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Hormone “Replacement” in the Aged: Proceed with Care

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The Biology of Aging

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Abstract

The concept of “replacing” diminishing hormone production by giving medications as age advances has become quite popular in the last decade, especially as far as estrogens (female hormones) are concerned. Advertisements in medical journals, for example, suggest that all menopausal women should be placed on conjugated estrogens: “Treat her with Premarin.”1 It is also widely (and correctly) assumed that production of testosterone, the only important circulating male hormone, diminishes as the males of our species grow older. Only one other hormone has been shown to diminish with age: 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D3, the active hormonal form of a sterol which was erroneously thought to be a vitamin until about 9 years ago. “Vitamin” D is not a necessary component of our diet; our bodies can make it if we are exposed to sunlight. In addition, vitamin D must undergo several chemical changes before it can become fully active.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Metabolic and Endocrine Disease, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia, 30901, USA

    Edwin D. Bransome Jr. M.D.

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  1. Edwin D. Bransome Jr. M.D.
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Caleb E. Finch (Professor of Biology and Gerontology) (Professor of Biology and Gerontology)

  2. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Goucher College, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Gairdner B. Moment (Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences) (Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences)

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© 1978 Plenum Press, New York

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Bransome, E.D. (1978). Hormone “Replacement” in the Aged: Proceed with Care. In: Behnke, J.A., Finch, C.E., Moment, G.B. (eds) The Biology of Aging. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-3994-6_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-3994-6_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-3996-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-3994-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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