Alternative medicine could alleviate health concerns

“There’s nothing wrong with having a good quality of life until you die,” Dr. Khavar Dar of the Institute for Healthy Living said.

And while no one can reverse aging, the doctors at the Institute are trying to make people feel better as they get older.

The Institute was established in Odessa about a year ago and functions alongside Dar’s traditional practice.

Dar said his age-management program helps people regain things like mental agility and energy while minimizing the propensity for things like heart disease and diabetes.

Patients who use the age-management program start out with a physical assessment, a fitness assessment and a cognitive assessment in addition to meeting with a nutritionist, Dar said.

While some anti-aging programs focus on cosmetic changes, Dar said his program focuses more on what is happening within a person medically.

And age management isn’t the only program available; Dar also does weight-loss programs and “bio-identical hormone replacement.”

“The hormones we used to prescribe were synthetic hormones,” Dar said.

As people get older there is hormone loss, Dar said, and for women in menopause, the loss is very sudden.

Dar said some of the hormones traditionally used to treat hormone loss or imbalance are not identical to those produced by the human body, unlike bio-identical hormones which are also more natural.

“Most of it is plant extracted,” Dar said.

However, its effectiveness and superiority to traditional hormones are something of a debate in the medical community.

In a 2007 hearing before the Special Committee on Aging, Steve Galson of the Food and Drug Administration discussed bio-identical hormones.

Galson said the FDA was not aware of any credible scientific evidence supporting the idea that bio-identical hormones are safer or more effective than others.

In a consumer update and a press release in 2008, the FDA warned against false and unfounded claims by bio-identical hormone replacement therapy, or BHRT, drug producing pharmacies.

“FDA is taking action against pharmacies that make false and misleading claims about ‘BHRT’ drugs and is encouraging consumers to become informed about these products and their risks,” the FDA consumer update stated.

Compounding pharmacies mix the bio-identical hormones on site, and while the FDA said they consider traditional compounding to be a “valuable service when used appropriately”, some pharmacies producing bio-identical hormones are making unsupported claims, such as the increased safety and effectiveness of BHRT drugs over traditional hormones.

The FDA sent warning letters to seven pharmacy operations regarding their unsupported claims in 2008, a press release stated.

But overall, the FDA stated in its consumer update that it is not trying to get all compounded hormone drugs off the market since women should be able to get such a drug if her physician decides it best for her medical needs.

“I think that there’s a place for them,” reproductive endocrinologist and obstetrician/gynecologist Sandra Bello said of bio-identical hormones.

If the hormones are pure and come from a reputable pharmacist Bello said she will use them in specific instances where a woman’s treatment needs to be more individualized.

“(Hormone receptors) don’t know the difference,” Bello said.

However, bio-identical, or compounding hormones, are no more effective than regular FDA approved hormones, Bello said.

Bio-identical hormones are not a cure all, Bello said, explaining that some pharmacies falsely advertise the effects of their products.

Some of Dar’s patients have found his bio-identical hormones beneficial.

“You feel more energetic,” patient George Subia said.

After tests from Dar revealed low testosterone levels, Subia said he began doing hormone replacement.

Low hormone levels can cause a person to feel tired all the time, Subia said.

Women are also participating in hormone replacement therapy.

Donna Kilgore said that she too has more energy after increasing her testosterone levels with Dar.

And another thing that appealed to her was the ease of treatment.

“I don’t like needles,” Kilgore said, explaining that the testosterone comes in a cream that she rubs in nightly.

Dar also has a weight-loss program, where he said he promotes things like supplements, injections, exercise and a low sugar diet.

“I’ve become a professional in (calorie counting),” patient Diana White joked.

White, Kilgore, Subia and Dar himself said they lost weight through the program.

After seeing friends and family members join Dar’s program and lose weight White said she decided to try it.

Dar said he is also in the process of publishing a recipe book and exercise book, which he hopes to have ready in time for the Permian Basin Fair.

While the books would allow Dar to impact more people, his current patients seem pleased with his methods.

“It’s just made a big difference,” Subia said. “Just an overall difference.”

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