Ageless [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Suzanne Somers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 10, 2006

Can you really feel better as you get older?

Is aging without illness possible?

Is your own internal fountain of youth waiting to be discovered?

Yes, yes, and YES! says Suzanne Somers, the bestselling author of The Sexy Years. It can all be true when you take advantage of the new science of antiaging medicine—a revolutionary approach to achieving the ageless life.

Suzanne Somers introduced millions of women to bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and changed the way we look at menopause with her groundbreaking book, The Sexy Years, and the overwhelming media response to its publication. Now, in Ageless, Suzanne introduces an inspiring, medically validated approach to reversing the aging process and maintaining a healthy, vibrant, mentally sharp, sexually active life—while building the body’s natural defenses against age-related diseases.

Ageless is jam-packed with new, updated information on bioidentical hormone replacement and antiaging that will change your life forever. Suzanne talks about:

• Antiaging medicine and how it can help work against the environmental assault that is making us sick, including how to detox the body of harmful pollutants and chemicals and strengthen our weakest glands and organs

• Menopause, which can become an enjoyable passage once the body is in perfect hormonal sync with bioidentical hormone replacement therapy

• The dangers of perimenopause and how women can treat it

• Why so many hysterectomies are unnecessary, how birth control pills may have contributed to the rise of hysterectomies, and how to restore your body to perfect hormonal balance after having one

• How andropause is a real condition for men, and how men can lose weight, regain their youthful physiques, and restore heath, energy, and sexuality, all through bioidentical HRT

• The importance of sleep and the healing work that nature does during this time to balance hormones and increase energy

In this “antiaging bible,” Suzanne brings together prominent, Western-trained antiaging doctors who are at the forefront of a medical revolution to show how the traditional medical approach is woefully inadequate and outdated. Its standard of care has been to treat all symptoms with drugs, but in Ageless you will find out how this approach does not make us better. With antiaging medicine you can heal your body rather than keep a chronic condition at bay with drugs. Ageless shows you how to keep your “insides” young, and how this manifests on the outside.

What could be better than having your doctor tell you that you have the bones of a twenty-year-old, or the heart of a thirty-year-old? You can be young on the inside if you follow the advice in Ageless. Suzanne reveals the secrets to youthfulness that everyone can achieve and shows us all how to live the ageless life!


How young is your energy?

“The second half of your life can be better than your first half. A better life, a healthier life, a life of youthful energy comes from embracing antiaging medicine, and bioidentical hormone replacement is a big component. . . . The second half of life can be wonderful. I know it because I am living it. This new approach to health gives you back your lean body, shining hair, and thick skin, provided you are eating correctly and exercising in moderation. This new medicine allows your brain to work perfectly and offers the greatest defense against cancer, heart attack, and Alzheimer’s disease. Don’t you want that?” —From the Introduction


Also available as a Random House Large Print Edition

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Suzanne Somers is the author of sixteen books, including the New York Times bestsellers Keeping Secrets, five Somersize titles, and The Sexy Years. The former star of the hit television programs Three’s Company and Step by Step, Suzanne is one of the most trusted and respected brand names in the world, representing cosmetics and skin care products, apparel, jewelry, a computerized facial fitness system, fitness products, and an extensive food line. Suzanne received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from National University and is a highly sought-after commencement speaker. For more information, go to her website SuzanneSomers.com. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

CHAPTER 1

Taking Charge of Your Own Health

"To remain oblivious to the hidden regenerative processes inside your body will cause you to die unnecessarily young."
- Ray Kurzweil and Terry Grossman, MD, Fantastic Voyage

Five years have passed, and as of this writing I have now been happily pronounced cancer-free. What a relief. No longer does each ache and pain trigger a fear in me of "Oh God, is that 'it' coming back again?"

Cancer does that to you. It's an inner nagging, a constant reminder that there could be something bigger than yourself lurking out there in the shadows, sitting back, like a predator, deciding when and if it cares to strike again. Now, finally, I can release that fear. The predator has been locked up, in prison, hopefully never to be let out again.

Along the way in this war I have been fighting have come the blessings. I am truly loved by those who mean the most to me. They showed me this over and over during this time. Through it all, I learned about my own strength and courage. I didn't know I had it in me to buck the system by choosing unconventional therapies and doing it my way. But you see, I was never able to wrap my arms around the "standard of care" set forth by Western medicine as the way to treat cancer.

When I was diagnosed with cancer, I needed to be emotionally strong to fight the battle. To help with that, I needed to be hormonally in balance. It is hard to be in a fighting mood when you are hormonally depressed. Balanced hormones keep your emotions in check and I believe (based on my research) are the most effective way to prevent cell proliferation (cancer). Unfortunately, Western medicine's "standard of care" believes that taking away all hormones prevents disease. I believed differently, so I didn't want to go off my bioidentical hormones.

Nor did I want to undergo chemotherapy. You see, I do not believe in the "poison" theory of using chemotherapy. It is my belief that an environment of balanced hormones prevents disease. This is reinforced by many of the doctors interviewed in this book. For one thing, it ablates, or takes away, hormones. Chemotherapy does kill cancer cells, but it also kills the immune system. Without a strong immune system, cancer has a perfect opportunity to proliferate. We need a strong immune system, and balanced hormones to prevent disease. So it didn't make sense to me to "take away" hormones as a means to kill cancer.

As I now see it, there are two ways to fight cancer: build up or destroy. Western medicine's standard of care is to destroy. Well-meaning though it may be, the idea of chemicalizing myself, destroying everything, and hoping my health would come back, coupled with the instructions to give up my hormone therapy, was not appealing.

I decided to approach cancer by "building up." This took courage, because it is daunting to go against the course recommended by one's doctor. But because of the books I write and my understanding of the hormonal connection to health, I had a lot of information. I understood that hormonal balance is key to health and vitality. My decision to go against the standard of care was probably easier for me than it would be for other women not armed with the same information. I approached my cancer through balanced bioidentical hormone replacement and complemented this replacement with Iscador, an anthroposophic medicine whose function is to strengthen and build up the immune system so that disease cannot attack and invade.

I believe this was the best decision of my life. Aside from the discomfort of injecting myself with Iscador every other day for these five years, my health has never been better. I have not had so much as a cold during this time; upon my last checkup, my immune system was so high that my doctor was ecstatic. He said he had never seen an immune system this strong in any of his adult patients. That information was able to put all my fears to rest. How could a life-threatening illness get past an immune system this strong? Great. I had done it. I beat it. I did it my way, with my body almost intact.

So you can imagine my surprise (five years and one month after my initial diagnosis) when my gynecologist told me that I had a pre-precancerous condition (not cancer, not even precancer) growing in my uterus and that in order to prevent possible severe problems down the road, I would need to have my uterus removed.

Why was the sleeping giant trying to rear its ugly head again? Luckily we caught this before it became cancer, yet it was serious enough to force the removal of an organ. I do not take the removal of any body part lightly. What was wrong? I have thought about this a lot. As a teenage mother, I was given my first major chemical, a shot to dry up my milk, and was encouraged to feed my baby Similac formula. In chapter 5 I will discuss at length the protective aspects of breast-feeding and prolactin production. Second, at age eighteen I was put on the early high-dose birth control pills and stayed on them for twenty-two years. Unknowingly, like so many women of my generation, these chemicals put me into a false menopause. All those years of chemicalization were dangerous to my health. Add to this scenario stress and environmental assault and a brutal childhood and you have a recipe for disaster.

The ninth year of bioidentical hormone replacement, things started going wonky (this is my term--don't expect your doctors to use it!). I had breakthrough bleeding, and then after a while I was bleeding continuously. Something was wrong, obviously. You must understand that because bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) is such a new science, all the medical professionals working in this arena are learning as fast as they can, but with each year we all learn more. At this point in my BHRT, I had not heard of "rhythmic cycling," which I will explain in great detail later.

In the way I was taking hormones on a static dose, my estrogen was not rising and falling as it once did in nature, and my progesterone was not rising and falling as it did when I was making a full complement of hormones in my youth. (See the diagram.) Because of this, my receptor sites were not opening to receive the progesterone, so the estrogen lining in my uterus kept building and building. Over time, like a motor on "rev," this thinkening caused excessive bleeding and sent an alarm to my brain that "all was not well," that this human being was no longer able to reproduce (which is why, according to nature, we exist).

Because I was bleeding constantly, I was not ovulating. Thus I was not a reproductive person, according to my brain. You must understand that the object of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy is to fool the brain into thinking I can still make a baby, even though I have no eggs left. As a result of not having a rhythm, and of the thickening and the bleeding, severe hyperplasia, along with adenomyosis (leaks in my uterine lining), came about. This excessive bleeding and hyperplasia created a perfect scenario for cancer, so I had no choice but to remove my uterus, thus removing my problem.

I now feel that had I not been chemicalized by the "dry-up" shot, and if I had not been on strong birth control pills, and if I had been cycling in a rhythmic fashion, this problem might not have occurred. This is a theory that I have embraced, as have several of the doctors I interviewed for this book. As you will also see in these interviews, there are other doctors who do not agree with rhythmic cycling or with cycling in general. My job is to give you all the information from these professionals so you can draw your own conclusions. I am not a doctor, but I am a very informed layperson. I will explain rhythmic cycling in detail in chapter 5, and you can then decide what makes the most sense to you. I am merely the messenger.

Losing my uterus caused me to do a lot of searching. For years, I was unknowingly hormonally imbalanced, not just as a perimenopausal and menopausal woman, but also as a young woman. Unfortunately, I never realized hormonal imbalance was the problem.

Without hormones or imbalanced hormones, we lose any grip on feeling "normal." Without hormones, life quality is greatly diminished. Without hormones, a woman is at her weakest physically. Without hormones, disease is allowed to proliferate because the brain perceives that the body is no longer reproductive; therefore, nature wants to "eliminate" you to make way for those who are healthy and reproductive.

Loss of hormones is not to be taken lightly. Having no hormones is like having bad premenstrual syndrome (PMS) every day of your life. You are not in control of your emotions, nor are you in control of the cruel physical manifestations of the loss of hormones. Couple this with the stress of having and fighting cancer, and (to me) it doesn't make sense to be without hormones.

You see, we may have changed with the passing of time, but the biology inside us has not. Nature has a job to do, and the brain was hard-wired at the begining of time and doesn't know anything else. A healthy woman is hormonally balanced. We can't "outthink" nature. This never works, no matter how hard we try to come up with something better.

Women remain confused about hormones and in some cases terrified of hormone replacement; one day, headlines in the newspapers praise hormone replacement therapy (HRT); the next day, the headlines are screaming that HRT will kill us.

The truth is, despite the widespread use of synthetic hormone brands such as Premarin and Provera, these drugs have always been associated with cancer. The first cancer linked with synthetic hormone replacement was cancer of the uterus lining (endometrium).

The most recent resurfacing of the negatives associated with synthetic hormones and cancer came fr... --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Random House Audio; Abridged edition (October 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739324977
• ISBN-13: 978-0739324974
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (140 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,876,610 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Suzanne Somers is the author of sixteen books, including the New York Times bestsellers Keeping Secrets, five Somersize titles, and The Sexy Years. The former star of the hit television programs Three's Company and Step by Step, Suzanne is one of the most trusted and respected brand names in the world, representing cosmetics and skin care products, apparel, jewelry, a computerized facial fitness system, fitness products, and an extensive food line. Suzanne received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from National University and is a highly sought-after commencement speaker. For more information, go to her website SuzanneSomers.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

395 of 417 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The voice and the truth..., October 15, 2006

By 

Charles "research physician & father of 3 sons" (Daphne, AL, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones (Hardcover)

Here's the TRUTH...

The most profound truth that seems to be still ignored by many practicing internists, gynecologists, and endocrinologists (and the most important part of this book) is stated on page 90 of this book:

"When a woman has a complete hysterectomy, so many doctors make the mistake of prescribing only estrogen. This is a recipe for disaster."

Exactly how and which hormones should be prescribed is still a matter of research but (as a physician practicing many of the techniques described in this book) I've seen so many women go from suffering with fatigue, lack of sex drive, difficulty thinking, depression, anxiety, and weight gain...to "waking up" and feeling energetic, sexual, losing weight, and throwing away their antidepressants...that it is maddening to me that so many gynecologists continue to ignore their own research.

EXAMPLE: Years ago, in OB/GYN (like the New England Journal for gynecologists) the gynecologists published in their own magazine a study showing that women who were started on testosterone immediately BEFORE the hysterectomy (so it would be on board to help with recovery from the operation) recovered from surgery faster, had less pain, and a faster recovery emotionally and sexually than did women who were not on testosterone.

With proper hormone replacement (including testosterone), very good research in OB/GYN shows that women who have hysterectomy for the right reasons will have better sexual relations after the surgery than they had before the surgery.

If I sound like I'm ranting, it's because I am. I see so many women go from feeling miserable to feeling wonderful after the principles described in this book are applied that I find it tragic that too many women get slapped with a pap smear and a prescription for Premarin on the way out the door after their 10 minute visit with the gynecologist (where most of the discussion took place with her talking to her physician looking up from between her legs (spread by the table's stirrups).

One WARNING about the book...
Ms Somers says, "I'm sorry, but the lack of knowledge and insensitivity of doctors who think byat by removing organs unnecessarily, they are protectin women from cancer is truly disturbing! I will not even venture to think that somewhere in this scenario is a financial gain."

Actually, she did venture to think it because she said it. And the truth is that THERE IS FINANCIAL GAIN. But, if doing hysterectomy does prevent cancer, then you want doctors to have financial gain. I want Ms Someers to have financial gain for helping women with this wonderful book that wakes women to the truth about hormones, and also want doctors to have financial gain when they save lives.

Until you take care of a woman in her 30's wasting away in the hospital with ovarian cancer while her children cry at the bedside, it may be difficult to develop a hatred of this sneaky killer disease. Ovarian cancer is notorious for not being found until it's far to late to treat effectively because it has spread to the brain and other parts of the body.

If a woman is near menopause and truly needs a hysterectomy (removal of the uterus), then I agree she should probably have an oophorectomy (remove her ovearies) and lose for an entire lifetiem the risk of this horrible cancer rather than keep ovaries that will fail in a few years anyway. The mistake is not in the oophorectomy...the mistake is in improper hormone replacement after the hysterectomy.

So, though I don't find every word of the book to be the best advice, I do recommend that every man and women over the age of 30 read this book carefully and use it as a guide for further discussion with their doctor.

There's a list of physicians in the back of the book. I personally know some of these doctors...as with any other profession, there is a range of quality...

On one extreme, some physicians practice medicine using many of the principles discovered by "anti-aging" research in combination with good sound internal medicine. On the other extreme, there are not-so-qualified physicians who burned out in another specialty who then use the new fad "anti-aging" medicine to be able to drum up business and charge high prices for services that are less than ideal. A good way to grade the physician you use is to ask about ligitimate research that has been conducted and how long he/she has been doing this type of endocrinology/internal medicine.

As for the VOICE: Ms Somers has written several books now about hormone replacement. I've recommended to my patients that they read "The Sexy Years" as a way to understand menopause and how proper and improper hormone replacement might change the body. This book was needed because it goes more directly to some of the medical options available and how they might be combined to live the most healthy energectic life possible. Ms. Somers has the gift of being able to grab more attention to the truth than could any physician and I'm grateful that she's using her position and her labors in writing for the noble work of saving lives rather than in the many other ways a movie star might squander time and money. Thank you, Ms Somers; I'm not a big on paying attention to movie stars turned expert (I haven't had a TV in my house since I left home for college), but you have become a great voice for good medicine and I have come to admire you greatly.

For more help, see the references to reasearch and to other books displayed on my website.

Peace & Health,

[...]

100 of 105 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ageless is informative and easy to read, but repetitive., February 2, 2007

By 

Alegra Bartzat "renegade dame" (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones (Hardcover)

In Ageless, Somers details everything there is to know about bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT). This differs from conventional hormone replacement therapy (HRT) because conventional hormone replacement therapy uses synthetic drugs that are slightly biologically different than the naturally occurring hormones in the human body. She uses personal accounts, informative prose, and interviews with doctors to get this information across. The variety of approaches helps explain things in various ways to more fully understand the concepts, and also add variety to the read.

This book is aimed at the demographic of middle-aged people, especially women, who are eligible for hormone replacement therapy. The book is essential for those who are considering hormone replacement therapy. Somers sings the praises of BHRT over and over again in this book.

The book is a useful tool, even for those who are not into middle age and considering hormone replacement therapy. Somers outlines and explains the function of every major hormone in the body and most of the minors as well, including adrenaline, insulin, human growth hormone, cortisol, melatonin, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, and thyroid.

There are two main points being made in this book. First, Somers wants everyone to understand the importance of hormones in health. This is a complex part of human life, and she does a good job of outlining the functions of hormones to her readers. She uses the metaphor of an "orchestra" of hormones to explain how interwoven our hormones are, and how if one is out of tune, the whole orchestra will sound off. However, beyond this metaphor she does little explaining of how the orchestra actually interacts, and instead deals with each hormone individually. This is a fine approach as an introduction to endocrinology.

The second point is that Somers really wants everyone to know what a difference BHRT has made in her life. This book is almost a memoir of her personal health journey. This part of the book becomes repetitive, because she constantly praises how her life went from stressful to calm, unhappy to joyous, chaos to perfection, all because of BHRT.

Somers explains the difference between synthetic hormones and bio-identical hormones, and what affect the difference makes on your body. She clearly speaks out against the health hazards of taking synthetic hormones, whether for menopause or birth control. She describes many approaches to nutritional and herbal supplementation and makes recommendations for supplements to optimize health, though this is a minor part of the book. She explains many of the details of bio-identical hormone replacement therapy, such as the difference between a static does and rhythmic cycling, and why one might choose one or the other,

She frankly discusses the signs, symptoms and options of natural aging. Her choice is to take bio-identical hormones, and she clearly thinks this is the best option for a great life. This could be construed to be a dogmatic viewpoint, except that she uses very personal anecdotes to define why she has chosen this route. This differs from the clinical approach she uses to write about the options. There are two very different tones happening in this book at the same time. She is both informing readers about hormones and health, and telling her personal story of choosing BHRT and how this has improved her life. I applaud the clear distinction between these two approaches, because it allows readers to make the choice for themselves, even while she sings the praises of BRHT.

The book contains a useful and thorough glossary that defines the medical terms used throughout the book. The glossary explains hormones like cortisol (the primary stress hormone), diseases such as acromegaly (a disorder caused by chronic overproduction of growth hormone), anatomical terms like mucosa (mucous membranes of the body), and even just words that one might not be familiar with including quartile (a fourth of a whole). The glossary is heavy on hormones (for example prolactin), environmental toxins that affect hormone function (ever heard of phthalates?), and elements that affect hormones (both those used medicinally and those found as toxins in our environments, such as selenium and fluoride, respectively).

The book ends with a list of resources and then a bibliography. The resources give readers many options on where to find a doctor that specializes in bio-identical hormone replacement therapy, also known as anti-aging doctors. The list is given by state, although only 15 states are listed, plus a few in Canada. Websites, pharmacies, and hormone testing agencies are also listed, as well as natural beauty products.

Perhaps even more useful is the bibliography. This cites all the sources used to write this book, and offers the reader further reading suggestions. The books cover hormones, of course, and this is good because even though Somers discuss hormones through Ageless, the readers still leaves with a superficial understanding of the hormonal orchestra that Somers so often references. Further reading will help interested readers understand hormonal processes more thoroughly. Also to be found are books on natural pest control, clean water, sex and libido, menopause, diet, sleep, and general health practices.

59 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go against the big pharmacopias and start to listen to others, October 27, 2006

By 

S. G. Weeks "alpina3" (California, Ca USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones (Hardcover)

The mere fact that large drug companies are fighting the FDA on bio identicals is a real good indication that there is something to this material.
Big drug companies are loosing money with the traditional hormones such as premarin which is made from horse urine. And hormones derived from plants which are more identical to our hormones are starting to take the lead and money from them.
I have been reading about bio identicals for some time now, and the drug companies are running scared. When in fact they should stop with the fighting and maybe join with the others and start to research the compounds and manufacturing their own bio identicals.
Suzanne is a true pioneer and knows with the aging baby boomers, we have to look at the aging process differently and shouldnt settle for becoming little old ladies or little old men, like its normal.
We still dont know why things grow old and we know quality of life doesnt improve with age, so finding out how to feel good when we age should be paramount in research. Rather than us just "wearing out our bodies" or "out living our bodies" we should be focusing on retention of feeling good mentally and physically. We dont have to age gracefully, somethings really are worth the fight and Suzanne has struck that nerve.