Anti-aging medicine now part of the mainstream

BLUFFTON, S.C. -- The quest for the fountain of youth, which once led Spanish explorers to the wilds of Florida, now leads to quite a different place -- a small office park among the outlet shops, golf courses and boutiques lining the road to posh Hilton Head Island.

Here at the Hilton Head Longevity Center, as well as a growing number of other centers and medical practices across the country, doctors practicing anti-aging medicine work to slow and even reverse the aging process.

What 15 years ago might have been considered medical sleight-of- hand has become mainstream medicine as doctors use hormone replacement therapy, nutritional supplements, diet and exercise programs to retard the effects of aging. "The focus right now is on improving the quality of life," said Dr. Thomas Newton, co-founder of the Hilton Head center that opened about a year ago and now has about 70 patients. Anti-aging medicine seeks to move life expectancy -- 76 to 79 years for Americans -- toward the limits of the human life span of about 120 years, allowing people to live longer, more active lives. Future medical advances might even increase the life span, Newton said. Donna Powell wasn't necessarily looking to live longer when she arrived at the center. She just wanted to live normally. She had symptoms that included hair loss, dry skin, low energy and cravings for food. A year and a half of tests with regular doctors found nothing. The clinic immediately diagnosed the condition as menopause, though she was just 45 and not having hot flashes. Doctors said she was a 45-year-old woman with a 55-year-old body. A month later, Powell was back to normal on a program of vitamin supplements, diet and exercise, and hormone replacement therapy. "It basically comes down to yourself," she said. "Am I worth this? Absolutely. I am ultimately responsible for my health and the direction of my life." She likes the idea of having doctors on the cutting edge of aging developments. "If you are doing the right thing with vitamins and exercise and eating habits, you are going to live longer," she said. "And they are going to hear about new things first." New patients at the 4,400-square-foot clinic take a dozen tests that measure things like heart and lung function, hearing sensitivity, memory, motor movement and body chemistry. They also discuss with doctors their lifestyle and future expectations. The results provide a blueprint for Newton, two other doctors and a staff of nurses to develop a treatment plan. Newton estimates that an anti-aging program started early enough, perhaps when a person is in his or her 30s, can add 20 quality years to life. Once looked at with skepticism by mainline medicine, anti-aging medicine is now a clinical medical specialty. The first board exam was given this past December and there are 150 doctors board certified in the discipline. The Chicago-based American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, A4M for short, has 5,000 members and is doubling that every year. "Fifteen years ago, anti-aging medicine was science fiction," said Dr. Ronald Klatz, the academy's president. "Today's anti-aging medicine is hard core medical fact. There is no question we can slow the aging process for most people and reverse it for some." In five years, he predicted, anti-aging practices will be as common as other medical practices. As the 77 million baby boomers, about 29 percent of the population, approach old age, "either we start a national program to build nursing homes as fast as we can or we embrace a new paradigm of medicine which is anti-aging medicine," Klatz said.

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