Zoomer Magazine – September 2019

(^68) – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 everythingzoomer.com
aging,” notes Born. “But we can certainly
help people move gracefully forward with
better mechanics as well as better exter-
nal esthetics.” It’s all part of the latest hol-
istic approach to aging, treating clients
from the inside and out – except we’re not
talking about healthy eating. In this new
era of physician-guided age management,
state-of-the-art procedures can include
PRP injections, hormone replacement
therapy or stem cell therapy targeting
osteoarthritic knees and hips and sexual
dysfunction as well as facial rejuvenation
– all without surgery.
Born is on trend. Earlier this year, Dr.
Richard Gaines founded LifeGaines
Medical and Aesthetics Center in Boca
Raton, Fla. The guiding principle as-
sumes that the effects of aging can be
greatly reduced through preventive self-
healing methods. And it flies in the face
of conventional medicine that suppress-
es symptoms without treating the underlying cause.
Human growth hormone therapy (HGH), believed to
impact cardiac, sexual, mental and skin health, is this
clinic’s main raison d’être. However, plenty of esthet-
ic treatments dot the menu. Hence, your personal-
ized prescription plan could include, for example, hu-
man growth hormone injections to help address loss of
muscle or bone density, body contouring to shed a few
inches via laser and, heck, a little lip filler for a confi-
dence boost.
The idea isn’t entirely new. The Age Management
Institute, with locations in Calgary and Canmore, B.C.,
was founded back in 2008 by Dr. Lizette Lourens, who
practises bio-identical hormone replacement therapy
as well as traditional medical cosmetic esthetics and
weight-loss programs, in one clinic. She was the first
physician in Calgary to incorporate Selphyl treatments,
a brand name of the aforementioned PRP therapy
associated with the Vampire Facelift, in which your
own blood platelets are injected to naturally increase
volume in the skin.
Indeed, PRP therapies, used for both health and
cosmetic reasons, are on the rise. The global PRP
market is estimated to increase 12 per cent from 2018
to a total US$543.5 million by 2026. Market research
experts credit a surge in the amount of orthopedic
surgeries, sports injuries and cosmetic surgeries for the
major uptick – with the area of cosmetic enhancements
said to hold the highest potential for growth.
Back at the Institute of Human Mechanics, you might
say the team has PRP therapies down to a science. For
one, Galea is credited with developing a patented, next
generation of platelet-rich plasma called
CytoRich. “It is unique in the standpoint
that we’re using only the signals from the
platelets and not using the platelets to
deliver the therapy,” says Born. “That’s
a big differentiation.” Enriched with an
anti-inflammatory component, it’s said
to be both more potent and less painful
than existing PRP injections. By design,
CytoRich will be at the centre of both es-
thetic and regenerative treatments at the
clinic.
PRP, HGH – these acronyms have proved
controversial over the past decade as
Health Canada and the FDA rush to keep
up with the blossoming industry. Some
clinical studies suggest impressive effi-
cacy, while others imply a placebo effect,
and others still point to safety concerns. In
May of this year, Health Canada released a
position paper stating that the majority of
autologous cell therapies (derived from the
same individual) haven’t undergone sufficient research
to prove that they are indeed safe or effective but could
do so in future. The regulatory body then ordered more
than three dozen clinics in B.C., Alberta, Ontario and
Quebec to cease offering stem cell therapies, and PRP
therapies advertised to treat conditions such as hair loss
and skin rejuvenation were swept up in the wash.
According to Born, CytoRich and the associated
therapies offered at the new IHM clinic have been
vigorously studied and approved by Health Canada. It
should be noted that Galea himself was at the centre
of controversy in 2017, when his licence was revoked
for nine months over issues related to importing
unapproved drugs into the U.S. 10 years ago. However,
the quality of Galea’s clinical care was never at issue,
noted Ontario’s medical regulator at the time. A
statement from Galea’s office says, “Dr. Galea’s focus is
to continue his research and share his extraordinary
knowledge of tissue regeneration and sports medicine
to benefit not only his patients but the global medical
community.”
The upshot with these ultra modern options is that
many are keen to try something new. “Every day in my
office, I have people come in who want to have their ex-
ternal contour changed to [meet] the way they feel,”
says Born. “And at the same time, the aging popula-
tion has ongoing issues with regards to their body – the
mechanics.” The combination of the two disciplines,
then, might seem perfectly natural. “If you want, you
can have a very pretty face,” says the physician. “But if
you can’t walk properly, then that’s not going to help
you a lot.”
Dr. Anthony Galea