Dr. 50 Something
Whether you are in the midst of midlife or you want to prevent the physical and mental signs of aging that occur in midlife, this is the podcast for you! It is my passion for men and women to know that studied and safe ways to harness that elusive fountain of youth do exist. Aging is so much more than a number and encompasses, not only how we look, but also our energy level, and how long we can put off chronic disease and declining quality of life. In this podcast, we will explore many facets of aging and incorporate my experience in aesthetic medicine, preventative medicine, functional medicine and family medicine.
All of us should take an active role in how we age from an early age.
The length of time in our lives that we feel really good in terms of energy, aches and pains, and thought clarity has a definite impact on the mark we can leave on this world. My wish for my listeners is to always be mistaken for being fifty something (OR LESS) in mind, action, and appearance!
Dr. 50 Something
S1 E2 I Don't Want to End Up Like My Parents
Are you ready to take charge of your health and redefine your aging narrative? Join me in this episode as I unveil the driving force behind my podcast, Dr. 50-something. Growing up on a farm, I witnessed the strength and struggles of my parents as they faced various health challenges. Their experiences ignited my passion for preventative medicine—a field often overlooked yet crucial in maintaining vitality as we age.
Throughout this episode, I delve into my journey from family medicine to aesthetic medicine, exploring the gaps I've identified in the healthcare system that neglect preventative measures. I emphasize the importance of lifestyle changes, hormone optimization, and holistic approaches, sharing my personal success story of feeling healthier and more energetic than ever at midlife. I discuss the myths surrounding hormones and how they can dramatically transform one’s health and well-being when managed correctly.
This is not just a conversation—it’s an invitation to connect, learn, and engage with the principles of preventative medicine that can reshape our lives. Remember, it’s not just about living longer; it’s about living well.
Check us out on our social media to see what we are up to!
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/NicoleNorrisMD/
INSTAGRAM: Nicole Norris MD Medical Spa (@nicolenorrismd) • Instagram photos and videos
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GET FAB (for women) Get Fabulous! Hormone Optimization for Women | Nicole Norris MD Medical Spa
GET FIRM (for men) Get Firm! Hormone Optimization for Men | Nicole Norris MD Medical Spa
Welcome to the Dr 50-something podcast. I'm your host, dr Norris. This is a show where I share my knowledge, gleaned in family medicine, preventative medicine and aesthetic medicine to shed light on aging or, better yet, how not to feel or look like you're aging. I will divulge studied and safe ways that you can look younger, feel fabulous and put off the tolls of chronic disease. My listeners are not proponents of growing old gracefully or letting nature take its course. This show will unravel the mysteries of aesthetic procedures, the mystique of bioidentical hormone optimization, the secrets to getting fit in midlife and controversies associated with navigating healthy living in our world. My wish for my listeners is to always be mistaken for being 50-something or even less in mind, action and appearance. Here we go. Welcome back to the Dr 50-something podcast. This is episode two.
Speaker 1:In our first episode, I told you about myself and a little bit about what I hope the show can bring to you. In this episode we're going to talk about the why. Why did I decide to start a podcast? Because starting a podcast isn't something you just wake up one morning and you just do. There's a lot that goes into it which I didn't realize at first, but now I am acutely aware there's a lot of equipment, there's coming up with ideas, there's creativity involved. I have a podcast producer and I usually don't just record this episode once. I have to do it a couple of times. So you know it takes a lot of time out of my life. But I want to give you my why so that you understand why I am spending this time and taking this time out of my life to give to you.
Speaker 1:So when I was a little girl growing up on a farm in the Midwest, I had the best parents. They didn't have a lot of money to give me material things, but they gave me a lot of love and encouragement and made sure that I knew that girls can do anything. Yes, my mom hung a picture on the wall in our bathroom that in fact said that, so that my sisters and I saw it every day. Girls can do anything. Both my parents worked very hard. My mom was my eighth grade teacher and my dad raised cattle, corn and soybeans on our farm. I was, of course, expected to help with chores and pull weeds in the fields until I went to college. Taking care of livestock every day and weeding fields are both very motivational tasks in terms of getting good grades and being able to go away to college. My mom and dad have both been very active physically their whole life and also they've kept themselves mentally up and in fact, at 82 and 75, they are still farming physically and mentally, despite eating healthy on the farm and staying physically active. They both have had their fair share of medical issues. My mom has diabetes, hypertension. She had breast cancer and uterine cancer. My dad has had prostate cancer and blood clots and, as a board-certified family doctor, I have made sure that they both have had access to great medical care and get all the appropriate screening tests and go see their primary doctor regularly. So, all this being said, it should not be a mystery as to why I have a deep-seated interest in not ending up like my wonderful parents, or, more specifically, how to age without getting all the chronic disease and cancer that they have had to endure.
Speaker 1:When I was in medical school, 90% of what I learned was how to treat illness, and then, in family practice residency, 90% of what I treated was chronic disease. What is chronic disease, you ask? Well, it's essentially what all our parents have. It's diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, cancer, osteoporosis, dementia. The list goes on and the med lists are even longer Between medical school and residency. I became very interested in preventative medicine through lifestyle changes and took some time to actually get my master's in public health, with a focus on preventative medicine. I studied vegetarian diets and how they can reverse coronary artery disease Fascinating. However, don't worry, I eat meat again now. I'm just choosy about how it's raised. Unfortunately, family practice, residency and then being a family doctor for 15 years made me realize that our current medical system does not focus on prevention. There is no insurance reimbursement for helping patients change their lifestyle in terms of diet and exercise, and there are very few conferences solely about preventing chronic disease. Preventing chronic disease is just not a priority in this country, and it actually is more of a priority in Europe. In this country, all of our money and resources and pharmaceutical research goes into treating illness.
Speaker 1:After that, 15 years of being a family doctor near the town where I grew up, I ended up departing from family practice and taking up aesthetic medicine, because aesthetic medicine actually more closely aligned with my passion of making patients healthier from within. Aesthetic medicine most often involves skincare, lasers, injectables such as Botox and filler. It is the bomb in terms of being a rewarding field of medicine. You ask a patient what bothers them about their appearance. You improve it and they are better. They are a better, happier version of themselves. Voila, just like that. It is absolutely true that self-love and self-care creates endorphins that improve mental and physical health. No pill needed. I see this every day.
Speaker 1:Aesthetic medicine is often thought of on the fringe of medicine, but truly it is central to our overall health and success in life. So, once again, speaking on the fringe of mainstream medicine, preventative medicine is even more on that edge. In the United States it is on the precipice of a very high cliff. Why in the world is this? It should be central to our healthcare system. If I told you that I could help you not end up like your parents, I think you would be interested. If I told you there is good science to back up what I am about to share on these episodes of my podcast, you might be even on the edge of your seat. If I told you that it is not hard. It just involves some lab work and optimizing some levels of things you already have in your own body, you might actually stop whatever you are doing while you are listening to this podcast. Okay, if you're driving, driving, please keep driving.
Speaker 1:So why is preventative medicine and, more specifically, hormone optimization, not a part of mainstream medicine? Why is it not taught in medical schools or nursing schools? Why are most of these hormone levels not checked in your yearly labs? And if they are checked, most laboratories have their normal set for how old you are and not how young you want to feel. Or, most commonly, your primary care provider tells you we can't check your hormones until you're menopausal or andropausal and we don't check hormones. You're going to have to see somebody else for that. In a nutshell, any question that you ask about hormones is immediately swept under the rug.
Speaker 1:I am not bashing these providers because I was that doctor. I am so sorry for all the women that asked me to check their hormones and I did not. I'm sorry to all the men who said do you think I should be on a little testosterone? And I said no, you don't need that. Honestly, it was because I had no idea what to check.
Speaker 1:I didn't know what levels were low and I had been told, since the Women's Health Initiative study in 2001 was released, that hormones are bad. They increase heart disease, blood clots and breast cancer. Testosterone it probably causes prostate cancer. All I knew was negative, poor information. I treated patients with birth control pills, but I told them only use those birth control pills at the lowest dose or the shortest time possible. Testosterone is only used by junkies at the gym. It can cause heart problems and acne and facial hair. It's a controlled substance and the only time we would use that on you is if your testosterone is less than 300, which now I know. By the way, a testosterone of 300 in a man is consistent with feeling 90 years old. That's the symptom. All of these were the beliefs I possessed until very recently. These beliefs were so ingrained in my head that it took a sledgehammer of 80 hours of continuing medical education for me to dispel them.
Speaker 1:I did not start this podcast to be a Debbie Downer on medical education, big pharmaceutical companies or insurance companies, but I do believe the answer to why preventative medicine is not mainstream medicine is the same answer that you come to when answering the why question about other major industries' decisions in our great country with the best economy in the world. So what does preventative medicine actually encompass? Preventative medicine is back to the basics. It's finding the underlying cause of your health issue. It's stopping the problem before it starts. It's giving you the power to be in charge of your health based on decisions that you make. Now the field of preventative medicine is not only the study of replacing our hormones as we lose them, but it's also diet and lifestyle choices, it's getting good sleep, it's screening for cancer, it's hormone optimization, it's also genetic testing, it's limiting endocrine disruptors, it's getting all your immunizations and it's anti-aging medicine. It's functional medicine and it's even just simple hand-washing. Think of it as the practice of medicine to prevent most of the medical problems our parents are afflicted with.
Speaker 1:As a perimenopausal physician with a passion for preventative medicine, I have had an interesting journey getting to this point in my life. In my 30s, I developed thyroid problems. In my 40s, I developed hypertension, prediabetes, obesity and all the symptoms of menopause, including hot flashes, poor mood, no sex drive, brain fog and horrible sleep. In my 50s, after submerging myself into preventative medicine and being my own first patient, I'm actually the healthiest I have ever been.
Speaker 1:You can't see me on this podcast, but I just had a DEXA scan. Not the DEXA scan that you have to see if you have osteoporosis, but the DEXA scan with the results that show you your body composition. A DEXA scan is truly a very accurate body composition scan, probably the most accurate there is available. So, after two years of my transformation with a healthy protein diet, fruits and vegetables, strength training, weight loss, peptides, bioidentical hormone optimization and supportive nutrients, this is my progress so far. So you can't see me.
Speaker 1:I'm 5'5", 127 pounds with 90.3 pounds of muscle mass. My percent body fat is 26.1%. I am no longer on medications for diabetes and hypertension and, thank God for preventative medicine. I am no longer that horrible O word Obese. I hate that word. I sleep like a really good baby. I have no hot flashes unless I drink a little too much red wine, and my energy and mental clarity have never been so good. I mean, I'm starting a podcast and I have a lot of other things going on in my life, but I feel like this is a good idea. I literally feel like I'm 20 years old, but way smarter. In fact, my kids think I'm a little too energized, taking on another CEO role to start a concierge preventative medicine program within my aesthetic medicine practice. They think I really need to slow down a little. So I hope you can feel the passion in my voice and detect the honesty in my words. I've done the research. I've read the scientific literature for you. I've evaluated the studies.
Speaker 1:In what started as a selfish pursuit to better myself and not end up like my wonderful parents, it has become my purpose to share with others the healing power of preventative medicine. If you are vibing with me and you want to learn more from me, dr 50-something, about the many facets of preventative medicine and even some aesthetic medicine along the way, follow my podcast. Don't miss an episode. Share it with your friends. You are about to embark on the most important educational journey of your lifetime. Thank you for joining this episode of the Dr 50-something show. If you are intrigued by this show and never want to miss an episode, click follow. If you are a really great friend, share it. The content of this episode is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider to answer any questions you may have about your personal medical conditions. Until next time, get fit, get fabulous, get firm and take care of yourself.