Bioidentical testosterone has the exact same cellular structure and makeup as the hormone naturally made by a man’s testes, so yes — they are safe.

All risks, confusion, and negative press linked to “testosterone replacement” have been extrapolated from their synthetic counterparts.

The short answer is, for as long as you want to feel your best and reduce your risks for many diseases.

Adults hormone production will continue to drop over time (and have symptoms that worsen), regardless of whether they were optimizing their levels for a period of time or not. When hormone levels reach an ideal/optimal level, your body has what’s called a “negative feedback loop” which does reduce your body’s production by design. For most, this production will ramp back up if/when you come off therapy. However, they’ll only ramp up to the levels you had before therapy, which were suboptimal, to begin with.

There are definitely target ranges for each hormone. “High enough” is where you reach these target ranges without side effects. Our goal is for you hormones to be optimal, and that is where you feel and function the best.

Our experience is that most (not all, but most) insurance companies will not pay for hormones. Our practice doesn’t take any form of insurance for our services, as we are a concierge medicine, cash only practice. We do, however, provide our private clients with Super Bills that they can easily submit to their respective insurance provider for reimbursement. Many of our clients take advantage of this!

Testosterone for men and women.

Thyroid for men and women.

Melatonin for men and women.

DHEA for men and women.

Vit D for men and women.

Progesterone for women.

Estrogen for postmenopausal women.

Because we are a  concierge medical practice, we deliver care that is very high-touch and ultra-personalized. We are focused on the overall health of the member and use a holistic approach to bioidentical hormone optimization. We very involved in reducing our members risk for diabetes/heart disease/stroke/prostate cancer/dementia.

No, there are no long-term contracts with our programs. We do require a 30-day notice of intent to cancel, but you can cancel your membership anytime.

At first glance, this seems logical. However, it isn’t accurate.

Human beings peak physically between 18-25. To prove this, all we have to do is look to professional sports, where the world’s greatest athletes struggle to remain competitive beyond the age of 30.

What’s more, is that life expectancy for a human being didn’t surpass the 45 until the 1950s.

So, from a historical standpoint, humans haven’t ever needed optimized hormones after 35.

Bioidentical hormone optimization is a critical component to peak human performance, warding off chronic disease, and longevity.

This is one of the greatest myths about bioidentical testosterone therapy.

Testosterone does NOT cause prostate cancer, but it can make it worse if you have active disease.

Actually, having low testosterone levels have been shown to actually be a risk factor for developing more aggressive prostate cancer.

It has also been shown in recent data that men who have undergone successful prostate cancer therapy, who are now cancer free and have a PSA < 1 can pursue testosterone optimization with confidence.

There have been a lot of discussions and confusion around these topics.

However, 50 years of studies have shown no direct correlation or causation of cardiac events (including stroke and clots) with bioidentical testosterone replacement therapy.

In fact, all of the data suggests that testosterone is cardioprotective.

Some men (not all) experience increased iron production (Hemoglobin & Hematocrit) while on bioidentical testosterone replacement therapy.

Some would suggest that men should give blood regularly (phlebotomy) in order to lower these iron counts and decrease the risk of clot formation (thereby decreasing one’s risk for blood clots, heart attack, and stroke).

Although this seems like a logical strategy to pursue, there is one major problem…

Iron doesn’t make blood clots – platelets do. And there is no change in platelet counts when men are on bioidentical testosterone therapy.

If a person has a condition that either raises platelet counts (for example, Polycythemia Vera, which raises ALL red cells, including platelets) or has a condition that causes platelets to be “sticky” (such as cancer or prolonged venous stasis), then they would definitely want to pursue antiplatelet therapy, like taking Aspirin (Asprin’s mechanism of action is to make platelets useless), to lower your risks for clot formation. T

Men on bioidentical testosterone replacement therapy experience a process known as, “physiologic erythrocytosis”.

Physiologically, this is a similar phenomenon as someone who lives at altitude (say, in Denver) or who has Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Both of these individuals will have sky-high iron counts in order to adapt to environments that have low oxygen levels, but neither is at increased risk of blood clots because of it because there is no change is platelet levels.

This is another common myth here, but the answer is no.

Here is where people get confused…

Estrogen in men comes from 2 places:

1. From the conversion of excess testosterone (which is excellent and what it’s supposed to do by design).

Estradiol from the conversion of excess testosterone is not only harmless, but it’s also been proven to actually be cardioprotective.

2. From visceral fat (which is bad).

Estradiol from visceral fat (obesity) is a consequence of insulin resistance and it increases all-cause mortality.

Needless to say, although both locations produce estradiol, where it’s being produced absolutely matters.

This is an unfortunate condition that affects some men.

It is a very complicated physiologic phenomenon and is widely misunderstood. The primary contributors to this condition are a genetic predisposition, low testosterone levels, and insulin resistance.

And although men with gynecomastia tend to have excess estrogen (due to the above factors), their excess estrogen is NOT the cause of gynecomastia.

The best treatments involve a massive focus on normalizing blood sugars, decreasing insulin levels (reversing insulin resistance), optimizing free testosterone levels, and a vigorous resistance/weight training program.

No.

It is a bit of a misnomer to call testosterone a male hormone because women make testosterone in both their ovaries and adrenal glands.

Women over the age of 35 should consider bioidentical testosterone replacement therapy in order to protect against osteoporosis, dementia, insulin resistance, excess body fat, decreased libido, wrinkles, and stronger hair.

A word of caution: women who are pregnant, thinking about becoming pregnant should not pursue testosterone replacement therapy of any kind.