According to the Center of Medicare and Medicaid Services in Washington, D.C., healthcare is a $1.5 trillion industry, 13.2 percent of U.S. economy. Because everybody is in this for the money, it is important for doctors to cram as many patients into their day as possible. Physicians blame managed care for making them rush through their appointments. The reason being, when you have an HMO, doctors get paid a flat rate per person, whether you come in or not. Obviously, the more people you see, the more money you get. No matter that the person did not get what they are entitled to from the visit. The fewer tests they order, the lower the cost for the HMO and the bigger the physicians financial incentive from the HMO for keeping cost down.

What are you getting for your buck? “Don’t let your HMO kill you” by Dr. Jason Theodosakis and Dr. David T. Feinberg gives us this example. Let’s say your premium is $100. As stated previously, your doctor’s practice will still get paid every month whether you show up or not. The money you save the HMO for not showing up will go in their pocket or go towards another patients care. About 15 percent goes to profit, roughly $37 is saved unless you’re hospitalized and the rest is put into a pool with the rest of the patients payments to pay the doctors. Some of the doctors are in specialty clinics such as OB/GYN and they might only see about $3 of the original $100 premium. They are going to see as many patients as they can to cover their cost. They have someone breathing down their necks to keep cost down and if things run according to plan, this person gets a bonus. This person is also rewarded if they keep referral down and probably is not interested in new treatment or test.

Despite recent reports that doctors are actually spending more time with their patients than they used to, I’m not seeing this and the emails I receive aren’t saying this either. Now, maybe the situation was the doctor was getting ready to go out of town and he was in a hurry to get the surly duty of sick patients out of the way. This was not the first time that I felt my visit was a monumental waste of time, energy and patience. I smirk when I see a commercial or advertisement with a smiling, great looking physician surrounded by smiling, healthy, great looking patients. I rarely see any of my physicians smiling.

I am not the only person that is unhappy with this. Approximately 60 percent of Americans with insurance are unhappy with it. Even with what I know, I am still shocked when I see a doctor and I am hurried along or there is no real interest in new symptoms or concern when another has worsened. You don’t expect to encounter rudeness, neglect and impatience when visiting a doctor. There is a certain amount of compassion and understanding that should be demonstrated. After all, doctors are supposed to be in the business of diagnosing and fixing what ails you and I would hope that part of the lure of being a physician was because you feel compelled to help other people. Perhaps doctors have become desensitized from seeing nothing but the sickest of the population day in and day out. I am not a normal, healthy person. I sometimes average an appointment a week. You would think they would want to prevent any future problems but the reality is if they can put off a test or two in exchange for prizes, why not?

And what are we going to do? Treat ourselves? Resort to alternative care? Tempting, but we just don’t have the resources or access to the things we need; prescriptions, test, knowledge, we are stuck. You can always switch doctors but how many times can you do that before you are profiled as a difficult patient? Will the next doctor know my history? Will they be rude? Will they listen to what I have to say instead of blowing me off? What is a premium, paying patient to do?

Well, the best thing appears to be to stick it out unless your doctor is a complete incompetent or is not treating you like a human being. Instead of complaining to your friends and family or seething silently, talk to your doctor and let him/her know what your needs are. Be persistent. Know yourself and your condition because doctors pay attention to patients who are interested in their healthcare. I liken it to the good student and the bad student. If you show up to class on time and turn in your homework, then the teacher pays a lot more attention to you. If you show up when you get ready and halfway do your work, if at all, then the teacher barely acknowledges your existence and doesn’t pay attention to you. Be a star patient. It challenges your doctor and it educates your as well, which is a win-win situation.

I have been accused of being anti-doctor and that isn’t true. I’m disenchanted that’s all. They are a necessary but I feel shortchanged. What are you getting for your money? The price of healthcare rises constantly but the quality of care does not necessarily reflect that. I’m not against keeping cost down; I’m against doing it at the patient’s expense-our out of pocket expense and at the expense of our health.

You must ask yourself this question: when did you feel the most alive, hopeful, and healthy? The majority of people would say around age 21 and 26. So why not find out the level of each hormone in your body and use orthomolecular human hormone supplementation to return all deficient ones to the levels you enjoyed in your early twenties? Once this is done, you will feel better after a couple of days. After a few months, you will begin to feel that you are that age. After a period of time, you will start to look as young as you feel.

Of course, we do not mean that you will look like you are 21 years old again, but it is very possible to look 10 to 20 years younger, something you probably thought could never happen.

Hormones that regulate our rate of aging as well as the physical and mental manifestations of aging include DHEA, melatonin, pregnenolone, the estrogens, testosterone, and HGH (human growth hormone) and they are all currently available on the market. With most of these supplements being available over the counter, the majority of people have not received accurate information about their use. The concept is to augment supplies to the levels present in a 20 year old, instead of merely stockpiling hormones beyond what you might require. You can receive many other hormones by prescription only, such as estrone, estriol, estradiol and testosterone. But for the hormones to work best, they all need to be tested before supplementation, and this supplementation needs to provide optimal levels — high levels are not good enough. Pertaining to hormones, it is bad not to have enough, but even worse if you have too much.

Hormone Replacement Therapy is becoming more well-regarded, and on its own is capable of reducing morbidity and mortality rates by 60%. By requesting just a few tests, including adrenal, sex and thyroid hormone levels, you may be on your way to better health.

Of course, the trouble is locating the right physician to do these exams. Many physicians are still of the mindset that considers aging to be an inevitable process rather than a disease. Many people have sought their doctors’ advice regarding one complaint or another only to hear the reply, “Well, what did you think was going to happen? You are beginning to get older. You have to just accept it. We will all die eventually!” Prior to making an appointment, be sure that you first screen your physician.

Human Growth Hormone

The hormone that is most influential regarding changes involved in aging is human growth hormone, also known as HGH. It works along with the adrenal, sex, and thyroid hormones, but it is the most important hormone with regard to aging. HGH is released through the pituitary gland in the brain, the main gland which controls the whole system of hormones. As a matter of fact, 50% of the anterior pituitary cells are known as somatocytes and they create HGH. Considering the sheer number of cells that perform this task, it would seem that HGH production is important for the body to function properly.

In children, HGH makes the long bones grow and is instrumental in helping people obtain their final height. Historically, it was believed that this was the totality of HGH’s function. Research done recently indicates that HGH receptors are present in every cell of the body and that HGH performs a variety of human metabolism functions in all the body organs. Even the brain contains receptors which, upon stimulation, cause endorphins (molecules that help us maintain an even and buoyant mood) to be generated. HGH causes the skin cells to react by producing even growth, creating the smooth look of children’s skin. The brain cells respond by bouncing back to life (nearly 15% of the brain cells cease to function every decade you are alive). Because of this, the most current and most effective treatment for Alzheimer’s is HGH, despite the lack of large double-blind clinical trials.

A recurrent consequence of HGH shortage is feeling irritable, thus with replacement therapy, the patient returns to a feeling of contentment. Cells in the skeletal structure react by producing new bone, reversing osteoporosis - but this takes several years to be complete. The response of fat cells is that they use their lives to supply energy. The extra pounds in the stomach area which characterizes an HGH deficiency, dissolves in a few months. Muscle cells react, especially in the upper body, by growing bigger and stronger. You start to get back the strength and endurance you had when you were younger. Since the ciliary muscle of the eye regains its strength, many individuals could read again without the aid of reading glasses.

As HGH performs all manner of functions, it is the predominate hormone that drives the physical metamorphosis that shows the process of aging. As expected, HGH levels drop gradually with advancing age. With the information we have on HGH, we should reconsider calling it HVH or human vitality hormone.

Total Hormone Rejuvenation Therapy

The concept is to get your hormones to go back up to the level you were used to when you were twenty-something. Once this happened, your hormone levels were certainly starting to decline. Perhaps you have referred to it as “normal aging” but it could be called “multiple system degenerative disease.” If it is not necessary to deal with all the problems involved in the disease we call aging, then why do it?