Autophagy: Revolution in Nutritional Medicine?

Should we feast and regularly fast instead of having a conscious diet? Does this sound almost too good to be true? Can we forget the recommendations for a healthy diet we regarded as secured, including the food pyramid, and feast confidently? Yes and no!

Latest research findings in mice have demonstrated: Regular longer breaks between meals are more important for our health than the specific food that we eat! This means: It is not so important what we eat, if we fast for a longer period in between.

Specifically, groups of mice were fed different foods: One group received appropriate nutrition daily without interruption, another group of mice received mice junk food with regular periods of fasting, and a third group of mice was also supplied with mice junk food, but without regular fasting periods in between.

Remarkable result: The fasting junk food mice were the healthiest, followed by the non-fasting animals which were fed appropriate to the species. The non-fasting junk food rodents brought up the rear.

Why Is Fasting Beneficial to the Health?

Fasting obviously activates the body’s own cleansing program called autophagy (“self-digestion”), in which the body breaks down toxins and defective cell components and thereby cleans itself. This process protects against premature aging, various diseases, and even obesity.

There are many indications that regular fasting has a positive effect on health in humans. Thus there is actually some truth in fasting known from many cultures from a medical point of view.

It depends on the type how long we should fast by refraining from eating solid foods and instead take liquids only (water, unsweetened tea, clear soup). If we resort to the teachings of Ayurvedic medicine, more delicate, slim people should fast once or twice a month for 24 to 48 hours at maximum and people with a strong and stocky body who rather tend to be overweight should fast regularly for periods of up to 7 days.

In this sense – enjoy your iced coffee with extra whipped cream without counting calories, but do not forget to fast.

Your Team at Clinic DDr. Heinrich®

Are We as Old as We Feel? Biological versus Chronological Aging

“How old are you, may I ask?” – “Well, have a guess!” – We all have once already found ourselves in such a difficult, often slightly uncomfortable situation. Indeed people seem to age at a different speed, so that the chronological age – defined as the lifetime starting on the date of birth – is often hard to assess visually. The biological age, which in contrast takes physical wear into account as well, can differ largely from the chronological age in some cases due to environmental impact and even the genes.

Current proof is provided by an American experiment, in which the biological age of about thousand 38-year-old people was determined. Scientists were flabbergasted when they saw the varying results of the determined biological age of the participants – because the detected results range from under 30 to over 60 years.

But which factors are involved in the determination of the so-called biological age and how can we perhaps stop biological aging with the help of medicine? Parameters like the function of different organs, dental health, the condition of the small blood vessels behind the eye, as well as cognitive and motor skills are decisive. Thus to remain “biologically” young it is most important to keep your body and soul fit, which could be achieved most likely through a healthy lifestyle.

Because this is not that easy to do for many people, scientists are researching new measures such as gene therapy, which is to date not permissible in humans for ethical reasons. It promises longer life through targeted interventions in the genetic material. However, health risks associated with this therapy are not yet foreseeable. For that reason it is better to use easier and – even more important – practicable methods to decelerate biological aging.

Frequent fasting for about 24 to 48 hours ensures that damaged cell material is degraded by the body. This is an easier and more cost-efficient method to slow down degradative intracellular processes and therefore biological aging, which has already been used in medicine for thousands of years.

A therapy with bioidentical hormones (Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy, BHRT) provides a hormonal balance, which is important for several body functions. Additional effect: Patients apparently radiate new freshness and zest for life as well. The therapy is performed after a comprehensive analysis of the state of health and the current hormone status and lasts for 3 or 6 cycles (1 cycle = 28 days). Repeat treatments can be performed as required.

Skin quality is an essential indicator for biological age. It could be improved through the intake of the right nutrients: Perfect Skin by DDr. Heinrich® Beauty Drink or Powder can provide remedy for wrinkles and thin skin. If certain skin areas, such as in the face, cleavage, or hands, should be regenerated, considerable rejuvenation success can be achieved with treatments with the body’s own stem cells.

If we are feeling fit and vital and our skin is looking fine we also feel younger, and that is what is most important.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Skin Tanning: Combining UVA and UVB Light with Melanotropin?

A patient who has a light skin type wants to know about tanning treatment:

Tomorrow I will have an appointment with a dermatologist who offers radiation therapies with UVA and/or UVB light. Is it useful for tanning to combine this treatment with melanotropins?

It is better to use melanotropins under the natural sunlight. Radiations with artificial light for skin tanning have turned out to be counterproductive and can accelerate skin aging despite of the application of melanotropin. Additionally, tanning under the blue sky is indeed more comfortable than in front of a radiation lamp in the doctor’s room.

Above a certain dose UV light leads to damage of human DNA and encourages skin cancer as well as premature skin aging because body cells are losing their regeneration capacity. The lighter the skin type, the more sensitive it is to these risks.

A natural tan does not only seem to be attractive for many people, but it also provides better protection against UV light and sunburn, because the pigment named melanin is absorbing UV radiation from the sunlight. Supplying the hormone melanotropin stimulates the production of the dark pigment melanin. It makes skin considerably darker, whereby the natural skin protection factor increases.

If skin damage as a result of too much sun or solarium is already existing the following treatments can provide relief: Autologous stem cells extracted from the body’s own fat regenerate the skin in a natural way and can help improving skin quality. Small wrinkles vanish and your skin appears fresher and more vital. The effect of such a stem cell treatment can be imitated to a certain degree by skin treatments with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) isolated from the patient’s own blood or growth factors from skin cells.

Collagen and hyaluronic acid – both essential components of our skin – can be supplied via nutrition, for example with Perfect Skin by DDr. Heinrich® Beauty Drink or Powder. If taken regularly skin moisture increases and skin regenerates from the inside out.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Thinning Hair in Women: Can Stem Cells Help?

A patient who suffers from thinning hair writes us:

I live in Berlin and I am very interested in a treatment of hair. I have thin hair on my middle parting for years. Partially you can see the scalp. What is the course of treatment and how many sessions are necessary?

We now suppose the patient is organically healthy and reasons like organic illnesses or intoxications can be excluded. Then especially treatments with autologous stem cells extracted from fat tissue for stimulation of hair growth should be considered. In most cases of stem cell therapies one session is sufficient; sometimes a repeat treatment after some months is useful.

At the beginning of a stem cell therapy a small amount of the patient’s own fat is harvested, from which stem cells are extracted. These stem cells are injected into the areas to be treated immediately after isolation. There they can take their growth-enhancing effect. Therapies with growth factors or platelet-rich plasma (PRP) are simpler alternatives, which are able to imitate the effect of a stem cell therapy to a certain extent. In PRP treatment important blood contents from the patient’s own blood are used.

Increasing age, but also factors such as stress lead to an impairment of the body’s own hormone production. The resulting hormone imbalance can have many consequences, including premature hair loss. After thorough analysis of the patient’s hormone status a treatment with bioidentical hormones (Bioidentical Hormonal Regeneration Therapy, BHRT) is planned according to the individual needs, which can provide a remedy. The therapy lasts between 3 and 6 cycles (1 cycle = 28 days) and can be repeated if required.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Breast Augmentation with Autologous Fat in Slim Patients?

A patient who shows interest for breast augmentation with autologous fat (lipofilling) asks us:

I am now 45 years old and have given birth to three children. My figure was always on the slim side. Do I have enough fat for a breast augmentation with autologous fat?

By using microcannulas for the liposuction it is almost always possible to harvest enough fat for a breast augmentation, also in very slim patients. However, there is the precondition that the patient accepts to get slimmer at hips, butt, and legs, or to have liposuction performed on many body regions as an alternative.

In breast augmentation with autologous fat transfer the fat obtained by liposuction from the patient’s fat deposits is injected into the breast afterwards either “untreated” or in stem cell-enriched form. The results is a natural bigger breast, which consists in its entirety of the body’s own tissue. The procedure takes place on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia. Thus the patient doesn’t have to stay in the hospital overnight and can return to everyday life very quickly.

If breast augmentation with autologous fat is possible or rather if there is enough autologous fat available can be best determined during a consultation appointment.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Medea and Rejuvenation through Fresh Blood

The Argonaut Saga tells that the Greek hero Jason heads out at king Pelias behest together with his fellow campaigners, among them Heracles, across the Black Sea to the country Colchis (today Bulgaria) to rob the Golden Fleece there. In Colchis Jason falls in love with the king’s daughter Medea, with whose magic help he succeeds in robbing the golden ram skin. Back in Iolcus he marries Medea and she gives birth to two sons.

At the royal court of Iolcus Medea tries out her magic arts on the decrepit father of Jason, Aeson. Ovid tells about it in his “Metamorphoses”; according to him the great enchantress Medea spoke: “Unsheathe your swords, dismiss his lifeless blood, and I’ll recruit it with a vital flood.” From such doing the poet hoped that a mind-blowing effect could be achieved: “The meager paleness from his aspect fled, and in its room sprang up a florid red; through all his limbs a youthful vigor flies. A happy change in body and in mind. In sense and constitution the same man, as when his fortieth active year began.”

The miraculous effect of this “Cura Medeana” was also used later in time, however, due to rejection reactions of the extraneous blood only with mixed success. In the meantime blood transfusions are – since discovery of blood groups by Landsteiner – no gambling any more, but standard in medical care. Appropriate tests of the donators ensure the absence of pathogens in the transferred blood.

Recent scientific studies bring new shine to the “Cura Medeana”: The blood circulation of an old mouse weakened by age was sewn together with the one of a younger mouse – lo and behold – the old mouse’s organs and tissue rejuvenated and it lived longer than her predicted life expectancy was. Scientists suppose that special cytokines and cell hormones contained in the younger mouse’s blood are responsible for the activation of the old mouse’s own stem cells. These autologous stem cells in turn allow organs and tissue to regenerate.

In Hormonal Regeneration® we use bioidentical hormones, which activate the body’s own stem cells and therefore lead to impressive rejuvenation. The usage of autologous stem cells extracted from fat tissue as part of a stem cell therapy can both be used for regeneration and rejuvenation of the skin and for treatment of chronic diseases. Thus it is not necessary to let oneself be sewn together with somebody who is younger in order to regenerate. Perhaps further research reveals easier ways, for example by injecting the most important cytokines or cell hormones. I will keep you informed.

By the way, the Argonaut Saga is ending tragically, like almost all heroic epics of the Ancient times: Iason falls in love with the young daughter of king Creon of Corinth and outcasts Medea. Medea takes her rival’s life and drives away in a carriage pulled by dragons to Athens because her spell of love does not operate anymore. There she marries the king and becomes the stepmother of hero Theseus. Iason, left from Medea that way despairs and in his gloom gets crushed by the hull of his ship Argo, with which he went from Colchis to Greece with Medea at that time. Medea’s traces disappear somewhere in Asia. It is after all considerable that there are older versions of the Argonaut Saga, in which Medea is portrayed in a much more positive way. In present-day Bulgaria, the ancient Colchis, Medea is classified as national heroine.

Perhaps Medea should have used her “Cura Medeana” for herself or rather granting it a bigger audience instead of reaching for such drastic measures. Right choice of the donator premised, she and her patients would have been regenerated, would have gotten stronger and they would have won new zest for life.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Are We in Fact as Old as We Look?

Most of us think we are as old as we feel, but now there is evidence to say otherwise. We might be biologically as old as we look!

A recent study published in Cell Research analyzed over 300 faces of individuals ranging from 17 to 77 years of age to identify distinctive facial characteristics that are changing with age. The authors found that even when compared to blood markers such as cholesterol for females and LDL in males imaging of the face was a more accurate predictor of age.

Hormones are messenger substances which accomplish several important regulatory tasks in a complex control circuit. If hormone production decreases due to stress or aging, hormonal imbalances occur. Along with drop in performance, loss of libido, and burnout, well-known aging signs can as well be seen in facial area.

This is where a therapy with bioidentical hormones (Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy, BHRT) can provide a remedy. The re-established hormonal balance becomes apparent within a short time in form of a younger, radiant face.

In the beginning of a Hormonal Regeneration there is a comprehensive analysis of the current health and hormone state. On this basis a therapy plan tailored to the patient’s individual needs is created, which mostly lasts for 3 or 6 cycles (1 cycle = 28 days). Refreshments or repetitions can be fixed as required.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Renée Zellweger: New Face for Bridget Jones

In 2001 the American actress Renée Zellweger won the audience’s hearts as Bridget Jones: In keeping with the title Bridget Jones’s Diary the then 32-year-old presented herself plump, clumsy, and awkward with chubby cheeks, which she put on for her role to appear authentic. The actress needed less than one month to lose those superfluous kilos again, which caused “raised eyebrows” at that time.

Still today Renée is on everyone’s lips. But this time it’s not (only) the weight being discussed controversially, but especially her face. At her performance at Elle’s Annual Woman in Hollywood Awards the Oscar winner was hardly recognizable after a long time of public break. It seems as not even a square centimeter has remained untouched from beauty surgeries: Smooth forehead, high cheek bones, pointed chin and a slender nose; even her popular hooded eyelids, which she wore over years as her trademark, disappeared.

Media racked their brains about the reason for her outright transformation. She has a happy private life according to her own statements. Maybe it was the fear of “joblessness”, which made her undergo this “overall renovation”. Anyhow, role offers obviously kept within limits. It may be questioned if this will change now.

Renée herself cannot understand the excitement about her appearance and rather complains about this form of attention – even though as it is generally known stars nearly stop at nothing to get into media. She vehemently denies rumors about botox, facelift & Co. – solely and exclusively a new, happier lifestyle should be responsible for her external change. Well, a likely story…

One question arises: Would there have been another way for Renée to meet her need for premature aging treatment more expedient?

As a reader of my blog you know that there are several possibilities – natural substances such as the body’s own stem cells extracted from body fat, epidermal growth factors, and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) from autologous blood for instance cause natural skin regeneration and therefore avoid artificial-looking results. All this treatments are possible on an outpatient basis. In most cases the patient can resume her social activities again the following day.

In stem cell treatment for skin regeneration a small amount of the patient’s fat is harvested in a tissue-conserving way with thin microcannulas. The obtained stem cells get injected into the skin with fine needles immediately afterwards. There the stem cells stimulate regeneration and tighten the skin. Due to the high biological potential of stem cells long-term effects can normally be achieved.

In Renée’s age of about 45 it is necessary to grasp aging at its root: With bioidentical hormones (Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy, BHRT). Signs of aging such as loose skin are symptoms of a lack of hormones which develops due to aging and exhaustion of endocrine glands because of stress and grueling lifestyle. Bioidentical hormones correspond to our body’s own hormones in their chemical structure. As part of hormonal regeneration the hormonal balance is re-established with the help of bioidentical hormones.

If Renée would have decided for this treatment she would now look fresher and younger instead of unrecognizable and different. Maybe someday she will tell her secret about what really happened with her face. If not, it doesn’t matter, because we can imagine it easily anyway.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Skin Regeneration: “Cosmetics from the Inside Out” Instead of Fillers

DDr. Heinrich, MD gave an interview to Neuen Zürcher Zeitung recently about skin regeneration with artificial fillers. Here the entire interview:

Dear DDr. Heinrich, MD, on your blog you write that you are taking no stock in fillers. Why not?

Artificial fillers are mostly used for wrinkle treatments. Wrinkles are a symptom that means that the skin loses biological quality in general. If you inject fillers into the wrinkles, the skin becomes more compact on the area treated. However, the surrounding tissue stays less dense which causes irregularities that can be seen at mimic facial movement. This is not particularly acceptable from a cosmetic perspective.

What do you recommend as an alternative?

Instead of symptom treatments I propagate treatment of the causes. By the means of bioidentical hormones, stem cells extracted from the patient’s own fat tissue, the intake of a special combination of collagen peptides and hyaluronic acid, such as our beauty drink Perfect Skin by DDr. Heinrich® or Perfect Skin by DDr. Heinrich® Powder the biological skin quality gets better. I also call this “cosmetics from the inside out”. Thereof wrinkles disappear and the face looks natural. Hyaluronic acid is better to swallow than to inject!

Do you see fillers as long-term trend or will they soon get replaced by something else?

For the moment their usage will increase. Trends are like waves: You even see the end of a wave and the beginning of the following one, while the wave is still strongly accruing…

What could come next?

“Cosmetics from the inside out”, where bioidentical hormones, autologous stem cells and the intake of special food supplements help to regenerate the skin and thereby treat wrinkles. The loss of biological quality is a symptom of aging processes which we can counteract. This understanding will prevail.

Will a naturally aged face get out of fashion?

As long as media and advertisement are permanently presenting young people about the age of 20 as successful trendsetters – yes. Nevertheless, in the long term realization will persist that successful people can be about 20 only in rare cases, but rather between 30 and 50. And because success is sexy, the mature, vital face will stay “in” in the long term, especially in men. That is part of our genes.

However, due to the progress of medicine – similar to teeth problems decades ago – facial “aging signs”, which are symptoms for diseases or weakness of organs and hormonal deficiencies, will be increasingly seen as unacceptable. Such as desolate teeth are considered unacceptable in elderly people, which has not been the case in former times. This means that the mature, healthy, and vital face will stay attractive in the long term.

Bruce Jenner: From Olympic Champion to Woman

Bruce Jenner’s visible changes keep media on the go already for a long time. It was rumored, it was denied. Now the secret is out: The Olympic champion of 1976 turns into a woman. In front of the camera the former track athlete confessed his transsexuality, which accompanied him throughout his whole life but which he has, however, hidden for so long.

His ex-wife Kris Jenner probably suspected it after she had caught him out several times in lingerie and women’s clothing at home. In Keeping Up with the Kardashians, a reality TV show in which Bruce appears together with Kris and her daughters it was possible to recognize a feminization step by step – his hair has become longer and longer, his nose got more and more narrow. In a TV interview with the American broadcasting station ABC Bruce now revealed: “My brain is much more female than male. It’s hard for people to understand that. But that’s what my soul is.”

In order to finally turn his “female soul” to the outside the ex-track athlete already endured a lot. In the beginning he was suspected to be “surgery-addicted” like Michael Jackson – now we know what really is behind. What was disclaimed vehemently back then is now supported actively by his family. Stepdaughter Kim Kardashian even proves her support publicly by posting strengthening statements regarding her stepfather’s transformation via Twitter. And even his 88-year-old mother Esther emphasizes that she doesn’t have a problem with his transsexuality.

To fulfill the desire for a female body and to help Mother Nature along a hormonal change to female conditions is necessary. Female sex hormones, estrogens, are responsible for breast growth in women and lead to a change of the body composition, so that more fat is stored. At such a hormonal change it is advisable to administer bioidentical hormones, which correspond to human hormones in chemical structure and therefore have a favorable side effect profile compared to artificial hormone preparations.

Bruce himself says that he is looking forward to transforming ultimately to a transwoman. The transformation should be finished during the year 2015. Recently 65-year-old Bruce dared to do the big step of a breast augmentation – a desire which is shared by many other transgender persons.

Bruce underwent an augmentation with silicone implants. Indeed many transgender persons wish for a female body, which is on a par with their “female soul” in regard to naturalness, and so entirely consists of the body’s own tissue. Therefore a breast augmentation with autologous fat or stem cell-enriched fat comes into consideration.

To make enough space for the fat that should be injected to enlarge the breast, pre-stretching of the breast is almost always necessary beforehand because in transgender persons the breast tissue is usually very tight. This can be achieved by frequent injections of saline solution or by wearing suction bra (e.g., Brava System). If fat depots are once more highly developed due to the administration of female hormones enough fat for a breast augmentation with autologous fat and stem cells can be harvested.

The process of breast augmentation with autologous fat and stem cells is performed on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia. After the required amount of body fat is obtained by the means of liposuction with thin microcannulas it is implanted into the breast either with or without stem cell enrichment.

Because Bruce wants his metamorphosis to be accompanied by the camera the whole world is offered the opportunity to be involved. Numerous viewers from all over the world are curious to follow the gradual transformation of the decathlon winner to a real woman with great interest.

DDr. Heinrich, MD