is that the Federal government and we, the American people will be powerless to control the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs for ten years and will have absolutely no power of creating a practical medication formulary (a list of safe and effective drugs used by doctors of all other first world countries including New Zealand) to help physicians and health practitioners use the best medication and the lowest price for their patients.

Again, the average American losses and the industry titans keep winning.

Stay tuned, let’s see what sort of deal the health insurance companies and hospitals get!