Under Dr. Gary London’s care, growing older doesn’t have to mean aches, pains and canes.

By John Hobbs

Even after reading Thank You Suzanne Somers, Dr. Gary London’s homage to the outspoken advocate of hormone replacement therapy—a revolutionary regimen that staves off the often cruel effects of time—it was astonishing to shake hands with the anti-aging specialist. With bright,firm-looking skin and a robust build, London looks decades younger than his actual 71 years. But what else would you expect from the man who is helping turn back the clock for many aging Angelenos?

“I have been using hormones for about six years. I’d always been fairly healthy, but in these last few years, I have regained a lot of lean muscle mass, skin texture and the things that make me look younger than I really am,” confides London. “My only regret is that I didn’t start sooner, because I was already old,” he adds, with a laugh.

London’s interest in anti-aging medicine began in 1999, after returning from a five-year hiatus from medicine when he suffered a hand injury. “It just so happened that during that five-year gap, a lot of my patients went through menopause. I left them in 1994 as healthy patients, but, when I came back, all I heard all day long were the same complaints from every patient—I am getting fat, I have no sex drive and no energy, I can’t sleep and I am having hot flashes,” he says.

It was at this point that London began studying the aging process to treat not only his female patients, but also their husbands, who were suffering their own ailments associated with aging. The doctor, inspired by Suzanne Somers’ book The Sexy Years, which brought hormone replacement therapy to the attention of aging baby boomers, began taking additional courses on the treatment and using the knowledge he had gained with his patients. “I really got into anti-aging and wanted to find out what happens as we age. Why is it that we age? What happens to our bodies? And, more importantly, is there anything we can do about it? Now I am convinced that you can stretch out this curve of better health,” he says.

Though the endocrine system is quite complex, London explains, in easily understood terms, the science behind hormone replacement therapy in his book. Essentially, the rate of aging is primarily controlled by the endocrine system, which uses hormones—chemical messengers—to keep the body working efficiently. The body’s hormone levels, which reach optimum level at about age 25, drop rapidly from 40-50 and continue declining thereafter. With lower levels of hormones—testosterone, thyroid, DHEA, pregnenolone and human growth hormone in men plus estrogen and progesterone in women—the endocrine system begins to fail, causing symptoms associated with growing old including thinning and wrinkling skin, increases in body fat and decreases in lean muscle mass, energy level and sex drive. What London does with hormone replacement therapy is to top off the low hormone levels, bringing them back up to the level they were at when the patient was 25. This effectively tricks the body, keeping it running as if it were in its prime.

The hormone replacement regimen, which begins with an initial analysis to determine where patients are in the aging process and is followed by regular check-ups (every two to three months) to keep hormones well balanced, has been highly successful among London’s clientele. “They see decreased body fat and increased lean muscle mass. They see skin changes—prettier, healthier and more vibrant skin. They feel more energized and better able to work out and sleep,” he explains.

Though tricking the body into believing it is younger than it actually is may seem a risky undertaking, London assures his patients that there is no evidence that doing so is harmful to the body. As far as side effects go, there shouldn’t be any as long as hormones are maintained at optimum levels and are of the highest pharmaceutical quality, which is why taking hormones without medical supervision can be incredibly dangerous for someone trying to turn back time on a dime, a phenomenon prevalent among West Hollywood’s aging male population. Often, men will purchase human growth hormone and testosterone products from questionable sources and take the typically low-grade pharmaceuticals without medical supervision, putting them at risk for complications to arise—needless complications considering that the price of hormone replacement therapy has come down quite a bit in the years since it was first introduced.

In the beginning, human growth hormone had to be mined from the pituitary glands of cadavers, making it quite costly at $10,000 a month. Now, a bioidentical version of the human growth hormone—which may or may not be necessary, depending on one’s initial analysis—costs about $350 a month. The body’s other hormones are cheaper, running an average of $90 a month for a woman and $60 for a man.

“Nobody escapes this,” adds London. “It’s not like some people age and others don’t. Even if you are lucky and don’t have any major illnesses or accidents, eat well and exercise reasonably, you’ll still age. There’s no cure.” Sounds ominous, but with Dr. London on the case, it all seems much less frightening.

To make an appointment with Gary London, M.D. (9201 Sunset Blvd., W. Hlywd.), call (310) 270-4500 or e-mail him at drgarylondon@msn.com.