- Q. Why would I want to live a long time becoming fragile and feeble?
- Q. What is the difference between Anti-Aging and Wellness?
- Q. At what age should I begin an Anti-Aging Program?
- Q. Does Dr. Pauli use pharmaceuticals in his weight loss program?
- Q. Can I wait until anti-aging programs have more scientific proof of effectiveness and safety?
- Q. I am interested in signing up for an anti-aging program, but I can't afford Growth Hormone. Are there other things I can be doing?
- Q. I am interested in Growth Hormone, but I am afraid of it. Has it been proven safe?
- Q. Are steroids harmful?
- Q. How is Advanced Hormone Optimization different from HRT (hormone replacement therapy) through my regular doctor?
- Q. Can't I do this on my own without a physician's guidance?
- Q. Does my regular doctor (Primary Care Provider, Family Doctor, Internist, Nurse Practitioner) do the same thing as Dr. Pauli?
- Q. The technology of medicine is so amazing these days, why shouldn't I wait until I have a problem before going to a doctor, especially since insurance will pay if I have a disorder?
- Q. Can I learn all about this from books? Why do I need to see Dr. Pauli?
- Q. Why are Medicare and Medical Insurance excluded from Élan Vital's program?
- Q. What do the terms "Nutritional Biochemistry" & "Functional Medicine" mean?
- Q. What is the meaning of "élan vital" in the name of your clinic?
- Q. Do I really need to take vitamins or nutritional supplements?
- Q. Does it matter what vitamins or supplements I take? Is there really any differences? Aren't generics just as good as brand names?
- Q. What is a "pharmaceutical grade" supplement?
- Q. Can I really look younger, like the picture of the man and woman in their 70's and 80's that you have in your office?
- Q. Do you offer the same kind of treatments I saw on the TV (Ron Klatz, M.D., D.O., Dateline, Oprah, etc.,)?
- Q. What is the average monthly cost of supplements in your Wellness & Anti-Aging Programs?
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Q. Why would I want to live a long time becoming fragile and feeble?
A. It is now possible to live longer while being strong, healthy and vital. Quality of life is very important to one's zest for life, as well as directly leading to a longer life. Dr. Pauli's
Anti-Aging Protocols can improve not only those aspects of health that extend life, but those that make it worth while. These include muscle strength, energy, sexual potency, mental acuity, etc. -
Q. What is the difference between Anti-Aging and Wellness?
A. Wellness means not just being free from illness but operating at one's peak health, with regenerative processes outpacing a minimal amount of ongoing degenerative processes. Wellness is a component of Anti-Aging, although Anti-Aging Medicine is more ambitious in that it seeks to create and promote wellness through an extended lifespan. See the Wellness Page on this website. -
Q. At what age should I begin an Anti-Aging Program?
A. You can benefit from an Anti-Aging Program at almost any age. The key factor is how much irreversible degeneration has already occurred. However, sometimes things which seem irreversible can be scaled back or improved, so one shouldn't just give up because it would appear so. The earlier one starts the better shape one can stay in. When I go to Anti-Aging conferences I am impressed both with those who have been doing a program since youth as well as those who have started more recently. Most people in their forties are showing signs of aging which can be reversed and helped. Above 65, quality of life can still be improved, but there has been some tissue damage if one hasn't been caring well for one's self. Remember, one can resuscitate a plant which has gone dry only so many times before there is substantial irreversible damage. It is never too late to start. Start today! -
Q. Does Dr. Pauli use pharmaceuticals in his weight loss program?
A. Dr. Pauli sometimes prescribes pharmaceutical weight loss agents for the treatment of morbid obesity. Obviously these are not a long term solution to a long term issue. They can be helpful in getting weight loss started, to get the individual over the discouragement of no progress. There are a number of more natural agents which also are used. -
Q. Can I wait until anti-aging programs have more scientific proof of effectiveness and safety?
A.You can wait, but life moves on, along with its attendant gradual organ and tissue deterioration. It would be better to get started with a beginning program, educate yourself through reading, talks and physician consultation, and advance your program as you become more educated. -
Q. I am interested in signing up for an anti-aging program, but I can't afford Growth Hormone. Are there other things I can be doing?
A. There are a range of programs available and these have variable degrees of anti-aging effects. These programs include a range of substances, for instance, replacement of other hormones, or use of Growth Hormone secretagogues (substances which cause the release of Growth Hormone from the brain), in careful combinations with careful monitoring. These other programs can be markedly helpful, at less cost than using Growth Hormone. Your really won't know until you get an evaluation. -
Q. I am interested in Growth Hormone, but I am afraid of it. Has it been proven safe?
A. The first thing to remember with Growth Hormone replacement is that we are replacing to the levels your body tolerated well when you were 25 to 35 years old, at your peak. Therefore we do not expect side effects because your body does best with the levels of growth hormone which it "needs." Indeed another name for hGH is somatotropin (meaning body-growth-inducing), indicating that the body tissues need hGH for proper growth, maintenance and regeneration. The side effects from Growth Hormone relate to too high of dosages, specifically excess swelling or carpal tunnel syndrome. These side effects are entirely dose related. There can be some initial increase in insulin resistance, but this can be monitored and this generally improves over time as increase in muscle mass occurs.
Growth Hormone has been used and studied for over 30 years. In the past (not now), Growth Hormone was obtained from the pituitary gland in the brains of cadavers. Now Growth Hormone is synthesized using recombinant DNA technology. This means that the current Growth Hormone has no exposure to human cells which could transmit diseases.
There have been no studies which have shown Growth Hormone contributes to cancer.
Growth Hormone is a peptide (protein) hormone, not a steroid hormone.
Most Growth Hormone Experts believe GH to be safe. - Q. Are steroids harmful?
A. Steroids, or steroid hormones, play essential roles in the health of the body and brain. Without steroid hormones, we could not live. However, if the steroid hormones are unbalanced, or if their breakdown is unbalanced, then there is a higher risk of cancer, as well as other bodily disruptions. It is almost inevitable with aging that steroid imbalances occur, and if ignored, bodily disruptions will occur. Therefore it is not that externally given steroids are harmful, but unbalanced steroids. As one becomes older than 40, it is best to have your hormones measured and balanced through Advanced Hormone Optimization. -
Q. How is Advanced Hormone Optimization different from HRT (hormone replacement therapy) through my regular doctor?
A. HRT as conventionally practiced involves giving oral synthetic hormones in a formula, usually without measuring hormone levels or balancing different hormones. Advanced Hormone Replacement Therapy involves assessment of the total "end organ" or body need for hormone, with measurement of multiple hormones, and then replacing or supplementing bioidentical hormones or hormone precursors in the most physiologic manner. Advanced Hormone Optimization (AHO) goes further to use replacement and other techniques, dietary, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical, to optimally balance hormones and their metabolites (breakdown products). Through this, AHO seeks to restore youthful balanced levels of hormones and prevent buildup of excessive levels of harmful hormones or their metabolites, thus optimizing function and reducing the risk of cancer compared to no intervention or conventional HRT.
Addendum: [1/29/2007] This FAQ was originally written in 2002. Time has shown indeed that there is a difference between bioidentical hormones and conventional use of synthetic hormones! -
Q. Can't I do Longevity Protocols on my own without a physician's guidance?
A. One certainly can take vitamins and nutraceuticals, diet and exercise without a physician's guidance. However, there are a number of reasons why you will get better results with consultation from a knowledgeable Anti-Aging Physician, like Dr. Pauli.
An Anti-Aging Physician can help you sort out the massive tangle of unregulated claims made by various nutraceutical manufacturers.
An Anti-Aging Physician has a greater knowledge of human physiology and therefore the mechanisms and potential interactions of Longevity Protocols. I see this in my lay friends who have read a lot, but still ask me questions trying to understand the overall relations of various organ and biochemical systems.
An Anti-Aging Physician can determine if there are subacute conditions which ultimately would cause disease and aging and identify and treat these before organ damage has occurred.
An Anti-Aging Physician has knowledge and access to more extensive testing to determine the individual's need for intervention.
An Anti-Aging Physician can order pharmaceuticals where appropriate for anti-aging purposes.
It would be foolish to attempt to do Advanced Hormone Optimization without the knowledge and support of an Anti-Aging Physician who has extensive knowledge of endocrinology. -
Q. Does my regular doctor (Primary Care Provider, Family Doctor, Internist, Nurse Practitioner) do the same thing as Dr. Pauli?
A. No. In spite of the good will of your doctor, your regular doctor is likely to be unfamiliar with the range of natural and integrative techniques that Dr. Pauli uses. Doctors are generally unfamiliar with the range of tests for detecting subacute diseases, or even all the most advanced risk factors and treatments for cardiovascular disease, the number one killer. They are likely to rely on pharmaceutical or surgical supply companies for their information on the newest treatments, and to falsely regard natural treatments as inferior to drugs. They are not likely to have the time to spend with you to thoroughly diagnose your condition, develop a plan and educate you. They don't have the specialized education in the areas of longevity, wellness, functional medicine, nutritional biochemistry, detoxification and endocrinology. They are likely to be uncomfortable with the paradigm shift in wellness and holistic medicine, and are likely to have insufficient belief that the advances in longevity science will lead to your long life if you would follow them. -
Q. The technology of medicine is so amazing these days, why shouldn't I wait until I have a problem before going to a doctor, especially since insurance will pay if I have a disorder?
A. It is much harder to reverse a disorder or tissue damage than to prevent it. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The idea that medical insurance should cover all health-related expenditures leads to poor health. The reality of rescue medicine is different from the concept. In concept, our current "rescue medicine" is amazing, and it frequently is in practice, too. However, it has fostered a sense that medicine and doctors can reverse disorders easily, and the idea that chronic diseases should be dealt with by repetitive rescues. In fact, individuals with chronic diseases frequently have difficult courses even with rescues, which are quite often not effective or which have other unwanted side effects. I strongly urge you to not wait for disease. As example: If one prevents prostate cancer, then one can continue on testosterone replacement, which has trophic, healthful, anti-aging effects on brain, muscle, bone and vascular systems. However, once one gets prostate cancer, treatments tend to involve reducing testosterone in the body, which results in a lack of those above-mentioned health-promoting effects. -
Q. Can I learn all about this from books? Why do I need to see Dr. Pauli?
A. Dr. Pauli's anti-aging library currently exceeds 500 books plus thousands of articles. You certainly can get some of the basics from books and see my initial reading list as a place to start. Integrating the mass of sometimes conflicting information can be a major difficulty. Dr. Pauli also relies on contacts with other Anti-Aging and Integrative Medicine Physicians to expand his knowledge base beyond his personal experience. While Dr. Pauli encourages education as a key element of Longevity treatment, you must evaluate the value of your time and your available timeline as regards how much organ or tissue aging you already have. Finally, it is well known that it is quite difficult and usually ill-advised to treat one's self because emotional factors can affect your decision making. -
Q. Why are Medicare and Medical Insurance excluded from Elan Vital's program?
A. Medicare and Medical Insurance generally do not cover preventive medicine, and do not agree with the proactive approach our motivated clients want and which we recommend and practice. Most insurances have adopted a "managed care" approach to medicine which waits for illness to appear before they will "authorize" payment for treatment. Usually this "managed care" approach is really a "managed cost" or "management by hassle" approach which interferes with the physician-patient relationship. Dr. Pauli does not believe that true wellness or optimal health can or ever will be funded through insurances, or if it is, it will be extremely watered down. In addition, many, if not most, of the Anti-Aging and Wellness interventions and tests are not funded by insurance. Further, at current levels of reimbursement through insurances, cognitively-oriented doctors (those that talk to their patients and think about what intervention would help a patient) must work so hard and see so many patients, that they can not keep up or advance their knowledge in their fields, much less the new and explosive field of Anti-Aging Medicine. -
Q. What do the terms "Nutritional Biochemistry" & "Functional Medicine" mean?
A. Nutritional Biochemistry refers the scientific and clinical understanding of the effects of nutrition on the biochemistry of the body and bodily processes. Functional Medicine is a field of medicine that employs assessment and intervention to improve physiological, emotional/cognitive, and physical function. Functional Medicine is a science-based health care that demands a systematic, patient-centered approach to understanding the underlying web of physiological factors and effects that influence health and the progression of disease. -
Q. What is the meaning of "élan vital" in the name of your clinic?
A. "Élan vital" is a French term originally coined by the philosopher Henri Bergson 100 years ago. "Élan" has the combined meaning of impulse and energy and "vital" means life. Together, I take this phrase to mean "vital impulse" or "life force," to indicate that, in addition to longevity and "anti-aging," that our clinic's goal is to restore our clients' life force or vital impulse to youthful levels. In other words, quality of life and "wellness" are very important when talking about helping people to live past 100. -
Q. Do I really need to take vitamins or nutritional supplements?
A. Yes, if you want optimal health. Even with the goal of average health, you cannot obtain the necessary vitamins and phytonutrients from food alone, even assuming a "good" diet. Especially these days, our food is increasingly devoid of essential nutrients because of "modern" farming and production methods. The old quip that taking vitamins is just creating expensive urine shows ignorance of the need of the body for a wide range of nutrients for optimal function. It is better to have your body "tanked up" with essential vitamins which promote optimal function and prevent disease than to have extra pocket change. In the end it comes down to a matter of values, how you value your health as compared with the things you could otherwise spend the money on. We tend to take our health for granted until we have a problem. Ask the individuals with Chronic Fatigue & Immune Dysfunction if they would rather have a fancy vehicle or house or their health back. As the old advertisement goes, "When you have your health, you have about everything." -
Q. Does it matter what vitamins or supplements I take? Is there really any differences? Isn't it like generic medications, which are supposedly just as good as brand names?
A. The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) was landmark legislation which allowed for naturally found substances to be sold as food rather than regulated as pharmaceuticals through the FDA. While overall this provides for freedom, it requires the consumer to be educated to protect themselves. Most manufacturers do not adequately batch test their products for activity or for contaminants. Thus when independent laboratories have published comparisons of activity, they have found marked variability of concentrations of active substances. In addition, contaminants such as heavy metals can be found in some herbal preparations, especially those originating in China. If you are taking high doses of nutraceutical or vitamin supplements and they are contaminated, then you are poisoning yourself even as you are trying to improve your health. As the supplement market grows, it has become harder to obtain quality ingredients, and some herbs are being used in amounts which are unsustainable. Since the consumer is generally uninformed, some companies have taken advantage of the situation to market inactive, subactive, or contaminated supplements. Caveat Emptor [Buyer beware] applies.
At Elan Vital Longevity Institute, we only recommend the highest quality, pharmaceutical grade nutraceuticals and vitamins, as our clients rely on these for support of organ function in the presence of disease, or for longevity. Only manufacturers who will supply an assay on each batch can be recommended at Elan Vital. This knowledge in of itself is very valuable to our clients as taking the wrong supplement can damage one's health. Thus there is no such thing as a generic nutraceutical. I am even aware of some pharmaceuticals which have contaminants or lack of activity, stability or bioavailability, but which have been called equivalent by the medical insurance/ managed care industry.
Our clients are taking higher doses of supplements over long periods of time. If there is even small amount of contamination, this can cause ill health effects. If you value your health or need support for a diseased organ system, I recommend that you purchase the highest quality nutraceuticals you can afford. -
Q. What is a "pharmaceutical grade" supplement?
A. Pharmaceutical grade refers to processes which ensure that a substance contains the amount of active ingredient specified and does not contain adulterants, toxins, heavy metals or contaminants. It costs more to produce supplements (or drugs) which are pharmaceutical grade as compared to lesser grades, and not all supplements are pharmaceutical grade. Pharmaceutical grade supplements are more expensive reflecting their higher purity and quality. -
Q. Can I really look younger, like the picture of the man and woman in their 70's and 80's that you have in your office?
A. Yes! The photos (taken in 2000) of Bob Delmontique, 80, and Kelly Nelson, 74, are amazing, but real. These individuals have been dedicated to healthy lifestyles for many, many years and were in great shape when they were younger. That they are able to maintain their muscle mass, great shape and attractiveness and function is a testimony to their anti-aging programs which include the entire spectrum of anti-aging techniques, including hormone replacement. Even if you have not taken the best care of yourself, you can look and feel better if you begin and continue an Anti-Aging Program. The more comprehensive the program, the greater the improvement. A total program, which includes prescribed diet, exercise, detoxification and Advanced Hormone Optimization with Growth Hormone is likely to lead to reversal of the appearance of aging of 10 years or more. Significant changes can be noted after 3 to 6 months with greater changes over several years of following a program. Come by the office and see the photos of Dr. Delmontique and Ms. Nelson. They are awesome and will inspire you to begin an anti-aging program yourself! -
Q. Do you offer the same kind of treatments I saw on the TV (Ron Klatz, D.O., Dateline, Oprah, that Las Vegas outfit, etc.)?
A. Yes. Elan Vital Longevity Institute is dedicated to providing you with the most advanced and safest anti-aging protocols available, including Advanced Hormone Optimization. Dr. Pauli also has training and experience in Integrative and Functional Medicine, which is more comprehensive than many doctors with Anti-Aging Certification. -
Q. What is the average monthly cost of supplements in your Wellness & Anti-Aging Programs?
A. Recommended supplement programs are individualized at &Elan Vital Longevity Institute, and therefore price will vary. The price varies also depending on how comprehensive and aggressive the client's program is. Call 360.527.9785 for price information.
