MANILA, Philippines - A new generation of plant-based hormones is safely reversing the effects of menopause and related illnesses and conditions, such as osteoporosis and memory loss, for many patients of anti-aging and longevity doctors in the US and Europe. In the Philippines, the best known advocate of bioidentical hormones — so called because they have the same molecular structure as hormones produced by the human body — is 73-year-old Dr. Cris Enriquez, head of Rapha Health.
The Yale University-trained member of the American College of Cardiology with the energy of someone 10 to 15 years younger relates that he had a thriving practice in Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, Florida for over 30 years. After too many meals focused on processed meats, heaping portions of rice, and ice-cold soda, combined with a stressful lifestyle, he became a prime candidate for heart surgery. The month he spent recuperating from his bypass was among the worst in his life, recalls Enriquez.
“I realized then that traditional Western medicine had nothing better to offer me aside from another bypass. From that point on, I began veering towards alternative forms of medicine,” says the good doctor.
Practicing what he preaches, Doc Cris, as he is called by patients, is not on any maintenance drug despite his heart history. He explains that intravenous therapy or chelation and BHRT have kept him youthful and given him the energy and stamina to expand his practice and bring the benefits of anti-aging medicine to more patients in the country. Chelation therapy is a proven process of ridding the body of toxins through the intravenous infusion of vitamins, minerals, and an amino acid.
Chelation, in tandem with a combination of bioidentical hormones custom-made to address the specific condition of each patient, is among the main tools of the evolving anti-aging and longevity medicine. Enriquez explains most of the biochemical processes going on in the body are regulated by hormones. An imbalance in these hormones — very high estrogen and low progesterone levels, for instance — makes one prone to breast and cervical cancer. A decrease in the production of thyroid hormone, on the other hand, could lead to obesity, heart disease, loss of energy, among other symptoms.
In the last 20 years, bioidentical hormones, made from natural ingredients like soy and Mexican wild yams, were discovered to restore declining hormonal levels with good results and no serious side effects.
Patients have enjoyed the benefits of BHRT at Dr. Enriquez’s Rapha Health Clinic in Greenbelt 5, Makati since it was established in 2010.
“It is possible to grow old in good health; to be 120 years old, free of disease or disability, and with a clear, sound mind,” Dr. Enriquez promises. “All that is needed is to restore what has been lost in the body through bioidentical hormones while adopting habits that will keep you in optimal health.”