Despite what some clinics tell you, unnecessary hormone therapy will not help you lose weight, have more energy, or live a healthier, longer life.
CBS News recently revealed many such clinics are opening up across the United States despite their unethical practices.
One 60-year-old woman wound up in the ER with atrial fibrillation. Her heart was beating four times faster than normal. That’s after a clinic gave her thyroid hormone for her menopausal symptoms even though she wasn’t low on thyroid hormone.
The FDA has approved testosterone therapy for men with low levels of that hormone, but not for men with normal levels. Giving them more testosterone may increase their risk of heart attacks and stroke.
Yet, these phony clinics are attracting customers because they make extreme promises.
Lose weight, they say. Have more energy. Get rid of those aches and pain. Increase your sex drive!
What do they do? Give people extra hormones such as testosterone and thyroid hormones even though the patients have normal levels.
You do need adequate amounts of hormones, but taking extra hormones when you are NOT deficient will not give your superpowers.
Because these therapies are not covered by medical insurance and Medicare, you must pay upfront. That makes them highly profitable. They claim they’ll give you the Fountain of
Youth. For the owners, they’re a Fountain of Cash.
In Texas, 45-year-old Brad went to a clinic, hoping they would help him have more energy and lose weight. Although his hormone levels were normal, the clinic put him on both testosterone and thyroid therapy. Two years later, he died of a heart attack. The machine to measure testosterone maxed out at 1,500, and that’s what it said Brad’s testosterone level was. The autopsy report said the thyroid and testosterone treatment were a contributing cause to his death.
His nurse practitioner eventually surrendered his license, but Brad is still deceased.
State Regulation is Lax
In only seven states do the state medical and nursing boards keep track of incidents connected with these hormone treatment clinics.
Those states are Idaho, Texas, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kentucky, Rhode Island, and New Jersey.
However, be careful about new clinics. They won’t have reported problems (yet). You don’t want to be the first person to wind up in the ER because of their unethical practices.
One Huge Red Flag
Stay away from any clinic started by a doctor taught by Dr. Neal Rouzier. He’s the hormone replacement therapy guru. He’s trained doctors in seminars on how to rake in the cash by prescribing patients unnecessary hormone treatments.
Both the woman with atrial fibrillation and Brad went to clinics owned by doctors who attended a seminar given by Dr. Rouzier.
In one interview, Dr. Rouzier claimed hormone replacement therapy was the “only” thing that could make older people feel younger. As though diet, exercise, stress management, and sleep don’t matter despite many studies showing they do.
He admits to prescribing hormone replacement therapy for patients who have normal levels and claimed there were “thousands” of studies showing this was not harmful. However, when giving a court deposition under oath, he could not name a single such study.
The doctor at a clinic you go to may be sincere. CBS News spoke with a woman put on hormone replacement therapy by her own brother. He got into the business through Dr. Rouzier. He believed in hormone therapy, so he also gave it to himself.
He died of heart disease – while attending a seminar by Dr. Rouzier.
Other Problems
In Kentucky, eight nurse practitioners quit one of these hormone therapy clinics out of fear they would lose their licenses. They also said they were asked to perform unethical procedures, which the owner denied.
Another hormone clinic was cited for giving a client human chorionic gonadotropin, or HCG – a diet drug banned by the government.
Find Out the Numbers
Many of these clinics don’t show their customers their actual lab results of hormone measurements. They just tell the patients their results are “abnormal.” Or “nonoptimal.”
Well, how much is that?
One former employee at such a clinic advises everyone to ask hormone therapy clinics what their goal is. That is, how high do they want to send your hormone levels?
If it’s 2-3 times normal, run for the door.
Don’t Fall for Magic Bullets
That’s the lesson to learn here – and it applies to both supplements and medications.
Hormones are powerful, but they can’t be manipulated as easily as some medical doctors want you to believe.
I don’t want you to accept the inevitability of aging – I sure don’t.
But don’t let your pain and frustration make you a sucker for “treatments” you don’t need – and which can be positively harmful.
