Dr. Gustav Lo explains how bioidentical hormone replacement therapy at RegenCen in Chelsea can help people regain energy, reduce health risks, and feel like themselves again.
At RegenCen in Chelsea, Dr. Gustav Lo is at the forefront of regenerative and anti-aging medicine, advocating for bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) as a tool to improve quality of life and reduce health risks as people age. In a recent interview, Dr. Lo explained how aging at the cellular level leads to a host of health challenges—and how BHRT may offer a solution.
Understanding Aging at the Cellular Level
Dr. Lo described aging as a process of cellular decline, a phenomenon known as “senescence.” “Our cells have a certain number of divisions. They have a certain number of times they can reproduce. And after they reproduce a certain number of times, they start getting errors in their DNA, and so they stop functioning. They go through this process, scientifically called senescence,” he explained.
He further elaborated on how hormonal decline accelerates this process. “Whether you’re a man or a woman, when you’re older, you don’t make hormones like you used to. In women, it’s a big event, right? It’s menopause. Their ovaries stop working, and they’re just kind of cut off almost instantly from most of the hormones they used to make. That triggers accelerated aging in their cells.”
According to Dr. Lo, this loss of estrogen and testosterone leads to increased risks of heart disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s, and other age-related conditions. “If a woman goes through menopause, her risk of heart attack and stroke suddenly increases dramatically in a period of ten years,” he said. “If women start hormone replacement within the first 10 years of menopause, they’re at a 40% lower risk of heart attack and stroke and, in fact, dying from any cause than women who are not on hormone replacement.”
The Bioidentical Difference
BHRT differs from traditional hormone replacement therapy because it uses hormones chemically identical to those naturally produced by the human body. Dr. Lo distinguished these from synthetic or animal-derived hormones, which were once common in hormone therapy. “We used horse hormones on women, on human women, and they did all these studies and said, ‘Hey, yeah, it gets rid of hot flashes.’ Turns out that doing it that way actually causes some problems,” he said.
Dr. Lo emphasized that BHRT uses plant-derived hormones that are modified to match human estrogen and testosterone exactly. “Literally, atom for atom, they are the same as what we produce, but they are still synthesized in a lab. People think they’re ‘natural,’ and in effect, they are because they are bioidentical, but they’re not coming from a human source. We’re actually taking a plant source, either a yam or soy, and starting with a molecule that is close-ish to our hormones, and then we modify that in the lab.”
Benefits for Both Men and Women
While much of the conversation around hormone replacement focuses on women, Dr. Lo stressed that men also experience significant hormonal decline. “Our testosterone starts dropping very slowly in our 20s, and it just keeps dropping slowly until about mid-60s,” he said. “When you take a guy’s testosterone at age 50-something and take it to the level that it was when he was 30, turns out that a lot of those things he thought were just getting older are actually because his testosterone is low—particularly energy, motivation, physical strength, stamina, and body shape changes.”
Success Stories and Public Awareness
Dr. Lo shared the frustration he and others in the field feel about the lack of public awareness regarding BHRT’s benefits. “If everybody knew that they were going to have a 30 to 40% lower chance of dying over a period of 20 years if they took hormones, I think we’d have a lot more women interested in this, but they don’t know.”
Many patients, he said, are shocked by how much better they feel after starting BHRT. “80-something percent of our female patients come in after three months, and they say, ‘I feel so much better. I feel like myself again.’ And then they’re super happy the next time they come in.”
Cost and Accessibility
Dr. Lo acknowledged that one of the barriers to BHRT is cost, as the treatment is not covered by insurance. However, he emphasized that RegenCen aims to keep the treatment affordable. “This is one of our more affordable treatments. It costs about $400 every four months to have these hormone pellets placed. Initially, the cost is closer to $750 for an initial consultation and blood testing and your first pelleting, but after that, it’s about $400 every four months.”
Looking Ahead
Dr. Lo, a family practitioner for over 30 years before shifting to regenerative medicine full-time in 2020, believes the field has a broad future. “The nice thing about anti-aging medicine—the target market for that is 100% of us. 100% are going to need or could benefit from, I should say, could benefit from anti-aging medicine.”
For those interested in learning more, Dr. Lo encourages people to explore their options. “We do a lot of hormone replacement, but there are a lot of other very interesting and very effective anti-aging treatments out there.”
RegenCen is located at 1620 Commerce Park Dr STE 100, Chelsea.
Visit https://regencen.com/ for more information.
8123 Main St Suite 200 Dexter, MI 48130
